SANUERLTNG. 425 



the red colour of the breeding- season had disappeared, but 

 the autumn moult having commenced, a few of the greyish- 

 white feathers of the winter plumage appeared intermixed 

 with the faded remains of the tints of summer. A bird 

 killed on the 25th of October had completed its winter 

 dress. 



A bird of the year in the plumage previous to its first 

 autumn moult, had the crown of the head, back, scapulars, 

 and wdng-coverts, black, edged with yellowish- white ; a brown 

 streak in front of the eye ; nape, sides of the neck, and sides 

 of the breast, pale grey, with wavy streaks ; forehead, throat, 

 fore part of the neck, and all the under parts, pure white : 

 wings and tail as in the adult. 



A young bird in half-down, obtained at Grinnell Land 

 on the 8th August, 187G, had the upper parts darker, the 

 markings smaller, and of a warm buff- colour, as are also 

 the lower throat and sides of the neck. It is figured in 

 Mr. Dresser's ' Birds of Europe,' viii. pi. 559. 



Varieties of this species are rare, but Mr. C. M. Adamson 

 has recorded a white one, apparently a young bird of the 

 year, shot at Holy Island, Northumberland, on the 28th 

 August, 1879. 



vol.. TII. 



3 I 



