YELLOW BUNTING. 



49 



The young have no yellow on the head till after their first 

 auturnn-moult, and the prevailing colour of the upper parts 

 is a dull olive streaked with dusky black, the small wing- 

 coverts and tertials together with some of the feathers of the 

 back being also tipped with greyish-white. After their first 

 moult the males have the yellow much mixed with dusky 

 spots : the bright yellow in very old males appears to 

 extend over a larger surface than in those which are 

 younger. 



As remarked by Macgillivray of this species, and the 

 observation seems to hold good with all the European 

 members of the family Emberizida, the changes which take 

 place in the plumage during winter and spring are due to 

 the wearing off of the long margins of the feathers and to 

 the fading of their brighter colours. He goes on to deny 

 the generally-received opinion that birds assume richer tints 

 in the breeding-season, but though literally he may be right 

 as regards the species of the present group and some others, 

 he is only so when we limit the meaning of his words to its 

 strictest bounds. The rich tints are indeed there, but they 

 are obscured by the overlapping of the dull-coloured margins 

 of the feathers, and it is not until these margins are shed 

 that the full beauty of the bright hues is revealed. 



X 



VOL. II. 



