VOL. X.] MOULTS OF BlllTISil PASSEKES. 285 



In this plumage both sexes are alike and resepible the adult 

 winter female except for the buff spots at the tips of the 

 unmoulted juvenile innermost secondaries, greater coverts 

 and occasionally some inner median wing-coverts. 



First Summer.— Moult as in the adult after which the 

 male becomes like the adult male except that the orange-red 

 of the breast is usually less extensive and in both sexes the 

 first summer bird may still be distinguished from the adult 

 by the buff tips (or when much worn, traces of these) to the 

 innermost secondaries and wing-coverts. 



Genus Phj/Uoscojjus. 



The adults of the eight British species of this genus all 

 have a complete moult in late summer or early autumn. 

 In the spring there is considerable variation. Ph. trochihis, 

 viridanus, sibilatrix and borealis regularly have another 

 complete moult, but in Ph. collybita some individuals moult 

 the body-feathers only while others have a complete moult, 

 in Ph. superciliosus the body-feathers are moulted, but the 

 wings and tail only occasionally, in Ph. ftiscatus the body- 

 feathers and innermost secondaries only appear to be moulted, 

 while in Ph. 2iroregidus only the body-feathers are moulted. 



The moult from juvenile to first winter is in some species 

 confined to the body-feathers, but in others some of the 

 wing-coverts and innermost secondaries are involved. 



In all the species the sexes are alike and the differences, if 

 any, in the winter and summer plumages are very small. 

 The juveniles are very much hke the adults but generally 

 browner on the upper-parts, though in Ph. proregulus and 

 fuscahw they are rather more distinct. First winter birds in 

 Ph. collybita, viridanus and superciliosus are hke the adults, 

 but in the other species they differ in small details from the 

 adults. 



Chiffchaff {Ph i/lloscop as c. collybita). 



Adults. — Complete moult from July to early September. 

 In January and February and occasionally in March, or even 

 early April, there is a moult involving the body-plumage and 

 in some individuals in any case (though probably not in all) 

 the wing-coverts wing-feathers and tail are also moulted. 

 There is no sexual difference in the plumage. The summer 

 and winter plumages of the adults are ahke, but by June 

 abrasion has made the upper-parts browner (less greenish) 

 and the under-parts whiter (less buff). 



Juvenile. — Very much like the adult but the upper-parts 

 browner and the vuider-parts more yellowish-white and the 



