VOL. IX j MOULTS OF BRITISH PASSERES. 315 



biarmicus. In these the first primary is markedly larger in 

 the juvenile of Panurus biarmicus than in the adult, as 

 Dr. Hartert has already pointed out {Vog. pal. Fauna, Vol. I., 

 pp. 403-4). I find a similar but less marked difference in 

 Passer domesticus, P. montanus oxid, Mgithalos caudatus ; there 

 is a slight difference in Sturnus vulgaris and Montijringilla 

 nivalis, but I can find none in Pastor roseus and the three 

 species of Emberiza. 



White-winged Lark {Melanocorypha sibirica). 



Adults. — The female has the fore-head and crown much 

 browner and less chestnut than the male, the chestnut of the 

 wing-coverts is paler, the spots and streaks on the throat and 

 breast are heavier than in the male, and the outer pair of 

 tail-feathers have a dark streak at their tips. Abrasion in 

 this species, especially in the male, has a noticeable, though 

 not very marked, effect, the chestnut of the crown and lesser 

 wing-coverts becoming more uniform and brighter and the 

 chestnut on the sides of the breast more prominent. 



Juvenile. — Differs markedly from the adult, the feathers 

 of the upper-parts being darkish brown with creamy-white 

 margins, the tail- and wing-feathers and wing-coverts are 

 brown with even margins of pale cream with an inner line of 

 black-brown, the upper-breast and flanks are spotted with 

 dark brown, the bases of the feathers of the crown and lesser 

 wing-coverts have a pale rufous tinge. 



Black Lark {M. yeltoniensis). 



Adults. — The difference in the sexes and the effect of 

 abrasion is very marked. Briefly, the male in winter is 

 black, which is almost obscured on the upper-parts and flanks 

 and partially on the throat and breast by buffish-white 

 fringes to the feathers. These fringes gradually wear off 

 until in summer the bird is almost entirely black. In the 

 female the feathers have dark brown centres and huffish 

 fringes and the lower breast and belly are white instead of 

 black. By the summer abrasion of the fringes has made 

 the brown centres of the feathers show through to a varying 

 extent according to the amoimt of wear. 



Juvenile. — Much resembles that of M. sibirica, but is 

 darker on the upper-parts, and the wings and tail are like 

 the adult female M. yeUoniensis, but more evenly margined 

 with buffish-white, the feathers of the flanks instead of being 

 spotted are dark brown with creamy-white tips, the feathers 

 of the belly have pale brown bases. 



