36 THE BIRDS OF CUMBERLAND. 



nearly pure as possible, and the white forehead well- 

 developed. The third male is very similar, but 

 many of the feathers of the crown and nape are 

 fringed with brown, being however black at the 

 base, thus illustrating the truth of Mr. Hancock's 

 surmise, that the change from autumn plumage to 

 breeding plumage " appears to be brought about, 

 not by a moult, but by an alteration in the tint of 

 the feathers themselves." No doubt this third male 

 would have assumed the full black dress in a few 

 days, the change in colour gradually extending from 

 the base of the feather to its extremity. 



It would appear from the fourth male under 

 examination, that the male of the year (hatched in 

 the previous summer) wears a dress similar to that 

 of the female during its first breeding season. This 

 bird is of a uniform brown on the upper parts, 

 scarcely at all darker than that of the female ; the 

 white forehead is present, the white wing-bar is 

 broader than in the female, and the shoulders of the 

 wings are black ; but the breast and lower parts are 

 not of the silvery white of the other three males, 

 but are slightly tinged with brown, and decidedly 

 less pure. This bird, a male by dissection, we shot 

 in the act of singing lustily, and we believed it to be 

 one of a pair. That some, if not all, of the males of 

 the year thus resemble the female during the breed- 

 ing season, is further evidenced by the fact that when 

 re-visiting Lowther on June 14th of the same year, 

 we observed a male attired in the same sober brown 

 dress in full song. If this bird intended to change 

 his plumage, he would probably have done so 



