32 218 



stage. In the two males, the testes were of the size of peas, the 

 eggs in the females being still larger. Unfortunately I had not time to 

 look for a nest, having to leave shortly after by the steamer. Alten 

 (70°) is doubtless the most northern locality at which this species 

 has hitherto been found breeding. A few days after, Mr. Berlin, a 

 young German tourist, discovered two nests at the mouth of the 

 Utsjoki, a Russian tributary of the Tana, but whether on Russian 

 or Norwegian ground is unknown. ' These nests were both found 

 in birches from 4 to 10 feet from the ground, and contained 

 respectively 2 and 5 fresh eggs each. As to time, this corresponds 

 pretty nearly with the development of eggs in females shot in Alten ; 

 for this species, therefore, the breeding-season was either unu- 

 sually late that summer (vide Wolley's dates), or the period is 

 very wide. 



The dress of the specimens procured differs in many respects, 

 thougt not materially, from the normal winter garb; this is the 

 case particularly with the colour of the head, which is much paler 

 than in winter. On pushing back the hood, the long crest on the 

 crown is found in winter-time (at which season it is cinereous 

 gray with a faint reddish tinge) to be perceptibly darker than the 

 nape; in summer, on the other hand, it is lighter, having a deep 

 blush on the forehead, but a considerably paler tint behind. The 

 same yellowy-red tinge extends on to the cheeks and nape, and, if 

 the plumage be contrasted with* that of specimens killed in winter, 

 traces can also be seen on the back and over the whole of the belly. 



In the female, the coloured extremity of the tail was exceedingly 

 narrow, scarcely 2V2 ^^, and whitish; on the outermost feathers, 

 there was only a spot of whity yellow, triangular in form, on 

 either side of the shaft. In the male, on the other hand, the 

 extremity was broad (5 — 6 mm) and of a bright yellow. The 

 coloured tips of the primaries, which, in the female, were white 

 without a trace of yellow, were yellowish white in the males, much 

 the same as in the females in winter-time. 



' These details were communicated to me in a letter from Dr. Staudinger, who, in 

 company with Ilerr. Berlin, passed the summer in Alten, collecting Lepidoptera. 



