22 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Description. — Adult male and female. Winter. — Whole head, neck, 

 mantle, inner scapulars, upper tail-coverts, throat, upper-breast, 

 tibial feathers, vent, under tail-coverts, axillaries, and under 

 wing-coverts velvety-black with blue-purple tinge ; crown and 

 scapulars slightly glossed greenish ; chin and throat-feathers 

 with wliitish shaft-lines ; rump varying from wliite or brownish- 

 white to brown (in British specimens never very white and 

 often nearly black) ; rest of scapulars and breast, flanks, and belly, 

 pure white ; tail below black, above both webs of central pair 

 and outer webs of rest brilliant bronze-green with band of red- 

 purple near tip, merging into blue-purple and green-purple at 

 tip ; primaries : outer webs and tips glossed blue-green, inner 

 webs mostly white except at base and tip ; in outer primaries 

 white goes to a point near shaft, in iimer ones it is squarer at tip 

 and extends less towards base (extent of white in primaries varies 

 slightly individually) ; secondaries : outer webs glossed bright blue 

 with inner line of bronze-green on basal half of outer feathers, tips 

 bluish-green, inner webs black except those of innermost feathers 

 which are bluish-green ; primary- coverts, greater and median 

 coverts, bronze bluish-green ; lesser wing-coverts black with 

 little gloss. This plumage is acquired by complete moult in 

 autumn. Summer. — ^No moult. Abrasion causes slight loss of 

 gloss and brilliancy. 



NesUing — ^Down, absent. 



Juvenile. — ^Like adult, but with all black parts sooty blackish- 

 brown ; rump blackish-brown ; scapulars brownish or huffish - 

 white ; belly buffish-white ; wing-coverts much less brilliantly 

 glossed ; wing and taU-feathers like adult but slightly less brilliant. 



First lointer and summer. — Scarcely distinguishable from 

 adults but slightly less brilHant wings and tail, especially noticeable 

 on central tail-feathers, primary-coverts, and primaries, which 

 become brownish in summer. The juvenile body-plumage and 

 wing-coverts are moulted in Aug. -Sept. but not tail, wing- 

 feathers, or primary-coverts. 



Measurements and structure. — (^ wing 187-200, tail 215-260, 

 tarsus 47-53, bill from nostril 24-29 (12 measured). $ wing 

 173-190, tail 205-240. Primaries : 1st about twice primary- 

 coverts, scythe-shaped, 2nd usually between 9th and 10th, some- 

 times either shorter than 10th or longer than 9th, 4th tc 6th about 

 equal and longest, 3rd and 7th 7-12 mm. shorter ; 3rd to 7th clearly 

 emarginated outer webs. Secondaries about equal 10th primary, 

 tips almost square. Tail wedge-shaped, central pair 20-40 mm. 

 longer than next and rest graduated in steps of about 20 mm. 

 Strong rictal bristles and numerous nasal bristles completely 

 covering nostrils. Bill sUghtly hooked at tip. 



Soft parts. — Bill, legs and feet black ; iris dark brown. 



Characters and allied forms. — P. p. melanota (Spain and 

 Portugal) has uniform black rump, occasionally with pale patcli, 



