510 



A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



Tlie Martin (Delichon u. urbica). 



and tipped white ; rump and shorter upper tail-coverts brown to 

 jmle brown with pale buff to brownish-bnff tips, longer upper 

 tail-coverts with their distal jDortions dark metallic-blue ; lores 

 black ; feathers under eye same 

 but slightly glossed bhie ; chin, 

 throat and upper breast pale bro\^ai- 

 ish-buff ; at sides of upper breast 

 small patch of dark brown ; centre 

 of lower breast and belly white ; 

 sides and flanks pale brownish - 

 buff ; under tail-coverts same with 

 blackish shaft-lines and often with 

 some of the feathers with blackish- 

 brown marks ; under wing-coverts 

 brown with whitish tips ; axillaries 

 pale brown ; tail-feathers black- 

 brown with a slight greenish gloss ; 

 primaries and secondaries same 

 with pale brown edges to inner 

 Avebs, 3rd secondary from inner- 

 most Avith white tip ; primary- 

 coverts black-brown ; greater coverts same but with a slight gloss ; 

 median and lesser coverts with more blue gloss. This plumage is 

 acquired by moult which commences in Europe in Aug. (excep- 

 tionally July) with body -feathers, sometimes also wing-coverts 

 and some secondaries are moulted, but, usually wings and tail are 

 not moulted until winter. Body-plumage is moulted again Jan.- 

 April but material available is insufhcient to decide if wings and 

 tail are moulted completely in autumn as they are in sjiring. 

 Summer. — Like winter but feathers of rump usually white with 

 dark shaft-streaks (when newly grown tips are pale buff) some 

 examples (especially females) have varying number of feathers with 

 broAATi bases, but even in such examples rump in summer is never 

 so dark and with so much brown as in winter ; chin, throat and 

 upper-breast pale buff when freshly moulted, becoming white by 

 abrasion. 



Nestling. — Down white and rather scant5^ Distribution, inner 

 supra -orbital, occipital, humeral, spinal and femoral. Mouth inside 

 orange-j^ellow, no tongue-spots, externally flanges pale yellow 

 (C. B. Ticehurst, Brit. B., iv., p. 71). 



Juvenile. — Whole crowTi dark glossy mouse-brown ; mantle 

 and scapulars same but tips of feathers glossed dark metallic -blue, 

 feathers of nape and mantle with their middle portions white often 

 showing on nape ; rump and shorter upper tail-coverts white, 

 feathers \nth. dark broMai shaft -lines and with varying amount of 

 broAATi marks at their bases and centres, longer upper tail-coverts 

 dark broMii with small greyish tips ; chin, throat, uppef-breast and 

 flanks pale brownish-buff, lower part of throat often whitish, sides 



