118 THE ROBIN, OR REDBREAST. 



green ; quills yellowish brown on their outer 

 webs, darker on the inner, having the tertials 

 and coverts tipped with pale orange ; forehead, 

 region of the eyes, throat, and upper part of the 

 breast, gall stone yellow, approaching to reddish 

 orange, and separated from the oil green of the 

 upper parts by a narrow banding of bluish gray, 

 which shades into the former, and nearly encircles 

 the lower part of the reddish breast ; the belly 

 and vent are yellowish white, rising into brownish 

 white on the flanks ; the thighs are oil green. 

 The female is not so brightly or distinctly marked. 

 The young, in their first plumage from ^ the %iest, 

 are entirely of a yellowish oil green, without any 

 trace of the red breast, each feather being spotted 

 near the tip with pale orange, or pale chestnut 

 brown. The red on the breast gradually makes 

 its way with the autumnal moult, and specimens 

 in October may be procured in the partial 

 change. 



The next sub-family is that of the philomelince, 

 so named from the nightingale, philomela, being 

 presumed to exhibit the typical characters of a 

 small group, arboreal in their habits, and remark- 

 able for a melodious, and very powerful song. 

 Between two of the principal genera, philomela 

 and curruca, the distinctions seem scarcely yet 

 to be rightly understood, and require more close 

 observation ; as it is, however, we have kept them 

 apart, separating also from both as a sub-genus, 

 Mr Selby's salicaria, or reed warblers, which 



