COMMON CROSSBILL. 13 



the males grow older, many grades of tints being observ- 

 able, some of which are as brilliant as others are dull. 



A red male, that had completed his moult during his 

 first autumn, had the beak dull reddish brown, darkest 

 in colour towards the tip of the upper mandible ; irides 

 dark brown ; the head, rump, throat, breast, and belly, 

 tile red ; the feathers on the back mixed with some brown, 

 producing a chestnut brown ; wing-coverts, quill, and tail- 

 feathers, nearly uniform dark brown; tail short, slightly 

 forked ; vent, and under tail-coverts, greyish white ; legs, 

 toes, and claws, dark brown. The central figure of our 

 group represents such a bird. 



A second male bird killed at the same time as the red 

 bird just described, had the head, rump, and under surface 

 of the body, pale yellow, tinged with green ; the back 

 olive brown ; wings and tail-feathers like those of the red 

 bird. 



A third male, killed at the same time, had the top of 

 the head and the back a mixture of reddish brown and 

 dark orange ; the rump reddish orange ; the upper tail- 

 coverts bright orange ; the chin, throat, and upper part 

 of the breast, red, passing, on the lower part of the breast, 

 belly, and sides, to orange. 



Red males that have moulted in confinement have 

 changed during the moult to greenish yellow, and others 

 to bright yellow ; thus apparently indicating that the yel- 

 low colour was that of the older livery ; but young males, 

 as before observed, certainly sometimes change at once to 

 yellow, without going through either the red or the orange- 

 coloured stage. The brightest colours, whether green, 

 yellow, red, or orange, pervade the feathers of the rump, 

 and the upper tail -coverts. 



In captivity I have known several instances of red and 

 yellow coloured specimens changing back to dull brown, 



