50 STURN1DJ3. 



fourth one quarter of an inch shorter than the third, the 

 other primary quills diminishing regularly in succession, 

 each about a quarter of an inch shorter than the quill- 

 feather which precedes it. 



A male in his second summer having moulted but once, 

 has not acquired the fine yellow beak, and both the upper 

 and under surface of the body are varied by a greater num- 

 ber of light-coloured spots. Very old males acquire an ad- 

 ditional number of spots at their autumnal moult, which 

 they carry through the winter to the commencement of the 

 following spring, when the light-coloured tips being many 

 of them worn off, and the beak becoming yellow, they pre- 

 sent the appearance first described. 



Young birds of the year, before their first autumnal 

 moult, are of a uniform greyish brown colour ; the throat 

 white, and a tinge of white on the belly and vent ; the 

 feathers of the wings and tail darker brown, with light 

 reddish brown edges. In this stage the young Starling 

 has been called the Solitary Thrush, and has also been 

 considered the young of another continental species. 

 Montagu's specimen being still preserved in his collection 

 at the British Museum, no doubt remains that his bird 

 was nothing more than a young Starling before the com- 

 mencement of its first moult. During the first moult, 

 which occurs in its first autumn, the plumage of the young 

 Starling presents a curious mixture, the feathers appearing 

 in patches, some of plain brown, and others of the dark 

 colour of the second dress. 



The female Starling is very similar to the male at the 

 same age, but the plumage is rather less brilliant in colour, 

 and the white spots on the under surface of the body are 

 larger than those of the male ; but both sexes carry a much 

 greater number of spots from autumn to spring than from 

 spring to autumn j the moult, however, only occurs and 



