THE COMMON CROSSBILL. 85 



mantle like crown but rather browner ; back and rump bright 

 and nearly uniform yellowish-green ; upper tail -co verts dark 

 brown, tinged green ; ear-coverts, cheeks, and sides of neck ashy- 

 brown, slightly tinged green ; chin and throat ashy-grey, streaked 

 dark brown and tinged yellowish-green ; breast and flanks yellowish- 

 green with ashy-brown centres of feathers showing ; centre of 

 belly greyish-white ; under tail-coverts same, with large dark 

 brown centres ; axillaries smoke-grey, faintly tinged yellowish ; 

 tail and wings as in male but with fringes greenish. Summer. 

 No moult, and very little change by abrasion, but yellowish-green 

 becomes slightly brighter on rump though it tends to become 

 worn off on crown. N.B. Some specimens are more golden, 

 less greenish-yellow, and some have a considerable number of 

 feathers tipped dull pink on upper- and under-parts. 



Nestling. Down, very dark grey ; distribution, inner and 

 outer supra-orbital, occipital, humeral, spinal, ulnar, femoral, 

 ventral, and crural. Mouth, inside partly violet-pink, partly 

 yellow ; no tongue-spots ; externally, flanges pale yellow (C. B. 

 Ticehurst, Brit. B., rv, p. 71). 



Juvenile. Male. Crown, nape, upper-mantle, ear-coverts 

 and sides of neck brown-black, streaked whitish, feathers being 

 edged whitish (a few feathers of crown usually have dull green 

 edgings) ; rest of mantle, scapulars, and back same, but feathers 

 edged brownish-green ; rump like crown but more yellowish ; 

 upper tail-coverts brown-black, tipped brownish-green ; whole of 

 under-parts dull whitish-grey, heavily streaked brown-black, centre 

 of belly with fewer streaks, flanks more brownish and with very 

 broad streaks, some feathers on side of throat and an ill-defined 

 band at base of throat with yellowish-green edges ; tail as in 

 adult female ; primaries and secondaries as in adult female, with 

 greenish fringes, but inner secondaries tipped dull buff ; all wing- 

 coverts tipped dull buff. Female. Like juvenile male but 

 browner and less green on upper-parts, especially mantle, and with 

 no greenish-yellow feathers on throat and breast. N.B. The 

 juvenile is paler, especially on under-parts, when first leaving nest, 

 but afterwards becomes duller. 



First winter and summer. Male. Varies from greenish-gold 

 to orange and crimson and a mixture of these colours. Frequently 

 a varying number of striped juvenile-feathers remain, especially on 

 breast and belly. Wing- and tail-feathers are fringed greenish 

 instead of pinkish as in adult, and wing-coverts have buff tips, 

 but these distinctions become almost lost by abrasion during 

 summer. Most of the juvenile body-feathers are moulted from 

 May to Oct. but not remiges, rectrices, primary-coverts, and most 

 greater and median coverts. N.B. In this plumage there is 

 great individual variation, ranging from a bird indistinguishable 

 from adult male except for wings and tail, to one resembling 

 a very bright yellow female. Female. Like adult female 



