THE DARTFORD WARBLER. 383 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 13). Adult male. Winter. Crown and nape 

 dark slate, feathers tipped dark chocolate-brown ; rest of upper- 

 parts dark chocolate -brown ; lores, behind eyes, ear -coverts and 

 sides of neck slate-grey, lores with minute ashy specks and rest with 

 tinge of brown ; centre of belly white ; rest of under -parts dark 

 brownish-pink, feathers with slight whitish edgings, flanks browner, 

 less pinkish, feathers of chin and throat with wedge-shaped white 

 tips ; under tail-coverts pinkish-brown tipped whitish ; axillaries 

 slate -grey tinged pink ; tail-feathers black edged slate-grey, outer 

 pair with tip and outer edge of outer webs dull white, next two pairs 

 with a little dull white at tip ; wing-feathers brown-black, inner 

 webs narrowly edged dull greyish, outer webs narrowly edged pale 

 greyish-brown but those of inner secondaries more broadly edged 

 and tipped rufous-brown ; primary-coverts as primaries ; greater 

 and median coverts as innermost secondaries ; lesser coverts dark 

 slate-grey with small brown tips. This plumage is acquired by 

 complete moult Aug.-Nov. Summer. Apparently no moult.* 

 Abrasion makes crown greyer, edgings of wing-feathers paler and 

 ear -coverts and sides of neck purer grey ; white tips to feathers of 

 throat gradually wear down, while whitish edgings to feathers of rest 

 of under -parts wear off making them darker. 



Adult female. Winter and summer. Like adult male but crown 

 browner and rest of upper -parts rather paler brown ; lores, ear- 

 coverts and sides of neck grey-brown ; under -parts considerably 

 paler and browner, less pink than male ; tail and wings dark brown, 

 not so black, and edgings of tail-feathers greyish-brown. 



Nestling. Down absent (skin dark). Mouth inside pale dull 

 yellow, two black spots on tongue ; externally flanges pale dull 

 yellow, 



Juvenile. Somewhat like adult female but upper-parts, includ- 

 ing lores, ear -co verts and sides of neck, duller, more dark earth - 

 brown to dark sooty-brown ; under -parts brownish-buff ; centre of 

 belly and chin paler, sides of breast and flanks darker and browner ; 

 wing-coverts browner, not with such rufous edgings. 



First winter. Apparently like adults but tail-feathers of male 

 rather browner and with brown instead of slate-grey edgings. The 

 juvenile body-plumage, wing-coverts and innermost secondaries 

 are moulted Aug.-Nov., but not primary -co verts, tail-feathers nor 

 rest of wing-feathers. 



Measurements and structure. <$ wing 50-54 mm., tail 59-66, 

 tarsus 18-20, biU from skuU 11-12 (9 measured). wing 50-52. 

 Primaries : 1st 2-5 mm. longer than primary-coverts, 4th and 5th 

 longest, 3rd and 6th usually as long but occasionally 1 shorter, 2nd 

 3-7 shorter between 8th and 10th, 7th 1-2 shorter ; 3rd to 5th clearly 

 and 6th slightly emarginated outer webs. Secondaries 1-2 shorter 



* One specimen of S. u. undata labelled February and one of S. u. toni 

 labelled March were moulting in the body-plumage. 



