442 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



acquired by complete moult in June-Sept. Summer. A moult 

 usually confined to ear-coverts and chin, but occasionally extending 

 to throat, upper-breast and sides of neck takes place from Dec. 

 to Feb. and occasionally March. Plumage as winter, but abrasion 

 gradually makes crown, nape and hind-neck white, and mantle, 

 scapulars and wings nearly uniform black. 



Adult female. Winter. Crown, nape, mantle and scapulars 

 earth-brown, feathers with narrow pale buff tips (feathers of hind- 

 neck occasionally with a little white basally) ; rump and upper 

 tail-coverts white tinged creamy ; indistinct stripe from nostrils, 

 over and behind eye creamy-buff ; ear-coverts brown ; chin pale 

 buff ; throat varying brown to brown-black almost entirely con- 

 cealed by pale buff tips of feathers ; upper-breast bumsh-brown to 

 tawny ; sides of breast and flanks brown ; rest of under -parts 

 creamy -buff ; axillaries and under wing-coverts black-brown edged 

 and tipped whitish ; tail as male but browner ; wings and wing- 

 coverts dark brown with longer and buffer tips and edgings than in 

 male. Summer. Moult as male. Abrasion makes upper -parts and 

 wings more uniform brown and reveals much of black or dark brown 

 bases of feathers of throat especially in those examples where this 

 is prominent but even the darkest always have some pale tips to 

 feathers. 



Nestling. (Not examined.) 



Juvenile. Upper-parts much as adult female, but more 

 buffish-brown and each feather with whitish-buff centre towards 

 tip, giving upper-parts spotted appearance ; rump and upper tail- 

 coverts as female ; lores whitish with dark tips ; ear -coverts 

 brown with whitish-buff centres ; chin, throat and breast buff to 

 pale buff, feathers tipped dark brown ; belly creamy-white ; 

 tail- and wing-feathers and greater wing-coverts as adult female ; 

 innermost greater wing -co vert, median and lesser wing-coverts 

 with rather broad and somewhat wedge-shaped creamy -white tips. 



First winter. Male. Like adult male but mantle, scapulars, 

 wing-feathers and wing-coverts browner black and with longer 

 and buffer edgings and tips ; ear-coverts, chin and throat with 

 longer pale tips almost concealing black (thus somewhat inter- 

 mediate between adult male and female but more like former). 

 The juvenile body-feathers, median and lesser wing-coverts, and 

 varying number of inner greater wing-coverts and sometimes 

 innermost secondary are moulted July-Sept., but not primary- 

 coverts or tail nor rest of wing-feathers or greater coverts . Summer. 

 Moult as adult. Abrasion has same effect but crown seldom 

 becomes so white as adult, mantle is always browner and wings 

 are much browner black. 



First winter and summer. Female. Apparently like adult 

 female. 



Measurements and structure. <$ wing 90-98 mm., tail 57-67, 



