THE WHINCHAT. 451 



breast and flanks bright uniform chestnut-buff without any dark 

 streaks or spots ; new inner wing -coverts mostly pure white (thus 

 making larger white wing -spot) new outer lesser coverts black with 

 very narrow whitish tips. Abrasion makes upper- and under -parts 

 paler both in winter and summer plumage and in winter streaks 

 on breast become prominent by wear, while brown edgings and 

 tips gradually wear off wing-coverts, which become almost uniform 

 black in summer. 



Adult female. Winter. Like adult male but innermost 

 greater coverts with rather less white at base than in adult male 

 but as in male varying in amount ; inner median and lesser coverts 

 with decidedly less white than in male and apparently never wholly 

 white as some feathers often are in male, some innermost feathers 

 of all the series occasionally with whitish mesial streaks. Moult 

 as in male. Summer. Moult as in male. Plumage as in adult 

 male but superciliary stripe not quite so distinct ; throat, breast 

 and flanks usually rather paler and sometimes with one or two 

 dark spots ; moustachial streak and ear-coverts usually rather 

 browner and less black ; with less white as a whole on inner feathers 

 of all series of wing-coverts thus forming a smaller wing-patch 

 but owing to variable amount of white in individuals of both sexes 

 some examples difficult to distinguish. 



Nestling. Down dark smoke-grey, paler at base, fairly long 

 and plentiful. Distribution, inner supra -orbital, occipital, spinal 

 and humeral : lower portion of spinal without down. Mouth 

 inside pale orange shading to chrome-yellow, no spots ; externally 

 flanges very pale yellow shading to ivory-white. 



Juvenile. Crown black-brown with some rufous-brown marks 

 and each feather with narrow mesial buff or rufous-buff streak ; 

 nape rufous -brown, feathers with pale buff tips ; mantle and 

 scapulars brown-black, feathers with broad rufous edgings and 

 pale buff mesial streaks and tips ; back and rump mottled rufous - 

 buff and black-brown ; upper tail-coverts rufous with buff tips 

 and blackish subterminal marks ; superciliary stripe pale buff 

 much less well defined than in adult ; ear-coverts rufous edged 

 and tipped blackish ; chin and throat pale buff faintly speckled 

 dark brown ; breast buff and rufous -buff, feathers narrowly edged 

 dark brown ; belly and under tail-coverts and under wing-coverts 

 and axillaries pale buff ; tail- and wing-feathers as adult but 

 bases of outer webs of 6th to 9th primaries buff not white and 

 innermost secondaries with considerably less white at base ; 

 primary-coverts black narrowly edged and tipped buff with varying 

 amount of white or pale buff at base ; greater coverts brown-black 

 edged and tipped rufous, innermost one or two feathers with pale 

 buff mesial streak broadening at tip ; median and lesser coverts 

 black- brown with mesial streaks and tips darker and more rufous 

 on outer feathers, paler buff on inner feathers. N.B. More rufous 



2G2 



