208 BLACKBIRD. 



quarters; bill, bright orange, as also are the eyelids and the 

 mouth, the colour paler in the winter; iris, dark brown. The 

 head, crown, neck, nape, chin, throat, breast, and back, are 

 all deep black. The wings, when closed, extend one third 

 down the tail; they expand to the width of one foot four 

 inches; the primaries are dark brown until the second moult; 

 the first quill feather is extremely short and narrow, the 

 second a little shorter than the third, the third nearly as 

 long as the fourth, which is the longest in the wing, and 

 the fifth scarcely shorter. The tail is black, rather long, and 

 slightly rounded; legs, dusky brown; the toes also dusky 

 brown; the second and fourth are of nearly equal length, the 

 first longer, the third a good deal longer, and attached to 

 the fourth as far as the second joint; legs, dusky brown; 

 claws, dusky brown: they are long, and slightly grooved on 

 the sides. 



Female; length, ten inches; the bill, generally dark brown, 

 paler towards the edges, never becomes yellow for more than 

 two thirds of its length, unless it may be in very aged birds; 

 in some it is much darker than in others, being almost entirely 

 black; iris, dark brown; the edges of the eyelids are greenish 

 orange. The forehead is paler than the other parts; head, 

 crown, neck on the back, and nape, blackish brown; the neck 

 is also paler on the sides; chin and throat, brownish white, 

 and the neck in front dull light reddish or fulvous brown, 

 with obscure dusky triangular-shaped spots. The breast varies 

 much in different individuals; in some the colours are much 

 blended together, and in others it is pale, more or less 

 distinctly spotted with dark brown; back, blackish brown. 



The wings extend to the width of one foot three inches; 

 primaries, deep blackish brown. Tail, brownish black, the 

 outer webs of the feathers edged with brown; upper tail 

 coverts, darker than the rest of the back. Toes, dusky 

 brown; claws, darker. 



In the young the bill is reddish grey; the corners of 

 the mouth and the eyelids, dull orange; the upper parts 

 are blackish brown, each feather having a central spot or 

 streak of pale rufous; the under parts are light rufous 

 brown, the feathers tipped with dark spots. The full adult 

 plumage is not acquired until after the second autumnal 

 moult. The young female is not so dark as the male, and 

 the dark spots are less distinct. 



.In the adult male the lower parts are sometimes tinged 



