WHITETHBOAT. 109 



The female is of duller hue altogether, and is nearly without 

 the rose tint on the breast. 



The young, when fledged, have the bill less dusky than in 

 the old birds, and there is a light space between it and the 

 eye; the breast is greyish white, tinged with brown; the back 

 and all the upper parts are of a uniform reddish brown; the 

 quill feathers more broadly margined with light red; the side 

 tail feathers reddish white; the shafts dusky. 



Mr. Macgillivray writes, 'Individuals shot in May vary little 

 in their colours, and are generally in full plumage, with the 

 tips and edges of the feathers entire. It is therefore certain 

 that this species moults in its southern residence. Individuals, 

 however, occur in which some of the old feathers remain. I 

 have before me, on the 25th. of May, 1837, two specimens 

 recently shot. In the female the plumage is all new and 

 perfect; the tail considerably rounded, the two middle feathers 

 being longest, the lateral three eighths of an inch shorter; 

 while the male, although otherwise fresh, has one of the middle 

 tail feathers quite ragged, half of the outer web being worn 

 off, and the other middle feather growing, and shorter than 

 the lateral, both which are also unrenewed; the wings and 

 the rest of the plumage are perfect. As the season advances, 

 the colours fade, and the feathers are more or less worn; the 

 upper parts assume a greyer tint, and the lower a more dusky 

 hue, the reddish colour on the fore-neck becoming more con- 

 spicuous; the red edgings on the quills are sometimes almost 

 obliterated, and the head is much darker. In specimens shot 

 in July the tail feathers are often in a singularly ragged 

 condition, especially the two middle and the lateral.' 



