1-iO BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



with a tinge of yellow; wing-coverts dusky, tipped 

 with dull yellow ; quills dusky ; tertials edged with 

 dull yellow and white ; tail dusky, except the two 

 outer feathers on each side, which are white, with a 

 dusky border on the inner web ; chin white, which 

 colour extends under the ear-coverts ; throat, breast, 

 belly and flanks bright yellow (in my specimens the 

 throat and breast differ from the rest of the under 

 parts by having a more orange tinge in them) ; legs, 

 toes and claws black. Yarrell says the olive -green 

 on the back of the male loses the yellow tinge in 

 autumn, and has then more of the green, and that 

 the under surface of the body losing brillianc} r fades 

 to a primrose-yellow. The adult female in the 

 breeding season is much like the male, the under 

 surface of the body, however, being a paler yellow. 

 In autumn the head of the female is mixed with 

 greenish brown ; the throat and breast are buffy 

 white ; belly and under tail-coverts primrose -yellow. 

 The young male in his first autumn plumage 

 resembles the adult female in the breeding season, 

 except that the grey of the head is more mixed 

 with brown and the yellow of the upper part of the 

 breast is clouded with brown and buffy orange ; in 

 the following spring the grey feathers of the head 

 exhibit a slight mixture of olive-green, and the chin 

 is yellow, which in the more adult male is white. 

 The young female in spring has the head and ear- 

 coverts greyish brown; the chin and throat buffy 



