56 FAMILIAR WILD BIRDS. 



The female is not quite so large as the male, but differs 

 in no other respect. The young bird may be known by the 

 broad edgings to the wing coverts, and a black spot, with a 

 white tip, at the end of the smaller coverts, and are 

 of a more golden tinge. This distinction is lost after 

 the first moult, which takes place about August. They 

 are of a light yellowish grey colour, the upper feathers 

 being dusky, tipped and margined with the former. In 

 the second plumage the dark markings are darker than in 

 the old birds and the bill and feet paler, the claws and hind 

 toe shorter. Varieties sometimes occur some are pure 

 white, others cream colour, and some mottled with white. 



