212 BRITISH BIRDS. 



the feathers broadly edged with a light colour, giving 

 it a most distinctive appearance, it may be duller than 

 the adult, or it may be totally unlike it. 

 After discussing the Juvenile plumage our plan will be 

 to describe the succeeding plumages of the young bird 

 until it becomes indistinguishable from the adult. The 

 next plumage to consider in the great majority of birds 

 will be the 



First Winter-Plumage. — This is acquired by a moult — 

 in some species of a complete, and in others of a 

 partial nature. Many birds, for example, moult all 

 the body-feathers but not those of the wings and tail ; 

 others moult all except the remiges ; while others have 

 a complete moult. In some species the first winter 

 resembles the adult winter-plumage ; in others there are 

 slight points of difference ; while in others the plumage 

 is still markedly different. Continuing we shall proceed 

 to describe the 

 First Summer-Plumage, 

 Second Winter-Plumage, 

 Second Summer-Plumage, 



and so on, until the bird becomes adult, when we shall 

 proceed to the moults and plumages of the adult, begin- 

 ning with the 



Adult Winter-Plumage. — This is invariably acquired 

 by a complete moult and is succeeded by the 



Adult Summer-Plumage. — This in some cases has much 

 the same appearance as the previous plumage ; in others 

 it is different, and is acquired by a complete moult, 

 by a partial moult, or by abrasion and loss of certain 

 parts of the feathers — a process which sometimes 

 causes as striking a change in the bird's appearance as 

 in cases where a complete moult has been undergone. 

 In the large majority of cases the Sequence of Plumages 



will thus be complete, but in a few species it will be 



necessary to discuss other and intermediate plumages. 



