394 BRITISH BIRDS. 



First Winter- Plum age. Acquired by a complete moult, 

 with the exception of the remiges, rectrices, primary-coverts 

 and the greater wing-coverts (two or three of the innermost 

 greater wing-coverts are moulted). 



MALE. Whole head blackish, the feathers with pale rufous-brown 

 edgings and faint, pale tips ; mantle and scapulars as the head, but 

 the feathers with broader edgings and more conspicuous tips ; rump 

 pale rufous, with mesial blackish streaks and faint, pale tips to the 

 feathers ; upper tail-coverts rufous-brown, with a variable amount of 

 blackish markings and with pale tips ; superciliary stripe and line from 

 base of bill pale bumsh-white ; lores buff -brown ; ear-coverts pale 

 brown ; moustachial streak of dark brown, surmounting a small buffish- 

 white patch ; chin bumsh-white ; upper-throat pale buff ; sides of neck 

 pale brown ; lower-throat and breast deeper buff, with pale edges and 

 tips to the feathers and a few scattered dark spots ; belly pale buff ; 

 flanks rather darker buff ; under tail-coverts pale buff ; tail, primaries and 

 secondaries as in the Juvenile Plumage, but with the edges of the 

 feathers slightly worn ; primary -coverts as in the Juvenile Plumage ; 

 greater wing-coverts as in the Juvenile Plumage, except the innermost 

 two or three, which are new and have white bases and huffish tips, the 

 innermost feather having more white than the others ; median and lesser 

 wing-coverts blackish, with buffish edgings, the innermost of the series 

 being paler on the edges, and usually showing a varying amount of 

 white. 



FEMALE. Resembles the male, but may be distinguished by the 

 innermost two or three greater wing-coverts having no white and being 

 like the rest of the series, except that they have paler and broader tips 

 and edges, though sometimes the juvenile feathers are retained ; 

 by the median and lesser wing-coverts having no white in the feathers 

 of the inner series, these being instead blackish with pale greyish tips ; 

 and by the breast nearly always having more spots. 



N.B. — The coloration of the throat and breast varies in both sexes. 

 By the end of January this plumage in both sexes is much worn, the 

 buff edgings of the feathers are partly worn off and partly faded to 

 greyish, and the dark part of the plumage is dark brown, and the 

 under-parts paler. 



First Summer- Plumage. Acquired by moult (in 

 February), which includes all the feathers except the rectrices, 

 remiges, primary-coverts, and most of the greater wing- 

 coverts : the innermost two or three greater wing-coverts 

 with a variable number of the median and lesser coverts are 

 renewed. 



MALE. The whole of the xipperside does not materially differ from 

 that in the First Winter-Plumage, except that the edges of the feathers 

 are paler ; superciliary stripe and the line from base of bill white and 

 very distinct ; lores dusky ; ear-coverts dark brown ; a moustachial 

 streak of black surmounts a white streak running from the chin to 

 sides of neck ; chin white ; upper and lower-throat and breast rich 

 rufous-buff with no spots ; flanks and under tail-coverts buffish-white ; 

 belly whitish ; rectrices, remiges and primary-coverts as in the First 

 Winter-Plumage, but paler, and with nearly all the edgings worn off ; 

 greater wing-coverts, the innermost two or three new and white, with a 



