46 STURNID.E. 



The whole length of the bird eight inches and a half. 

 From the carpal joint to the end of the wing, five inches 

 and one-eighth : the first feather very short, not more than 

 half an inch in length ; the second feather the longest in 

 the wing ; the third but little shorter than the second ; the 

 fourth one quarter of an inch shorter than the third ; the 

 other primary quills diminishing regularly in succession, 

 each about a quarter of an inch shorter than the quill- 

 feather which precedes it. 



A male in his second summer having moulted but once, 

 has not acquired the fine yellow beak, and both the upper 

 and under surface of the body are varied by a greater num- 

 ber of light-coloured spots. Very old males acquire an ad- 

 ditional number of spots at their autumnal moult, which 

 they carry through the winter to the commencement of the 

 following spring, when the light-coloured tips being many 

 of them worn off, and the beak becoming yellow, they pre- 

 sent the appearance first described. 



Young birds of the year, before their first autumnal 

 moult, are of a uniform greyish brown colour ; the throat 

 white, and a tinge of white on the belly and vent ; the 

 feathers of the wings and tail darker brown, with light 

 reddish brown edges. In this stage the young Starling has 

 been called the Solitary Thrush, and has also been con- 

 sidered the young of another Continental species. Mon- 

 tagu^s specimen being still preserved in his collection at the 

 British Museum, no doubt remains that his bird was 

 nothing more than a young Starling before the commence- 

 ment of its first moult. During the first moult, which 

 occurs in its first autumn, the plumage of the young Star- 

 ling presents a curious mixture, the feathers appearing in 

 patches, some of plain brown, and others of the dark colour 

 of the second dress. 



