115 



Mr. Blyth made some remarks on the plumage and progressive 

 changes of the Crossbills, stating that, contrary to what has ge- 

 nerally been asserted, neither the red nor saffron- tinted garb is in- 

 dicative of any particular age. He had known specimens to acquire 

 a second time the red plumage, and that much brighter than before; 

 and he exhibited to the Meeting two individuals recently shot from 

 a flock in the \'icinity of the metropolis, which were exchanging their 

 striated nestling feathers for the safixon-coloured dress commonly 

 described to be never acquired before the second moulting. 



He also exhibited a Linnet killed during the height of the breeding 

 season, when the crown and breast of that species are ordinarily 

 bright crimson, in which those parts were of the same hue as in 

 many Crossbills ; and observed that the same variations were no- 

 ticeable in the genera Corythraix and Erythrospiza. Mr. Blyth called 

 attention also to the fact, that in the genus Linota the females oc- 

 casionally assumed the red breast, supposed to be peculiar to the 

 other sex, and that they continue to produce eggs when in this 

 livery ; a circumstance very apt to escape attention, as most natu- 

 ralists would at once conclude such specimens to be males without 

 further examination. 



September 25th, 1838. 

 No meeting took place. 



