1020 DH. K, A. WILSON dV TIIIC [.JllUC 11, 



coverts all coiniik'tely.iU'W, luid in the t.-iil the lOctiictN an^ fiiU- 

 gi'own. 



The legs and feet are now also fully feathered, though the 

 thickness of the gi-owth iucieases hs the wintei- fold comes on. 



On the hack the l)ird iiow looks fi-esh and richly coloured, from 

 head to tail, but a close search will always disclose a numher of 

 ppring-pluniage feathers which have still to be thrown ott'. 



Beneath, the lich red-cojiper colour is gra<lually replacing all 

 the previous bull" on the chin and throat. The change hangs lire 

 a little on the neck and ujiper breast, but it is still progressing. 

 Whereas on the lower breast and belly the i-ich red or daiker 

 winter-pluniage with its beautiful fine black cross-lines an<l jane 

 white flecks is a very striking feature. 



Theie are, in the Committee's collection of .skins, a number of 

 examples .showing the result of disease in deferring the moidt ; 

 many of these bix-ds, even in Octolier and November, have made 

 no eftbrt to get rid of the old, faded and completely worn-out 

 spring-plumage. The majority of these birds have been so 

 di.seased in spring that they have not bred at all. The ovaries 

 have throughout tChe .sea.son shown no development at all, and 

 there are no signs, even in the earlier months, of the shedding or 

 development of ova oi" of any increase in size of the oviduct. 

 They h.ave been tru^ bairen hens. 



In .some cases (e. ■ ■'. in No. 1247) there ai-e feathers of three 

 separate plumages i»i N()vend)er. Tliere are the faded spiing- 

 plumage feathers of the current year, but mixed up with them 

 here and there are new feathers of the .autumn-plumage coming, 

 and here and there exceedingly old worn feathers of the autinun- 

 plumage of the year before. 



No. 1225, an October hen, shows exceedingly well how the 

 bare bi'oody patch of the abdomeii grows delayed broad-barred 

 hufl:' and black feathers, instead of the fine- barred dar! -vutumn- 

 j)lumage feathers M'hich suri'ound the patch, These'broad-ltarred 

 feathers appear in two pai'allel rows, breaking through the skin 

 of the broody patch on either side of the median line ; thi."* 

 growth is also well shown in a specimen at the British ]\Iu.seum 

 of Natural Hi.stoi'V, Avhicii .shoAvs the point exceptionallv well 

 (PI LXXXIX.). 



In iVor^embei' the chief alteration is the conipletion of iho 

 autumn-moult and the assumption of the autniun -plnmagc. 'I'lie 

 feathers of the upperparts have Idack middles. ;iii(l are haired 

 with rufous-chestnut and ornamented Mith the chaiacteristic 

 white or buft'-coloui-ed terminal .spot. 



In fJeccmher the hen is in full autumn-winter pltnnage. 



On the legs and feet .she is well and thickly feathered ; and on 

 the under side, the chin and throat are dai'k red, as well as the 

 f( re-neck, and marked with broader black bars than upon the lower 

 breast and abdomen, where the marking is of the finer tvj)e and 

 the Cf^lour distinctly nf the rerldtM- and darker aiitumn j>luninge. 



