72 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vii. 



of the plumage not being renewed as a rule until the 

 chief moult in July. On examining a large series of 

 young males between October and July of the first year, 

 the most remarkable variation is noticeable in the time 

 of shedding the tail-feathers. In some examples the 

 worn juvenile-feathers are moulted in October and a 

 new black set is obtained by the 19th of that month, 

 whilst in others they are being renewed in April, and yet 

 in others in July after the birds have passed into their 

 first eclipse-plumage. 



Between October and February the quantity of new 

 plumage acquired by young males by fresh moult is 

 extremely variable, some being as far advanced at the 

 end of October as others by the end of February. 



First stage. — The average young male in November has 

 the crown and sides of the head rich red-brown ; eye-stripe 

 from sandy-yellow to russet-brown ; over the eye a black- 

 brown patch of feathers ; cheeks and sides of the neck 

 almost black ; nape, neck-collar, and upper tail-coverts 

 black ; back and inner scapulars black and white or 

 brown and white intermixed ; chin, front of the neck, 

 lores, and cheeks pale grey-brown, showing small blackish 

 markings ; upper-chest white with black edgings or bro\^'n 

 bars ; sides of the upper-chest and feathers on flanks that 

 cover the wings black. The wings, mantle, rump, and lower- 

 parts usually retain the juvenile-plumage, but fade con- 

 siderably as the season advances. Many examples, however, 

 assume a large number of black feathers, from the lower 

 portion of the white-and-cream chest-shield to the rump. 



So the advance continues — new feathers coming in and 

 old ones " wearing " and moulting — to April, when the young 

 male seems to have effected all the plumage -change he will 

 do until the eclipse-plumage commences. 



Second Stage. — By the middle of April many advanced 

 young males have the whole of the chin, chest, and nape 

 white and cream-buff as in old birds ; the crown and sides 

 of the back of the head remain reddish-brown, the black 

 patches above, below, and in front of the eye to the bill are 

 generally half -changed* ; the sea-green patch over and 



* The change when it takes place on the crown, as it does in a few 

 advanced birds, is effected by a wearing process. The red-brown 

 tips wear off and the proximal parts of the feathers, which are black 

 with a blue gloss, are revealed. 



