136 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vn. 



tail-coverts glossy purple ; vent sooty-black ; tibial- feathers glossy 

 purplish-green ; tail as in the juvenile but of a more browny-black 

 underneath and with some of the gloss above lost by abrasion ; under 

 wing-coverts and axillaries sooty-black with some purplish gloss ; 

 primaries and secondaries as in the juvenile, but of a more brownish- 

 black underneath and with some of the gloss above lost by abrasion ; 

 bastard-wing, primary-coverts, and greater coverts as in the juvenile, 

 but with some of the gloss lost by abrasion, except in the two iimermost 

 greater coverts which are new ; tnedian and lesser wing-coverts glossy 

 piu-ple. 



N.B. — The bases of the body-feathers and the vuider-down are of 

 a paler brownish-grey than in the juvenile, i.e. not so brown, more 

 grey. The structure of all the body-feathers is closer and more 

 compact. 



First Summer-plumage. — ^Acquired by abrasion and 

 fading, except for the nasal and gape bristles and the 

 feathers at the bases of the lower mandibles and on the 

 lores, chin and upper-throat, which are moulted as 

 described in Part I. 



Even by January the greater wing-coverts, secondaries, 

 and tips of the primaries are becoming brown and losing 

 their gloss, while by April and May they are very brown 

 with little or no gloss, and the under-wing is also brown. 

 The tail also loses its gloss but does not get so brown 

 as the wings. 



The Rook does not breed in its first summer. 



Second Winter-plumage. — ^Acquired by a complete 

 moult, which commences early in May and is not complete 

 until the middle of September. The order of the moult 

 is as follows : Primaries, beginning at the tenth and 

 proceeding very gradually to the first, each primary- 

 covert being moulted with its primary.'^ It is not until 

 the middle of June that the moult extends beyond the 

 primaries and primary-coverts, and by this time only 

 haK the primaries have moulted ; the greater wing- 

 coverts then moult, and unhke the primary-coverts these 

 all drop together (Plate 11) ; about the same time the upper 

 tail-coverts begin, the secondaries and tail follow, and 



* The same primary in each wing is moulted at the same time, and 

 the new feather has always started growing before the next primary 

 falls. 



