430 
2 
upper tail-coverts ash-grey or pale blue-grey ; underparts pale brownish grey ; forehead and sides of 
the crest reddish chestnut ; from the base of the bill passing through and above the eye a broad jet- 
black streak, which on the nape is hidden by the long crest which covers the crown; quills blackish, 
the outer web towards the tip white on the outer primaries and yellow on the inner ones, the inner web 
broadly tipped with white; secondaries blackish grey, the outer web towards the tip pure white, all 
terminated by a narrow oblique expansion of the prolonged shaft resembling red sealing-wax ; primary 
coverts broadly terminated with white, smaller coverts and scapulars similar to the back; tail grey at 
the base, black towards the tip, and terminated by a broad bar of pure yellow; several of the tail- 
feathers have the wax-like appendages, though but comparatively very slightly developed; throat glossy 
black, bordered at the base of the mandible by white, and on the sides below by pale rufous; under 
tail-coverts rich brownish or orange-red ; bill blackish horn, lighter at the base; legs black; iris rich 
reddish brown. Total length 8 inches, culmen 0:65, wing 4°55, tail 2°8, tarsus 0°8. 
Adult Female. Scarcely distinguishable from the male, except that the wax-like appendages to the secondaries 
are usually smaller and fewer, the black on the throat is not so clearly defined, and the yellow on the 
tail is narrower ; none of these characters, however, appear invariably to hold good. 
Nestling (Archangel, 9th August). Bears a general resemblance to the adult bird, but is much paler in 
colour, and has the underparts greyish buff, streaked with yellowish buff, the abdomen being dull 
yellowish buff; under tail-coverts pale orange-brown; head without any reddish brown shading as in 
the adult, and but slightly crested; the black mark through the eye very slight, and that on the throat 
wanting; the red tips are on five of the secondaries, but the inner webs of the secondaries are without 
any terminal band of white; beak dull light horn-colour; legs pale fleshy grey. 
Obs. The young birds, which I obtained near Ulea&borg, and which were figured by Mr. Gould in his 
‘Birds of Great Britain,’ are younger than the specimens above described, and somewhat paler in 
colour, but otherwise agree closely with it. 
The summer plumage differs but slightly from that worn in the winter; but the head is paler, the rufous 
colour on the forehead is not so dark, and the crest is lighter than the nape, whereas in winter it is 
usually darker; and the entire summer plumage has a faint wash of yellowish red, which makes it look 
rather duller than the full winter garb. 
Obs. I cannot find any constant distinctive character by which the female can be distinguished. It has 
been supposed that she never has the terminal white band on the inner web of the secondaries; but I 
have found not a few old females having this very fully developed. The female appears, however, to 
obtain the full plumage much later than the male; and I have never found one with more than seven 
wax-like appendages to the secondaries, whereas some of the males have eight. One curious circum- 
stance is that my nestling birds have these wax-like appendages more developed than they are in many 
full-grown though evidently still young birds, both males and females by dissection. My friend 
Mr. H. Seebohm, who has paid considerable attention to this question, takes a somewhat different view 
of it to what I do, and writes to me as follows :— 
“he difference in plumage between the sexes has been an object of special interest to me for some years ; 
and I have never lost an opportunity of examining any skins of these birds that came in my way, both in this 
country and on the Continent. From a comparison of the various specimens in breeding-plumage which 
have come under my notice, chiefly collected by Mr. Wheelwright at Quickjock, and those shot in this 
country, which are of course all in winter dress, I can detect no difference whatever between the summer 
and winter plumage of the Waxwing. ‘The finest specimens which I have seen are in the hands of my friend 
Mr. Samuel Gardner, of Sheffield, selected by himself from thousands of these birds, exposed for sale as food 
