272 A HISTORY OF BIRDS 



as in the case of the Starling, and the Gulls and Gannets, or 

 they don a livery differing from that of the parents only in a 

 lack of brilliancy, as in Kingfishers and Crows, for instance. 

 But, in rare cases, the young may even be more brightly coloured 

 than the parents, as for example, in the case of many of the 

 Warblers. In this connection it has been pointed out by Mr. 

 J. L. Bonhote, that the young of many of the Wading-birds 

 (Limicolae) tend to reproduce the rich colours of the adult 

 breeding dress, instead of, as might be expected, the duller 

 colours of the winter dress. But to this point we must return 

 later. So far attention does not seem to have been specially 

 drawn to the fact that features peculiar to the summer or 

 breeding dress of one species may be reproduced by an allied 

 species only during its immature stages, as, for example, in 

 the case of the "hood" of the Black-headed Gull {Larus 

 ridibundus), which is worn only by this bird for a few weeks 

 preceding and during the nesting season, and is therefore a 

 certain sign of maturity ; while in Scoresby's Gull {Leucophceus 

 scoresbil) it is as certainly a sign of immaturity, since it is 

 worn only by young birds in their first year. Underlying 

 these facts, however, are certain others for which no explana- 

 tion is forthcoming at present. Briefly they are as follows: 

 The Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus) when immature 

 has, among other characters, a dark subterminal bar across 

 the tail, and in the adult a wholly white tail, with, as we have 

 remarked, a brown hood during the breeding season. In the 

 Large-billed Gull {Larus crassirostris) of China and Japan the 

 adult has a dark subterminal tail bar and a white head through- 

 out the year, but the young have the head striated to form a 

 more or less distinct hood. This last character is recalled in 

 the winter dress of the Herring-gull {Larus argentatus) and 

 appears again as the summer dress of the Common Gull {Larus 

 canus), though the streaks are sparse, and cannot be said 

 exactly to form a hood in these two birds. 



Similarly, among the Cormorants we find that the Common 

 Cormorant {Phalacrocorax graculus) in its breeding plumage — 

 which is assumed in February and lasts till May — develops 

 a crest and a white throat, white filoplumes on the neck and a 

 white patch on the thigh. But in the closely allied Shag, in 

 the nuptial dress — which is also worn from February till May — 



