336 



BEITISH BIRDS. 



toeSj and claws dark brown. The female in general coloration resembles 

 the malCj except that the rich orange-chestnut throat is replaced by buff, 

 and the bluish grey is wanting on the head and sides of the neck. 



Males of the year scarcely differ from the female, and breed in the 

 following spring in immature plumage {M. minuta). In the second year 

 the chestnut appears on the throat {M. leucura) ; in the third year the 

 chestnut appears on the upper breast {M. parva) ; and in the fourth year it 

 extends also onto the lower breast, in which plumage they are the M. 

 hyperythra of Cabanis apud Brooks. Young in first plumage are spotted 

 on the breast and upper parts, as in all the allied species ; but this plumage 

 is of course moulted before the birds migrate. 



It is needless to say that this bird, like all the rest of its genus, has twelve 

 tail-feathers, though Newton, in his edition of YarrelFs ' British Birds,' 

 represents it as only having ten. This is doubtless a misprint ; for every 

 ornithologist will admit that Professor Newton compensates his readers for 

 the slowness of his work by its accuracy. 



