NO. 4.] THE FIRST SUMMER IN THE ICE. 17 



If the ordinary breeding-time for Rhodostethia can be placed at the 

 beginning of July, the specimen described by Nelson will have been about 

 three months old^. 



The eight young birds from the 'Fram' Expedition corresponded with one 

 another in all essential particulars'^. Some were rather less pure in colour 

 than others, and might be supposed to have been a few days younger; but 

 on the whole, the plumage was such as is worn by a young bird just 

 old enough to fly. The neck-feathers, for instance, were still soft and half 

 downy. 



Description of Young Bird (about one month old). (See Plate). 

 The whole of the upper surface of the body {i. e. the upper surface of the 

 head and neck, starting from the base of the bill, and including the shoulder, 

 the interscapular region and the tertiaries) chiefly brownish black, with a 

 more or less whitish colour intermingled, the inner part of the feathers being 

 for the most part white, the outer brownish black. The crown, and the nape 

 of the neck are the darkest, as there the dark outer margins of the feathers 

 (in some specimens) almost completely cover one another. 



All the back and shoulder feathers end (beyond the outer dark portion 

 of the feathers) with a narrow border of pale pinkish grey. 



The sides of the head are whitish; round the eyes the colour is dark, 

 and a dark patch extends over the region of the ears, lighter in some spe- 

 cimens, and faintly defined, in others more distinctly brownish black. 



The throat and abdomen are white. On the newly-shot specimen, Nansen 

 found on the abdomen a scarcely perceptible shade of orange-red. A brownish 

 black band runs right across the breast, broader and more marked in some 

 specimens than in others. The reason of this band is that the feathers there 



1 It appears from the figure given by Nelson, that the plumage in his specimen has al- 

 ready undergone some change from its very earliest young-bird's plumage {such as 

 the 'Fram' specimens still wore). The colours, as a whole, have become lighter and 

 purer, and a few originally dark markings have disappeared. Several pure white 

 feathers, for instance, have appeared on the back; the cap has become lighter, and the 

 dark band across the breast has disappeared. 



As Nelson states (1. c. p. 55) that the number of tail-feathers is ten, his specimen 

 must have been imperfect: their number is twelve. . , ,. • , v. i tk. 



2 Seven of the specimens were preserved as skins, and the.r bodies ^n alcohol. Ihe 

 eighth of which the head was nearly shot off, was placed in spirit. The whole col- 

 lection was presented by Nansen to the University Museum in Christiania. 



3 



