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Obs. The advance towards maturity, as exhibited by the foregoing bird, when compared with the tiny 

 nestling first described, may be briefly summed up as follows : — The general colour of the plumage is 

 browner, with the ochre shaft-stripes more developed on the back, but not so broad on the wing-coverts ; 

 the rump is mottled with pale buff; the wing is washed with bronzy brown ; the chest is rich ochre, 

 and the black spots are not so confused as in the nestling bird, but are more clearly separated, those on 

 the lower part of the breast being much smaller and more rounded. The next stage to be described is 

 the full-grown young bird. 



Young {fully grown). Head and neck dull grey, washed with olive-brown, and mottled with blackish on the 

 forehead, where the black centres to the feathers show plainly ; interscapulary region, as well as the 

 scapulars, dull chestnut-brown, with ochre shaft-stripes, much plainer on the latter, where they occupy 

 the centre of the feather, and widen out into an oval drop towards the apex, which is narrowly edged 

 with black j wing-coverts dark brown, with a bright ochre shaft-stripe and yellowish edgings, the 

 greater coverts shaded with bronzy brown and tipped with fulvous ; quills blackish, washed externally 

 with bronzy brown, which occupies the whole outer web of the inner secondaries ; lower part of the 

 back and rump dull grey, strongly tinged with ochre, especially on the tail-coverts, and showing the 

 remains of pale mottling ; tail blackish, shading into brown towards the tip of the outermost feathers, 

 ■which are narrowly edged with whitish ; on the under surface, however, all the feathers more or less 

 plainly shade off into a silvery white towards the apex ; lores and an indistinct eyebrow dull ochre ; 

 feathers in front of and under the eye blackish ; ear-coverts dull grey, with a tinge of ochre and brown, 

 and mottled with cross bars of black ; cheeks rich ochre, with little black markings which collect on 

 the lower side and form a tolerably distinct moustachial stripe, running along each side of the throat ; 

 under surface of the body rich ochre, shading off into white on the lower part of the breast and 

 abdomen ; the throat almost unspotted, but showing a trace of one or two blackish markings on the 

 centre ; the breast thickly covered with black spots, which become smaller and fewer in number towards 

 the abdomen, till on the belly they are quite obsolete; the under tail-coverts whitish, with a few 

 blackish markings at the base ; under wing-coverts whitish, with a few black mottlings on the edge of 

 the wing; bill dark horn-brown, the lower mandible yellowish at the base; feet dark fleshy-brown. 

 Total length 9'5 inches, culmeu 08, wing 5'4, tail 3'8, tarsus 1'3. 



Obs. In this stage of plumage the young Fieldfare very much resembles the Song-Thrush, especially in the 

 pointed ends to the tail-feathers, a character which disappears afterwards, when the rectrices become 

 rounded ; and it further resembles the last-named bird in the spotted appearance of the breast. When 

 compared with the advanced nestling last described, its progress towards maturity is marked by the grey 

 shade on the head and rump, as well as by the clearer development of the eyebrow and ear-coverts. 

 The specimen last noticed is a young male, beautifully prepared by Herr W. Meves, and obtained by 

 him in Upland on the 5th of August, 1871. A female procured on the same occasion differs in the 

 following particulars, viz. in having the dorsal feathers edged with black (in the male only the scapulars 

 show this peculiarity), while the hinder part of the neck exhibits the remains of whitish shaft-stripes, 

 and the breast is more thickly spotted with black markings, which also cover the abdomen. As all 

 these characters show that the bird is not quite so advanced, it is probable that the male attains 

 maturity a short time before the female. The plumage gets much worn as the autumn progresses, and 

 the bird moults into its winter dress, which is first shown by the appearance of bright golden-buff 

 feathers on the breast, and the gradual disappearance of the ochre shaft-stripes on the back. The 

 following is the description of a young bird of the year in its first winter's livery. 



Young Male (in first winter plumage) . Upper surface of the body didl brown, inclining to chestnut in the 

 centre of the back ; the nape and rump greyish, this shade of colour also extending to the upper tail- 



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