324 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the tail just as in Mr. Harting's specimen. The under tail- 

 coverts are cream-white ; only the longest of them are spotted 

 and streaked with black. The whole of the under parts from 

 breast to vent white barred with blackish, but not so distinct as 

 in the grey bird. Irides brownish yellow ; bill horn-brown, paler 

 at the base ; gape, legs, and toes pale orange-yellow. 



My second bird, procured on May 17th, has the whole of the 

 head, chin, and throat grey, as in the adult ; the neck and breast 

 reddish, barred with blackish, but much fainter than in the first 

 bird. The wings are a greyish brown, with the faintest trace 

 only of reddish spots. The scapulars are grey, with only a tinge 

 of brown ; the back and rump is that of an adult bird, and the 

 tail has lost nearly all the hepatic colour and almost resembles 

 that of the adult. The under parts are white, more distinctly 

 barred with black than in the first example, and almost as boldly 

 as in the adult grey bird. The under tail-coverts are creamy 

 white, all of them spotted and barred with black. The irides 

 more distinctly yellow. Bill blackish horn, paler on the edges ; 

 gape bright orange ; tarsi and toes dull yellow. 



Here, then, we have the gradual fading away of the hepatic 

 plumage as in Mr. Harting's distinctly red bird shot in April, to 

 one almost grey obtained on May 17th, and I have no doubt that 

 by the first week in June all trace of the red stage would have 

 vanished. 



A full-fledged female nestling Cuckoo shot on Aug. 6th, 1895, 

 measures 12j in., one of those shot in May measures 12f in., so 

 that there is practically no increased growth between the young 

 birds of August and what we may call the adult of May, for both 

 adults and young which I have measured vary to the extent of 

 half an inch. 



This immature female bird and the specimen procured on 

 May 4th, when compared, show all the markings in common, and 

 it is easy to see how the darker red of the young bird might 

 gradually fade away and leave the light red of the hepatic stage. 

 Then compare the second bird with the first and with one in full 

 grey plumage, and the gradual fading away of the hepatic stage 

 is unmistakably manifest. 



The rarity of Cuckoos in the hepatic condition of plumage in 

 England, — and I have no doubt as to their infrequency, for 

 throughout my long experience of some thirty years these are the 



