GREY WAGTAIL. 
lower part of the back, are fine golden or ranunculus-yellow; 
the upper tail-coverts yellow, tinged with olive. The quill- 
feathers of the wings, and the greater and lesser coverts of the 
same are dusky, bordered with a paler tint of dusky-grey ; 
the secondaries and tertials are dusky, inclining to black, with 
white borders along the outer web. The six middle feathers 
of the tail are dusky-black, slightly bordered towards the 
base with yellow; the outer feather on each side is white, 
the two next the same, except a narrow border of black upon 
the outer web, towards the base. The beak is dusky, the 
edges of the mandibles paler; the iris is dusky ; the legs 
and feet flesh-colour. 
The above is the dress of the adult male in the short 
period of the breeding season. At the autumnal moult, the 
black feathers of the throat are exchanged for white, and 
the upper part of the breast is tinged with rufous ; the bright 
yellow feathers of the breast, belly, and flanks give place to 
white, clouded with pale sulphur. As spring advances, the 
under parts become richer in colour, and the basal parts 
of the throat-feathers become black; this colour gradually 
encroaches upon the white until it again occupies the whole 
feather. 
The colours of the female are paler and less clean than 
those of the male, and she is believed not to attain the 
black throat until after the lapse of several years. The 
young birds in autumn much resemble the adult at that 
season. Nestlings, before the first autumnal moult, have 
the grey of the back strongly tinged with olive, and the 
streak over the eye indistinct and soiled with yellow. 
The upper figure in Plate 86 represents an adult male in 
the breeding season; the lower figure the same, after the 
autumnal moult, from a specimen shot on the Thames, to¬ 
wards the end of September. 
The egg figured 86 is that of the Grey Wagtail. 
