52 



A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



considered by many to be a stage of plumage connected with age 

 but moulting specimens prove that such birds are rufous 

 throughout life. Whole upper-parts rich chestnut each feather 

 broadly barred black-brown, feathers of rump and upper tail- 

 coverts with bars broken and spot-like or absent, upper tail-coverts 

 usually tipped greyish -white ; ear-coverts and sides of neck paler 

 chestnut with whitish bases to the feathers ; chin, throat and breast 

 more or less tinged rufous -buff, each feather barred black-brown ; 

 rest of under -parts as normal female but usually tinged buff ; 

 tail-feathers broadly and unevenly barred black and chestnut with 

 a very broad black penultimate bar and white tips and spots as in 

 normal female ; primaries and secondaries black-brown with broken 

 tooth -like bars on both webs chestnut except on outer edges and 

 at bases of inner webs where they are white ; primary -coverts 

 black-brown with chestnut spots at tips and on outer webs ; rest 

 of wing -co verts as upper -parts. 



Nestling. — No down. Skin rather dark on head, paler on 

 back. Mouth inside orange, externally flanges yellow (J. H. Owen). 



Juvenile. Male and female. — Upper-parts of two distinct, 

 but rather variable, types, one grey-brown to dark brownish -slate 

 not distinctly barred, the 

 other barred rufous- 

 brown. First type : fore- 

 head and crown dark 

 brown to dark brownish - 

 slate, feathers narrowly 

 edged greyish- to bumsh- 

 white often with a few 

 white feathers in centre 

 of crown and with buffish 

 spots or bars in middle 

 portion of feathers, back 

 of neck same but with 

 pale buff or whitish bars 

 more prominent ; patch 

 of white on nape ; mantle 



and scapulars as crown but centre of mantle often greyer ; back, 

 rump and upper tail-coverts purer grey, distinctly tipped white and 

 lower and longer upper tail-coverts browner and barred white, or 

 rufous and white ; chin, throat, ear-coverts and sides of neck dull 

 white very heavily barred brown -black ; breast and belly as adults 

 but usually tinged buff ; under tail-coverts in some with scarcely 

 any bars or spots, in others with bars as breast ; tail : sometimes 

 much as adults but with larger white spots, but usually with narrow 

 and irregular chestnut-brown bars in addition to white spots ; 

 primaries and secondaries black-brown tipped white, with tooth- 

 like bars on both webs but not reaching shaft, chestnut-brown on 

 outer and distal portion of inner webs and wnite on rest of inner 



Juvenile Cuckoo (Cuculus c. canorus). 



