THE KESTREL. 121 



grey with no red) tips buff to creamy -white, brown-black sub- 

 terminal band, rest of feather narrowly and rather closely barred 

 l)rown-black, bars sometimes absent from, or reduced to spots on 

 distal portion ; primaries much as adult male but inner feathers 

 wdth more rufous bars ; secondaries barred rufous and brown with 

 white edging to inner webs ; primary-coverts black-brown barred 

 rufous ; greater coverts as barred scapulars ; median and lesser 

 coverts barred and spotted as mantle. Moult as adult male. 



Nestling (Plate 3) . — At first rather thinly covered with rather 

 short doivn (a) and very short down (b) both white. Cere, lores, 

 round eyes and patch at sides of neck bare. Later thickly covered 

 with longer and coarser down (c) which replaces down (b) (exactly 

 as in Peregrine, see p. 108). Down (c) pale bufhsh-grey on upper- 

 parts and still paler on under -parts. 



Juvenile. Male and female. — Upper -parts as adult female 

 but mantle, scapulars and wing-coverts more widely and evenly 

 barred dark brown to blackish-brown, back, rump and upper tail- 

 coverts as mantle but paler and sometimes with a tinge of grey 

 at base ; under-parts as adult female but more widely streaked 

 with a rather paler shade of brown ; tail rufous as rest of upper- 

 parts, usually without any grey but occasionally with a tinge of 

 grey at base, evenly barred brown -black, width of bars varying 

 individually but usually fairly broad ; wing-feathers as adult female. 



First winter and summer. Male. — As in adult moult is gradual 

 and some individuals commence much later than others. Moreover, 

 moult even of body -feathers is usually very incomplete, while wing- 

 coverts are often not moulted at all and never completely ; wing- 

 feathers are not moulted, but occasionally one or two tail-feathers are, 

 but this is probabty accidental. Moult extends from Aug. to April. 

 Plumage is thus always a mixture, number of new feathers varying 

 greatly individually. New feathers of crown and nape rufous, 

 often, but not always, with grey tinge and rather finely streaked 

 black-brown, other new feathers much as adult male but those of 

 mantle, scapulars, breast and wing-coverts with longer brown-black 

 spots and sometimes with broad bars. Easily distinguished from 

 adult female by mixture of plumage and by new feathers of mantle 

 being of a pinker tinge with generally smaller subterminal blackish 

 spots . 



Second winter and summer. Male. — Much like adult male, 

 but crown rufous or heavily washed with rufous and moult of 

 tail and wings apparently frequently incomplete so that some 

 rufous, barred feathers remain even in April and May (i.e. when 

 bird is two years old). Some examples have tail-feathers brownish- 

 grey barred grey-black, and rump and upper tail-coverts brownish- 

 grey with dark centres and often bars ; others have tails pale 

 rufous, more or less tinged grey and with narrow and often in- 

 complete bars. Often much like adult female but new feathers of 

 mantle pinker and with small black spots. 



