176 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



variable in distribution of white and brown, whitest examples have 

 only a few dark brown shaft-streaks chiefly on upper-breast and 

 broad subterminal spots chiefly on flanks and under tail-coverts, 

 other " white " examples have larger and more numerous spots 

 and streaks, most usual variety has narrowly streaked throat and 

 broad brown subterminal bars on feathers of rest of under-parts 

 with dark shaft-streaks on breast, still darker examples have brown 

 throat with dark brown shaft-streaks and rest of under-parts with 

 white mostly obscured by broad dark brown bars or tips, while 

 in some white is almost entirely obscured and whole under-parts 

 are dark chocolate-brown with black shaft-streaks ; tail-feathers 

 brown, narrowly tipped white or brownish-white, with broad black- 

 brown subterminal band and two or three less broad bands on 

 proximal half, brown interspaces with more or less distinct narrow, 

 closely set, wavy, dark brown bars more conspicuous on distal half 

 of feathers, bases of feathers with more or less white : appearance 

 of tail from underneath grey with broad brown bands ; wing- 

 feathers brown narrowly tipped white and basal portions of inner 

 webs white, wide subterminal blackish-brown band and widely 

 spaced similar, but narrower, bands on remaining portion of feathers 

 (outer primaries with long black- brown tips and with white more 

 extensive on inner webs) ; primary- and greater coverts as wing- 

 feathers ; median and lesser coverts as mantle. N.B. — Variations 

 are individual and not connected with sex, age or season. This 

 plumage is acquired by complete moult commencing in July (per- 

 haps June) sometimes complete by September, often not until 

 Dec. and even March or April. 



Nestling. — At first clown (a) long on crown and neck and fairly 

 long on upper -parts with silky hair-like tips, shorter on under- 

 parts. Crown and neck cream-coloured, rest of upper-parts pale 

 huffish-grey, under-parts white. Very short tufts here and there of 

 clown (b). Later clown (c) (replacing clown (b) as in Peregrine, 

 see p. 108), coarser, more woolly, thick but not very long and white. 



Juvenile. — Upper-parts like adult but feathers of crown and 

 hind-neck with pale buff or creamy-white tips sometimes very 

 small, sometimes so large as to make crown mostly creamy-white 

 (rarely crown entirely white) ; some feathers of mantle and scapulars 

 sometimes with white tips ; under-parts varying : paler examples 

 cream to white, feathers with brown to blackish shaft-streaks and 

 more or less brown centres giving a somewhat streaked appearance, 

 and not barred as in adult except on lower flanks and belly where 

 there are large brown spots or incomplete bars : dark examples 

 almost uniform brown on under-parts, feathers with blackish 

 shafts, lower flanks, vent and under tail-coverts indistinctly barred 

 creamy-buff ; wing- and tail-feathers with longer white tips than 

 in adult ; wing-coverts often with white or pale buff tips, but as 

 often these are not present. 



First winter. — Like juvenile. 



