THE COMMON EIDER. 359 



First winter. Male. — Fore-head and crown snuff-brown or 

 buff-brown with black bars more or less concealed, feathers of mesial 

 streak (from centre of crown to nape) heavily barred black with a 

 bluish sheen ; nape black-brown, feathers more or less tipped buff ; 

 from top of lores through eye light buff or whitish streak, feathers 

 tipped or streaked blackish ; rest of loral feathering, cheeks and 

 sides of neck brown-black, some feathers tipped and barred buff ; 

 new black-brown scapulars more or less edged snuff-brown are 

 acquired ; chin, throat and fore-neck sooty-brown, feathers with 

 ill-concealed ashy-brown bases ; rest of plumage as in juvenile. 

 Feathers of head, neck and some body-feathers are moulted from 

 Sept. First summer. — Acquires a certain amount of white plumage 

 of adult from which easily distinguished by retained juvenile under- 

 parts and wing- coverts. First winter and first summer plumage 

 are not definitely separable moult being more or less continuous. 

 Fore -head and crown as first winter ; from top of lores above eye 

 to hinder-crown, a broad blackish streak glossed bluish, some 

 feathers tipped buff ; in some sides of hinder -crown white suffused 

 emerald, feathers tipped blackish or buff ; nape and new feathers 

 of mantle and scapulars white, some tipped or mottled blackish ; 

 new feathers of rump blackish, sides of rump sometimes intermixed 

 with white ; upper and under tail-coverts black ; lores dusky- 

 brown ; cheeks, sides of neck, chin, throat and fore -neck more or 

 less white, feathers tipped blackish or dusky-brown, patch on sides 

 of neck sometimes suffused palest emerald ; upper-breast white or 

 pale pinkish -cream, feathers sometimes more or less narrowly tipped 

 blackish and buff ; new feathers of sides of body and flanks brown- 

 black, some narrowly tipped snuff-brown ; rest of under-parts as 

 juvenile but more or less intermixed with new brown-black feathers ; 

 tail as adult ; wing as juvenile. The body -feathers, not all feathers 

 of mantle, scapulars, back or rump, usually few feathers of under- 

 parts, in some all tail, in some central pair only, but not wings are 

 moulted from Sept. onwards. There is considerable individual 

 variation in amount of 1st summer plumage acquired. 



First eclipse. Male. — Moult as in adult but usually less com- 

 plete. Like adult male and only to be distinguished by retained 

 juvenile feathers and juvenile wing. 



Second winter and summer. Male. — As adult winter but 

 feathers of head and neck more or less tipped or barred at tip 

 blackish or cinnamon-buff ; feathers of mantle and scapulars more 

 or less tipped blackish ; some scapulars mottled black-brown 

 towards tip ; centre of back and rump usually black-brown, sides 

 of rump sooty-brown, in some intermixed with white, in others 

 more or less white, feathers tipped dusky-brown ; large white 

 patch on sides of lower -rump, some feathers tipped or mottled 

 blackish ; rest of body-plumage as adult, but some feathers of 

 throat, fore -neck and upper-breast narrowly tipped blackish ; under 

 wing-coverts white, those at edge of wing sepia ; tail as adult ; 

 remiges as adult but secondaries in some narrowly tipped white, 



