THE RED -BREASTED MERGANSER. 387 



Juvenile. Male. — Like adult female, but crest shorter ; fore- 

 head, crown and nape buff-brown more or less suffused greyish 

 olive-brown, feathers with black-brown shaft-streaks ; upper-parts 

 greyer, feathers dark ash-grey with light grey edges and darker 

 shafts ; no black round eye and whitish streak from loral feathering 

 to eye absent or merely indicated by indefinite buff streak ; cheeks 

 and sides of neck paler pink-cinnamon ; fore -neck and upper- 

 breast pale ash-brown, feathers tipped white ; sides of body and 

 flanks and some feathers of vent and some under tail- coverts pale 

 ash-brown, feathers mostly with ash-white tips ; remaining under- 

 pays white ; tail as adult female but tips square ; wing as adult 

 female but outer web of secondary next speculum sometimes suffused 

 pale grey instead of white. Juvenile male distinguished from 

 juvenile female by its larger size. Female. — As male but innermost 

 secondaries shorter, dark ash-brown and more or less edged blackish 

 on outer webs, and without or with little indication of grey bloom 

 as in adult female and juvenile male. 



First winter. Male. — Very like adult female, but no black 

 round eye ; some flank-feathers more or less coarsely vermiculated 

 dark ash-brown and white. Crown, crest and upper-parts as adult 

 female ; dark ash-brown feathers at sides of root of tail often more 

 or less vermiculated whitish ; no black round eye ; indistinct buff 

 streak from lores to eye ; indistinct brownish streak through eye ; 

 sides of neck, chin and throat as adult female but throat without 

 any black ; at sides of upper-mantle some dark ash-brown feathers 

 shaded light pink-cinnamon towards centre, sometimes more or 

 less vermiculated or bordered blackish, sometimes one web more or 

 less white ; remaining under-parts as juvenile but sides of body 

 and flanks as adult female, flanks usually intermixed with dark 

 ash-brown feathers with one web coarsely vermiculated ash-brown 

 and white ; tail-feathers mostly new and like those of adult female ; 

 wing as juvenile. Birds in this plumage occur in Dec, Jan. and 

 Feb. The juvenile body-feathers (all feathers of back and rump '\) > 

 tail, sometimes some innermost secondaries are moulted from Oct. 

 onwards but not rest of wings. Sometimes some juvenile body- 

 feathers are retained. First summer. — By Jan. or Feb. forward 

 young males commence to acquire blackish feathers on crown, 

 round eye and on chin and throat ; new black feathers (sometimes 

 tipped dark ash -brown) appear on mantle and scapulars ; white 

 scapulars, or ash-brown scapulars with one web more or less white 

 are acquired ; new upper tail-coverts dark ash-grey some with 

 indications of whitish vermiculations ; upper-breast as adult male 

 but streaks narrower ; sides of body and flanks intermixed with 

 white feathers coarsely vermiculated dark ash-brown ; patch 

 across shoulder more clearly indicated ; new innermost secondaries 

 when acquired have outer or both webs pale ash-white (one next 

 speculum almost white) bordered with black, inner webs pale 

 mouse -grey. 



First winter and summer. Female. — As adult female, but crest 



