518 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



black-brown line (often obsolete), from base of upper mandible 

 down centre of crown, another encircling crown from eye to eye ; 

 nuchal collar and tip of wings white ; remaining upper -parts 

 greyish-buff, yellowish-buff across mantle and wings, irregularly 

 and finely marked and speckled black-brown ; an irregular black- 

 brown or dusky-brown line along wing, another (often obsolete) on 

 sides of rump to uropygial tuft ; uropygial tuft black tipped buff ; 

 a black-brown line from base of upper mandible to eye and some- 

 times another under eye to nape ; under -parts white. 



Juvenile. Male and female. — At base of upper mandible, lores, 

 band below eye and ear-coverts hair-brown, feathers sometimes 

 faintly tipped buff and band under eye sometimes intermixed with 

 black-brown ; line below eye, fore-head and an ill-defined eye- 

 stripe (broadest behind eye and almost incomplete above eye) white 

 or light buff ; collar below white nuchal collar black-brown, feathers 

 tipped buff, sometimes ill-defined and intermixed with hair -brown ; 

 remaining upper -parts hair-brown as adult but feathers with cream 

 or sandy-buff margins, some with a subterminal shading of darker 

 brown ; under-parts as adult but pectoral gorget, which is usually 

 almost incomplete towards centre of breast, hair-brown (sometimes 

 intermixed with sooty-brown), feathers with light buff, and some- 

 times white, tips ; centre of breast suffused buff ; tail and wings 

 as adult but innermost secondaries and coverts as upper -parts ; 

 median and lesser coverts as adult but edged sandy buff or cream. 



First winter. Male and female. — Like adults but may be dis- 

 tinguished by worn buff edges of retained juvenile wing-coverts. 

 The juvenile body -feathers (not all scapulars), tail-feathers, inner- 

 most secondaries and coverts and some median and lesser coverts 

 are moulted Aug. to Jan. but not rest of wings. First summer. — 

 Moult as in adult, after which both sexes resemble adults and are 

 only to be distinguished when buff edges to wing-coverts are not 

 too abraded. N.B. — Some birds examined were moulting primaries 

 in spring and summer. 



Measurements and structure.- — $ wing 125-139 mm., tail 53-65, 

 tarsus 22-27, bill from feathers 13.5-15.5 (12 British measured). 

 2 wing 127-138, bill 13-16.* Primaries : 1st minute, 2nd longest, 

 3rd 2-6 mm. shorter, 4th 9-14 shorter, 5th 16-22 shorter, 6th 

 22-30 shorter. Longest innermost secondary between 4th to 6th 

 primaries. Tail of moderate length, rounded. Three toes, outer 

 and middle ones webbed at base nearly up to first joint, middle and 

 inner ones very slightly webbed at base. Bill short, straight, convex 

 at tip, nasal groove extending to commencement of arched part at 

 tip of culmen. 



Soft parts. — Bill (ad. $ winter and summer and ad. $ summer) 

 bright yellow, tip black, (ad. $ winter and 1st winter £ and $) upper 

 mandible horn, tip darker, base of under mandible yellowish, (juv.) 



* Breeding birds examined have wing measurements : British 4 $ 

 129-135, 8 $ 131-137 ; Scandinavian 7 <J 123-131, 3 $ 125-133.— A CM. 



