570 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



sides of neck white, narrowly streaked or spotted black-brown ; chin 

 white ; throat dusky-white streaked black-brown ; breast white 

 or buff heavily streaked black ; flanks white sometimes marked 

 sepia ; belly black, feathers with faint white edges and with white 

 bases often imperfectly concealed and more or less intermixed with 

 white feathers (amount of black varies individually) ; vent white, 

 sometimes some blackish spots ; under tail-coverts white, some 

 spotted dusky ; new tail-feathers black-brown narrowly edged 

 and sometimes marked pink-cinnamon ; wing as winter but new 

 innermost secondaries and coverts as scapulars. 



Nestling. — Down of fore-head yellow-buff ; a median black- 

 brown line from base of upper mandible to crown, another from 

 lores to eye ; crown variegated yellowish-tawny and black and 

 bordered on either side by a light buff line ; nape dusky, down 

 tipped golden ; rest of upper -parts yellowish-tawny varied black 

 and minutely dotted light buff ; eye -stripe tawny or yellow-buff ; 

 ear-coverts, cheeks and sides of neck whitish or yellow-buff ; rest 

 of under -parts white, breast suffused yellow-buff. 



Juvenile. Male and female. — Crown, mantle and scapulars 

 black-brown, feathers with light or ochraceous-buff edges ; nape 

 ash-brown streaked dusky and more or less washed light or ochra- 

 ceous-buff ; back, rump and central upper tail-coverts ash-brown, 

 sometimes shaded darker, feathers edged ochraceous-buff, some 

 central tail-coverts black-brown ; indistinct band from fore -head 

 above eye white or buff streaked dusky ; ear-coverts, cheeks and 

 sides of neck light buff, narrowly streaked dusky ; chin and throat 

 white ; lower -throat and upper -breast greyish suffused buff and 

 streaked and spotted sepia ; flanks white (sometimes washed buff) 

 with large dusky spots or streaks ; belly white more or less spotted 

 and blotched dusky-brown ; rest of body-plumage as adult winter ; 

 tail-feathers as adult but edged light buff (indistinctly on outer 

 ones) ; wing as adult but innermost secondaries and coverts ash- 

 brown, shaded darker centrally and edged light or ochraceous-buff ; 

 median and lesser coverts ash-brown fringed warm or ochraceous- 

 buff. 



First winter. — As adult winter but distinguished by some 

 retained juvenile scapulars, feathers of back and rump and inner- 

 most secondaries and wing-coverts. The juvenile body-plumage 

 (usually not feathers of back and rump, nor all scapulars), some 

 innermost secondaries and coverts, some median and lesser coverts, 

 but apparently not tail-feathers and not rest of wings are moulted 

 Aug. to Nov. First summer. — Moult as adult but apparently central 

 tail-feathers are not moulted. Like adults and only to be distin- 

 guished by buff edges of retained juvenile wing-coverts, those of 

 innermost median being usually least abraded. 



Measurements and structure. — $ wing 106-110 mm., tail 46-52, 

 tarsus 21-25, bill from feathers 25-30 (12 British breeding birds 

 measured). $ wing 110-116 (one 120), tarsus 22-26.5, bill 28-33 

 (17 British breeding birds measured). <£ wing 110-120, bill 26-34. 



