710 A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS. 



down with hair -like tips. Upper-parts varying from buff to clay- 

 colour and sometimes grey, fore -head generally uniform but some- 

 times dusky and sometimes with black spot, rest of upper -parts 

 with spots and fairly large patches of black-brown, fairly evenly 

 distributed and forming no definite pattern but with suggestion of 

 parallel stripes on mantle ; throat and lower part of chin pale brown 

 to dusky-black, upper part of lores usually same but centre of lores 

 and round eye buff, apex of chin often white ; rest of under -parts 

 white. Down is replaced by juvenile feathers, to tips of which it 

 clings. 



Juvenile. — Fore-head white more or less washed buff ; fore-part 

 of crown same, streaked black-brown, feathers very narrowly 

 fringed pale buff ; black spot in front of eye rather larger than in 

 adult winter ; back of neck white, feathers tipped ash-grey and 

 buff ; mantle and scapulars blue -grey, feathers tipped varying 

 amount and shade of buff with penultimate dark brown bar ; back 

 and rump ash-grey and sides of rump and upper tail-coverts white, 

 feathers lightly tipped pale buff ; under-parts white with sometimes 

 buff tinge on chin and throat ; tail as adult winter but outer webs 

 darker and browner, tips white with a penultimate brown mark ; 

 primaries as adult but less silvery on outer webs and tips and 

 extreme tips of most white ; secondaries darker slate-grey and with 

 longer white tips than adult and innermost feathers barred as 

 scapulars ; primary-coverts dull grey, tipped white ; greater 

 coverts ash-grey edged and tipped hoary or pale buff ; median 

 coverts and innermost greater like mantle but more lightly tipped 

 brown and buff ; lesser coverts greyish-black, narrowly fringed 

 whitish or pale buff. N.B. — Buff and brown at tips of feathers of 

 upper-parts varies in strength and in worn plumage (Aug. and 

 Sept.) tips become whitish or almost disappear. 



First winter. — New body-feathers like adult winter and tips of 

 unmoulted juvenile feathers becoming worn off so that upper -parts 

 become like adult winter but mantle duller grey and rump whiter ; 

 tail and wing as juvenile but tips of greater and median coverts 

 worn off and lesser coverts dark brown. The juvenile body-plumage 

 is partially moulted Aug.-Nov. and occasionally a few lesser wing- 

 coverts but not rest of wings nor tail. Amount of moult varies 

 individually and some appear to moult only a few body-feathers and 

 several from winter-quarters (Nov. and Dec.) are in very worn 

 juvenile plumage with no signs of moult. First summer. — A com- 

 plete moult takes place Feb.-June. In all those examined with 

 definite traces of juvenile plumage new feathers have been like 

 adult winter ; some, however, appear to acquire adult summer- 

 plumage and these when fully moulted have a few old brown lesser 

 coverts, often a few old white feathers on fore -head and often greyer 

 rumps and upper tail-coverts than adults in summer. 



Measurements and, structure. — £ wing 255-288 mm., tail : outer 

 feather 135-175, central 68-87, depth of fork 65-95, tarsus 19-21, 

 bill from feathers 35 (one 33)— 39 (12 measured). ? wing 255-280, 



