ON THE ORNITHOLOGY OF LAPLAND. 321 



the plumage of the males on August 18, when I 

 killed my last. 



This blue watered dress appears by degrees to 

 become fainter, in fact mere grey-blue, until the 

 end of September, but the white winter feathers 

 keep gradually showing themselves under the blue 

 autumnal dress. I observed, in two specimens 

 shot early in October the year before, that one was 

 half blue and half white — i.e., that half the body 

 appeared to be covered with the blue autumn 

 dress, the other half with the white winter plumage, 

 some of which, if not all, were perfectly new 

 feathers, for I observed blood-shafts to many of 

 them ; in the other specimen, very few of the blue 

 autumn feathers remained. From what I could 

 hear, for I did not stop up long enough to judge 

 for myself, I should say that in many, perhaps 

 most, the pure winter dress is complete by the 

 third week in October. 



Much as thd males vary in plumage, the females 

 appear to vary still more, and only to have a stand- 

 ing dress for about three weeks in June, just 

 when they are laying, and this early summer dress 

 may be described thus : body blackish-brown, every 

 feather broadly edged with yellow, brown, and 

 white, giving the bird a very light yellow-brown 

 appearance ; breast much lighter ; belly never pure 

 white, as in the male, but, as well as the sides and 



Y 



