208 
BLACKBIRD. 
quarters; bill, bright orange, as also are the eyelids and the 
mouth, the colour paler in the winter; iris, dark brown. The 
head, crown, neck, nape, chin, throat, breast, and foack, are 
all deep black. The wings, when closed, extend one third 
down the tail; they expand to the width of one foot four 
inches; the primaries are dark brown until the second moult; 
the first quill feather is extremely short and narrow, the 
second a little shorter than the third, the third nearly as 
long as the fourth, which is the longest in the wing, and 
the fifth scarcely shorter. The tail is black, rather long, and 
slightly rounded; legs, dusky brown; the toes also dusky 
brown; the second and fourth are of nearly equal length, the 
first longer, the third a good deal longer, and attached to 
the fourth as far as the second joint; legs, dusky brown; 
claws, dusky brown: they are long, and slightly grooved on 
the sides. 
Female; length, ten inches; the bill, generally dark brown, 
paler towards the edges, never becomes yellow for more than 
two thirds of its length, unless it may be in very aged birds; 
in some it is much darker than in others, being almost entirely 
black; iris, dark brown; the edges of the eyelids are greenish 
orange. The forehead is paler than the other parts; head, 
crown, neck on the back, and nape, blackish brown; the neck 
is also paler on the sides; chin and throat, brownish white, 
and the neck in front dull light reddish or fulvous brown, 
with obscure dusky triangular-shaped spots. The breast varies 
much in different individuals; in some the colours are much 
blended together, and in others it is pale, more or less 
distinctly spotted with dark brown; back, blackish brown. 
The wings extend to the width of one foot three inches; 
primaries, deep blackish brown. Tail, brownish black, the 
outer webs of the feathers edged with brown; upper tail 
coverts, darker than the rest of the back. Toes, dusky 
brown; claws, darker. 
In the young the bill is reddish grey; the corners of 
the mouth and the eyelids, dull orange; the upper parts 
are blackish brown, each feather having a central spot or 
streak of pale rufous; the under parts are light rufous 
brown, the feathers tipped with dark spots. The full adult 
plumage is not acquired until after the second autumnal 
moult. The young female is not so dark as the male, and 
the dark spots are less distinct. 
In the adult male the lower parts are sometimes tinged 
