WHITETHROAT. 109 
The female is of duller hue altogether, and is nearly without 
the rose tint on the breast. 
The young, when fledged, have the bill less dusky than in 
the old birds, and there is a light space between it and the 
eye; the breast is greyish white, tinged with brown; the back 
and all the upper parts are of a uniform reddish brown; the 
quill feathers more broadly margined with light red; the side 
tail feathers reddish white; the shafts dusky. 
Mr. Macgillivray writes, ‘Individuals shot in May vary little 
in their colours, and are generally in full plumage, with the 
tips and edges of the feathers entire. It is therefore certain 
that this species moults in its southern residence. Individuals, 
however, occur in which some of the old feathers remain. I 
have, before me, on the 25th. of May, 1837, two specimens 
recently shot. In the female the plumage is all new and 
perfect; the tail considerably rounded, the two middle feathers 
being longest, the lateral three eighths of an inch shorter; 
while the male, although otherwise fresh, has one of the middle 
tail feathers quite ragged, half of the outer web being worn 
off, and the other middle feather growing, and shorter than 
the lateral, both which are also unrenewed; the wings and 
the rest of the plumage are perfect. As the season advances, 
the colours fade, and the feathers are more or less worn; the 
upper parts assume a greyer tint, and the lower a more dusky 
hue, the reddish colour on the fore-neck becoming more con- 
spicuous; the red edgings on the quills are sometimes almost 
obliterated, and the head is much darker. In specimens shot 
in July the tail feathers are often in a singularly ragged 
condition, especially the two middle and the lateral.’ 
