GOLDCREST. 149 
and breast, pale brownish or yellowish grey, the sides tinged 
with rufous yellow; back, light yellowish olive green, with a 
tint of brown, the lower part is the lightest—inclinine to 
greenish yellow. 
The wings expand to the width of six inches and a half; 
the first feather is very short—about a third the leneth of 
the second, the third much longer, the fourth rather the 
longest, the fifth nearly the same. Greater wing coverts, 
purple brown, bordered with yellowish green, and tipped 
with white; lesser wing coverts, also purple brown, bordered 
with yellowish green, and partly tipped with white; primaries, 
secondaries, and tertiaries, dusky margined with yellowish 
green; six of the outer secondaries and inner primaries black. 
The tail, somewhat forked, is dusky, the feathers margined 
with yellowish green; upper tail coverts, light yell wish olive 
green; legs, toes, and claws, brown. 
The female precisely resembles the male, but is rather 
smaller, the length being three inches and a half, and the 
crown has only yellow and no orange on its centre. '! he 
wings extend to the width of six inches. 
The young in their first plumage have no yellow on the 
head, the upper part of it being light greyish brown, with 
two lateral bands of greyish black; the head on the sides 
is yellowish grey; the neck on the back and nape, greyish 
yellow green; chin, throat, and breast, greyish white, with a 
tinge of yellow; the quill feathers dusky, margined with dull 
yellowish green; tail, the same; legs and toes, pale brown. 
The moult is completed the enc of August, but the orange 
and yellow on the crown is not iully developed. 
M. Temminck says that accidental varieties have the top of 
the head azure blue, that others of more frequent occurrence 
have the head and part of the plumage of a whitish colour, 
and frequently the feathers of the crest of a deep yellow. 
Montagu also mentions a pair of a cream-colour, with the 
usual yellow crown. In the British Museum is a white one, 
with pale orange-colour on the crown of the head, and very 
pale yellow on the lower part of the back. Another, kept in 
an aviary, had the tips of the wings and tail white, and the 
erest yellow, 
