. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. 1. MOTACILLA. 477 have brown "wings and others have white ones ; the latter are the adults after their second winter has been passed. After haviuf,^ gone through his first summer, the male bird moults into his second winter dress, this time putting on a grey back, but a black head, and beiug white underneath, with the black crescent on the fore neck; the black line through the ej^e is very distinct, and there is still a trace of yellow to be seen on the face or throat. The wings change, however, in a remarkable degree. The lesser wing-covert
. Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. 1. MOTACILLA. 477 have brown "wings and others have white ones ; the latter are the adults after their second winter has been passed. After haviuf,^ gone through his first summer, the male bird moults into his second winter dress, this time putting on a grey back, but a black head, and beiug white underneath, with the black crescent on the fore neck; the black line through the ej^e is very distinct, and there is still a trace of yellow to be seen on the face or throat. The wings change, however, in a remarkable degree. The lesser wing-coverts are at first grey like the back, but rapidly become black ; the median and greater coverts are pure white ; the bastard- wiug and primary-coverts are white, with more or less black on the outer webs; the quills are nearly all white, and the primaries have black shafts, a certain amount of black on their outer webs, and black euds with a narrow friuge of white at the tips; the shorter prima- ries and the secondaries are white, excepting for a dusky blackish spot at the end of each web, the inner ones pure white, the longer ones being blackish, externally more or less ashy brown, with a broad white edging. The outer tail-feathers are pure white, ex- cepting a fringe of black along the inner web of the penultimate one, the third, however, showing an irregular patch of white on the inner web and a white shaft. In the second spring of its existence the full summer plumage is again resumed, with the black throat and black back; but the wing- feathers and tail are not shed; and the only difference is that the black gradually disappears on the primaries till they become nearly Avhite, excepting the ends, which are still Wing of adidt M. higcns, witli the white quills fully developed. The female goes through the same changes of plumage as the male, but is always more backward, never showing so much white on the wing, having the back mixed with black, &c. Adult male in f
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