and a patch on the nape, bright gamboge-yellow, varied with
dusky streaks on the forehead and lores, behind the crown
and on the boundary of the ear-coverts ; mantle and sides
of the neck, olive tinged with orange ; upper part of the
back and wings dark brown, each feather broadly edged with
brownish-orange; primaries dusky black, with narrow outer
edges of bright yellow; secondaries, tertials and wing-
coverts, dusky black, broadly margined with rich chestnut-
brown ; upper tail-coverts chestnut, edged with yellow; tail
dusky black, the middle quills broadly bordered with chestnut
and the rest narrowly edged with yellow, the two outer
pairs (which are slightly shorter than those next to them)
having also an elongated white patch on the inner web; the
chin and throat bright gamboge-yellow with an almost continuous
line of dusky chestnut descending on each side fj;om
the lower corner of the mandible ; breast and flanks clouded
and longitudinally streaked with chestnut, which on the
latter passes into dark brown; the rest of the lower parts
bright gamboge-yellow, except the lower surface of the quills
which is grey: legs, toes and claws light brown.
In winter the bright yellow, especially on the head, is
much obscured by dusky mottlings ; hut at all times of the
year the males are subject to much variation in the brilliancy
and purity of their tints. In some examples the head is„of
a straw or primrose colour, while in others, especially from
the south of Europe, the hue increases in intensity so as to
become almost orange. It has seemed to the Editor that
Dorsetshire specimens are more brightly coloured than any
others he has observed in the British Islands.
The whole length of the bird is seven inches. From the
carpal joint to the end of the wing, three inches and a half ;
the second, third, fourth and fifth- primaries nearly equal in
length, but the fourth rather the longest, while the sixth is
a quarter of an inch shorter than the .fifth.
The female is much less yellow than the male, and the
yellow is of a paler hue ; her head, throat and breast are
much more mottled, and her colours generally are much
less vivid.
The young have no yellow on the head till after their first
autumn-moult, and the prevailing colour of the upper parts
is a dull olive streaked with dusky black, the small wing-
coverts and tertials together with some of the feathers of the
back being also tipped with greyish-white. After their first
moult the males have the yellow much mixed with dusky
spots: the bright yellow in very old males appears to
extend over a larger surface than in those which are
younger.
As remarked by Macgillivray of this species, and the
observation seems to hold good with all the European
members of the family Eviberizidce, the changes which take
place in the plumage during winter and spring are due to
the wearing off of the long margins of the feathers and to
the fading of their brighter colours. He goes on to deny
the generally-received opinion that birds assume richer tints
in the breeding-season, but though literally he may be right
as regards the species of the present group and some others,
he is only so when we limit the meaning of his words to its
strictest hounds. The rich tints are indeed there, but they
are obscured by the overlapping of the dull-coloured margins
of the feathers, and it is not until these margins are shed
that the full beauty of the bright hues is revealed.