Page:The British Warblers A History with Problems of Their Lives - 8 of 9.djvu/45



Adult Male in Spring.—The upper parts are pure ash grey, faintly washed with brown on the mantle, rump and upper tail-coverts. The wing feathers are earth brown, the innermost secondaries and their coverts being broadly and the remainder narrowly edged with brownish white, and the bastard wing is dark brown externally, edged with whitish. The upper side of the tail is dark brownish grey, the feathers being edged with light brown. The outer web and tip of the inner web of the outermost tail-feathers are white, whereas the inner web of the second feathers has only a wedge-shaped white spot at the tip. The lores are ashy grey, slightly darker than the crown, ear coverts ashy brown, and the sides of the neck ashy grey. A white moustache divides the grey from the vinous coloured throat, and the latter colour extends down the underparts and flanks, leaving the abdomen white. The under tail-coverts are whitish washed with pale vinous near the roots. The underside of the tail is dark ashy grey, the shafts of the feathers being white, the underpart of the wing grey, and the under wing-coverts and axillaries pale rusty brown. The bill is dark brown, the base of the lower mandible being brownish flesh colour, and the iris yellowish brown surrounded by a maroon red ring. The feet are reddish flesh colour.

Adult Female in Spring.— All the upper parts, including the lores and ear coverts, are brownish ash grey, but the forehead is more ochre. The wings and tail are rather lighter in colour than the corresponding parts of the male and the white