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Frightful was in her nuptial plumage.

He has not yet, moreover, attained the fullest beauty of his nuptial plumage.

In some analogous cases, namely with birds having a distinct summer and winter plumage, but with the two sexes nearly alike, certain closely-allied species can easily be distinguished in their summer or nuptial plumage, yet are undistinguishable in their winter as well as in their immature plumage.

Discussion why the males alone of some species, and both sexes of other species, are brightly coloured—On sexually-limited inheritance, as applied to various structures and to brightly-coloured plumage—Nidification in relation to colour—Loss of nuptial plumage during the winter.

At this spring moult a special “nuptial” plumage is often assumed, as for example in many of the Limicolae, e.g. god-wits, knots, dunlin, ruff.