The invention relates to air-drying and finishing coats for wood for exterior and interior finishes, comprising the so-called nonvolatile matter, which represents an intimate mixture of modified natural oils, pigments, extenders and small proportions of varnish additives, and a low-boiling petroleum hydrocarbon, which is suitable as a solvent and is present in an amount of .ltoreq.15% by weight, based on the total amount. An air-drying stain for exterior finishes is to be provided, with which a spotty or mottled appearance of the dried surface is avoided reliably even after a single coat of paint. This objective is accomplished by a stain, the mixture of chemically modified natural oils of which have a consistency, so that the efflux time from a DIN 53,211 4 mm viscosity cup is between 28 and 35 seconds, and the extender of which comprises a fine, cryptocrystalline, amorphous silicon dioxide, in which the proportion of particles with a particle size less than 40 .mu.m is greater than 95%.