1896.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA, 127 



pigment at all, as has been ascertained by careful microscopical 

 examination by my friend Dr. Thos. H. Montgomery. 



The only instance where I know of an actual change of color in 

 the plumage, except by fading, is in the case of certain delicate pink 

 tints on the breasts of gulls, which disappear after death, but this 

 color, I think, is probably due to a peculiar surface structure which 

 is destroyed or altered by the drying out of the plumage, when 

 removed from contact with water or the oil of the bird. 



PLUMAGES AND MOLTS OF THE SMALLER LAND BIRDS OF 

 EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 



Below I have recorded such facts as I have been able to gather 

 regarding the molts and plumages of our smaller land birds. 



In a number of species I have been unable to ascertain the exact 

 extent of the molts or their number from lack of necessary material, 

 but have thought it best to give such facts as I have rather than to 

 omit the species altogether. Some species on the other hand I have 

 been able to treat with much detail, and have referred to them 

 in describing others with a similar series of molts. I have as 

 a rule omitted any detailed description of the plumages, as these can 

 be obtained from any of the manuals or general works on North 

 American birds, and have made my remarks as to colors, etc., 

 mainly comparative. 



Where I had sufficient material to warrant it, I have given after 

 each species a list of its plumages, considering three as the smallest 

 number of plumages exhibited by any species. In many, however, 

 the winter and nuptial dresses are practically alike except for a 

 slight abrasion. 



Where male and female are not definitely indicated their molting 

 is the same. 



Family CUCULIDJE. 



Coccyzus erythrophthalmus (Wilson). Black-billed Cuckoo. 

 Coccyzus americanus (Linn.). Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 



I have been unable to examine any adult Cuckoos in the molt. 

 The young molt the body plumage the last week in August. I am 

 inclined to think that there is no spring molt in either species. 

 Spring and fall specimens it is true are scarcely distinguishable, but 

 I do not consider the unworn appearance of spring birds as a neces- 

 sary proof that there has been a spring molt, as an examination of 



