146 rROCEEDIXGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [1896. 



in most Fringillida\ abrasion causes marked change in the general 

 plumage during winter and spring. 



Female. — Apparently like the male, though generally with the 

 crown patch less pure. 



Passerella iliaca (Merr.). Fox Sparrow. 



Plumages, first, winter, nuptial. 



Apparently no spring molt occurs in this species apart from a 

 slight renewal of the throat feathers in some examples. The rusty 

 red tints are to a great extent lost, especially on the head and neck, 

 by the breeding season, but the abrasion is scarcely noticeable up to 

 the time the bird leaves its winter habitat, so that specimens taken 

 there, from November to March, are hardlv distinguishable. 

 Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Liun.). Towhee. 



Male. — Plumages, first, winter, nuptial. 



There is apparently only one molt a year in the Towhee and, 

 although the feathei*s are subject to abrasion during the winter . 

 and spring, scarcely any change is eflected in the coloration owing 

 to the fact that they are not parti-colored. The young birds 

 assume the adult winter plumaije about the end of August, when 

 they present a very peculiar mottled appearance. The wing and 

 tail as usual are not renewed at this time. 



Female. — Molts as in the male, the only difference in plumage 

 being the substitution of brown for black in the adult. 



Cardinalis cardinalis (Linn.). Cardinal. 



Male. — Plumages, first, winter, nuptial. 



There is no spring molt ; the winter plumage shows extensive 

 gray margins to the feathers of the back which are lost by the nest- 

 ing season through abrasion. In some specimens, evidently younger 

 birds, these ede:iu2:sare brownish rather than grav. Contrarv to the 

 rule which governs others of our Fringillidre, the young Cardinal 

 renews the rectrices and remiges at the end of the breeding season. A 

 specimen obtained Sept. 18, 1881, at Haddoufield, N. J. shows the 

 first plumage nearly lost. The primaries have all been renewed as 

 far as the third, while the new tail, still showing the sheaths at base, 

 is nearly full grown, except the middle pair of feathers, which are 

 not quite two inches in length. The renewal of the flight feathers in 

 the first autumn in this species is a matter of great interest (see p. 

 117). 



Female. — Molts as in the male, a young female changing from 

 the first to winter plumage (Tarpon Springs, Fla., Aug. 11, 1891), 



