152 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP [1896. 



show only six in which the molt of body feathers has been com- 

 plete and no trace of brown feathers remain, but even some of these 

 have one or two brown wing-coverts. Eight of the fourteen have 

 renewed the tertials in the spring molt while three have partially 

 renewed them and three retain the old feathers. Winter specimens 

 of more than one year also show a good deal of variation in the 

 amount of blue on the feathers. Some which appear brown super- 

 ficially, have the bases of the feathers quite blue ; while others have 

 broader brown margins and but little blue. Much abrasion 

 takes place between the annual and spring molt but a scarcity of 

 winter specimens and general lack of dates on such as I have, pre- 

 vents a careful study of this matter. The young birds of this spe- 

 cies molt the tail at the close of the summer when they renew their 

 body plumage but do not molt the wing feathers. 



Females. — Have but one molt a year, and the change in the nup- 

 tial plumage is due entirely to abrasion. Whether the young renew 

 the tail at the end of the summer, as in the male, I am uncertain. 



Spiza americana (Gmel.). Dickcissel. 

 Plumages, first, winter, nuptial. 

 No spring molt occurs in this species, unless in the first season. 



Family TANAGRIDJE. 



Piranga erythromelas Vieill. Scarlet Tanager. 



The seasonal changes of this species are analogous to those of the 

 Rose-breasted Grosbeak, though the individual variations do not 

 seem to be so great. Five regular plumages of the male are recog- 

 nizable, as follows : 



1. First Plumage [No. 1,906, Coll. W. Stone. Aug. 17, 1895. 

 Chester Co., Pa.]." 



Above olive, below yellowish-white, yellow on middle of the ab- 

 domen and crissura, breast and sides of abdomen coarsely spotted 

 and streaked with olive. Wings half grown, tail one-quarter 

 grown. 



2. Plumage of First Winter [No. 830, Coll. W. Stone. Sept. 18, 

 1891. Haddonfield, N. J.]. 



Above olive, below olive-yellow, wing and tail brown, edged with 

 olive, except the greater median and lesser wing-coverts, which are 

 jet black. 



3. First Breeding Plumage [No. 34,001, Coll. A. N. S. Chester 

 Co., Pa. May 18, 1881]. 



