BREWSTER: BIRDS OF THE CAPE REGION, LOWER CALIFORNIA. 189 



of the bill dark horn, colored instead of black. The black mask is wholly 

 uuniixed with any lighter color. 



Male in first winter 'plumage. Differing from the adult only in having 

 the feathers of the black mask slightly tipped with grayish or yellowish, 

 especially on the forehead ; the yellow border of the mask more restricted and 

 mixed with brownish ; the breast and nnder tail coverts tinged with brownish 

 saffron; the flanks and sides rich purplish cinnamon. 



Adult female in autumn. Differing from the spring female only in being 

 slightly grayer above. 



Female in first winter plumage. Differing from the adult female in autumn 

 only in having the upper parts tinged with reddish brown, the throat and 

 breast with brownish saffron, the flanks and sides, as well as the anal region, 

 with cinnamon. 



Individual variations: — The width of the black mask where it crosses the 

 forehead varies considerably in different specimens, being in some birds fully 

 twice as wide as it is in others. There is quite as much diversity in this re- 

 spect among young as with mature birds. One or two males have the entire 

 occiput and nape mixed with concealed yellow. In about ten per cent of the 

 autunmal males, both adults and young, the black of the forehead extends 

 much further back on the left than on the right side of the head. In the 

 most extreme specimens the posterior border of tlie black band crosses the 

 top of the head obliquely, in a nearly straight line, fronj a little in front (jf 

 the right eye to a little behind the left eye. In all cases, however, the black 

 on the sides of the head passes completely around both eyes. At first I w^as 

 inclined to believe that this remarkable variation was due to unevenness of 

 manipulation on the part of the taxidermist in drawing the skin back over the 

 skull, but careful examination of numerous specimens has convinced me, as 

 well as several others who have looked at the birds, that they present a clear 

 and very interesting case of asymmetry. 



This beautiful species was discovered by Mr. Belding (in 1882) in the Cape 

 Regicm, where it was " common in the few suitable localities around San 

 Jose, Miraflores, and caiions of the Miraflores and Santiago Peaks. At Agua 

 Caliente a pair were noticed feeding their young ju.st out of the nest, May 7. 

 The only note traced to this species was a loud chip. . . . Their habits are 

 quite like those of G. trichas, and the eggs are not materially different, if a nest 

 found by my guide on the Miraflores and Todos Santos trail IMay 6 belonged 

 to this species, as I supposed it did, having seen a fine male near the spot 

 from which it was taken." 



Mr. Frazar saw his first Belding's Yellow-throat on April 21 at Triunfo, in 

 a small, deep arroyo where the stream had been dammed for irrigating pur- 

 poses, making a little pool of water around which grew a quantity of canes 

 and rank grasses, the whole covering an area of about forty yards square. 

 Here were found three pairs, the females of which were apparently incubating, 

 although no nests were discovered. The species was next met with at San 

 Jose del Cabo, where it proved to be one of the most abundant birds. It was 



