316 NOTES ON THE 



been detected in only this one locality. The survivors appar- 

 ently left in the latter part of August. 



"An inspection of the dates given above, will show that the 

 young buntings are taken at times considerably separated, and 

 as they are probably all of the same brood, they afford excel- 

 lent subjects for a few remarks upon the plumage of the first 

 year. In the "Birds of the Northwest," page 135, Dr. Coues 

 gives the characters of the immature birds taken by him. 

 These were evidently older than those before us, as a compari- 

 son of the following with the description given by Dr. Coues 

 will show. In adult specimens the plumage does not differ 

 materially. The buffiness of the breast and throat, and the 

 intensity of the coloration generally, varies of course to a 

 certain extent. All the tail feathers are acuminate, but the 

 two central ones are very slender. 



"The young we will designate Nos. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, in 

 the order in which they were taken. All three show more or 

 less strongly that fluffy, unsettled looking plumage character- 

 istic of young birds for a short time after they become full 

 fledged. 



"No. 1, taken June 20th, is presumably, judging from date 

 and appearance, the youngest. In this specimen, the entire 

 under parts are light, diffuse yellow. Over the whole upper 

 parts, including wing coverts and tertials, the feathers are 

 either almost wholly saffron -yellow or broadly edged with this 

 color. The wings, and to a slight extent, the tertials, show the 

 chestnut edgings of the adult. The collar on the back of the 

 neck but very faintly indicates that it will become chestnut and 

 grayish. The feathers of the dark bands on the top of the 

 head show the chestnut edgings of the adult. Across the 

 back is a very slight tinge of buff, and the same area is thickly 

 marked with small subdued streaks entirely across for a 

 distance of half an inch, and as a feature of special note there 

 is on each isde of the throat a very distinct maxillary streak. 



"In No. 2, taken August 1st, the lower parts are much less 

 yellow, and the upper parts darker, while the chestnut and 

 white of the interscapulars, and other feathers, are beginning 

 to appear. The markings on the breast are firm and confined 

 more to the sides, and while the maxillary streaks are still 

 evident, they are becoming indistinct. 



"In No. 3, taken August 8th, we have a much nearer approach 

 to the adult. The under parts are beginning to appear white 

 posteriorly and buffy anteriorly; the streaks of the median 



