TOWNSEND'S WARBLER 285 



was about 15 feet up and 8 feet out on a limb of a fir tree and con- 

 tained five fresh eggs. Both birds remained close while the nest was 

 being taken. Two nests in the Doe Museum, at Gainesville, Fla., were 

 taken by J. H. Bowles in Washington, 9 and 10 feet up in small, 

 slender firs, June 2 and 4. 



Eggs. — Either 3, 4, or 5 eggs are the numbers in the few recorded 

 sets. The 5 eggs in the Thayer collection are ovate and have only 

 a slight gloss. The white ground color is speckled and spotted with 

 tones of "bay," "auburn," "chestnut brown," "Mars brown," or "rus- 

 set," with undertones of "pale brownish drab," or "vinaceous drab." 

 Some of the eggs have markings of two or three shades of the darker 

 browns, such as "bay," or "auburn," while others have tones of a single 

 lighter brown, such as "russet," interspersed with the drab spots. 

 There is not a well defined wreath on any of these eggs, although the 

 spots are denser at the large end. The measurements of 40 eggs aver- 

 age 17.4 by 12.9 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 19.0 by 12.7, 17.3 by 13.6, 15.2 by 12.7, and 17.4 by 12.3 

 millimeters (Harris). 



Plumages. — Maj. Allan Brooks (1934) gives the following good 

 description of the juvenal plumage of Townsend's warbler: "Upper 

 sui'f ace brownish olive, greener on dorsum and grayer on crown ; lores 

 and auriculars dusky brown, a broad supercilium and malar stripe 

 whitish, faintly tinged with yellow ; chin and throat dusky olive gray 

 passing into white on the ventral region and crissum, the flanks and 

 breast streaked with dusky; wings with two white bars formed by 

 the tips of the greater and lesser coverts, tertials edged with ash gray, 

 the black central shafts of the white bars seen in the second (first 

 winter) plumage are barely indicated; tail as in second plumage." 



Evidently the juvenal plumage is worn for only a very short time, 

 for in the bird thus described, collected on July 7, "a few yellow 

 feathers of the second plumage are appearing." Apparently, the 

 post juvenal molt is completed in July and August, and involves the 

 contour plumage and the wing coverts only. 



The young male in first winter plumage is similar to the old male 

 at that season, but with less black on the head and throat, cheeks more 

 olive, black streaks on back and sides obsolete, and yellow of the 

 throat paler. The young female differs from the adult female in a 

 similar way. There is evidently a partial prenuptial molt in late 

 winter or early spring, but I have not been able to trace it. Appar- 

 ently the black throat is acquired by the young male at this molt, and 

 perhaps enough of the head and body plumage to make the young 

 bird appear nearly adult, though the worn and faded juvenal wings 

 and tail will distinguish it. 



