618 BULLETIN 203, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



are not successful. One young hooded warbler in juvenal plumage 

 and in a dying condition was found at a considerable distance from 

 any known occupied nesting territory on August 22, apparently aban- 

 doned by the parent birds at this late date. 



"During the nesting period the interest of both parent birds in the 

 welfare of the nest and its contents is intense. Frequent visits are 

 made to it, apparently with no other purpose than to assure them- 

 selves that everything is all right. Cooperation between the two 

 parents in the care of the nest and young is developed to a high 

 degree. In the case of one pair held under close observation during 

 the entire nesting period, it seemed to be the job of the male to clean 

 the nest. Sometimes the female, brooding the young, would signal 

 for the male by giving a call, and on his arrival would stand on the 

 rim of the nest watching him while he performed this duty. During 

 incubation the male frequently brought food to the female, and she 

 in turn would pass them on to the young beneath her. As to whether 

 the male ever assists the female in incubating the eggs I am unable 

 to say. Early in my acquaintance with the hooded warbler I thought 

 I saw a male in the act of incubating the eggs in the nest, and I so 

 recorded it. As I gained in experience and in familiarity with the 

 species, I noted that some females had much more black on the head 

 than others, and I am not sure that the incubating bird may not have 

 been one of these well-marked females." 



Plumages. — The downy young are described as gray, but Dr. 

 Dwight (1900) calls the natal down pale sepia-brown. He describes 

 the juvenal plumage, in which the sexes are alike, as "above, pale 

 yellowish wood-brown, edged with Mars-brown, drab when older. 

 Wings and tail deep olive-brown, edged with olive-green, brightest 

 on the secondaries and tertiaries, the wing coverts edged with pale 

 wood-brown, often darker. Below, primrose-yellow, washed with 

 wood-brown on the throat, breast and sides. The three outer rectrices 

 largely white on their inner webs." 



He says that the first winter plumage is "acquired by a partial 

 post juvenal moult beginning the end of June which involves the body 

 plumage and the wing coverts but not the rest of the wings nor the 

 tail. Young and old become practically indistinguishable." 



In the young male in first winter plumage, "the crown occiput, sides 

 of neck, whole throat and part of the chin are jet-black veiled with 

 narrow edgings of lemon-yellow most marked on the throat. The 

 rest of the upper surface and the sides are bright olive-green; the 

 forehead, sides of head, anterior part of chin, breast, abdomen and 

 crissum are rich lemon -yellow ; the forehead partly veiled with olive- 

 green or dusky tips, the lores with black ones." 



The first nuptial plumage is "acquired by wear which is not very 

 obvious, the black areas losing the veiling yellow tips. The olive- 



