NORTHERN AND MARYLAND YELLOWTHROATS 551 



"Later, in the same bushy, weedy pasture, I caught a young yellow- 

 Ihroat, with much difficulty — a pretty little fellow much like the adult 

 female, but with its tail just sprouting. I think this belonged to 

 other parents. They made much less fuss about their own offspring 

 than did the other pair about the young cowbird." 



The young are cared for by the adults for an unusually long period 

 after they leave the nest, this being especially true of the second brood 

 of the season, when parent birds may be seen feeding young that are 

 able to fly as well as the adults, and apparently long after the young 

 are capable of caring for themselves; in fact, they have been seen 

 feeding their young up to the time of the fall migration. It is pos- 

 sible that the fall migration starts as a family group. 



Plwmages. — The Juvenal plumage which is acquired by a complete 

 molt of the natal down is described by Dr. Dwight (1900) as follows: 

 "Above, pale olive-brown of variable depth, greenish on the upper 

 tail coverts. Wings olive-brown edged with olive-green, the median 

 and greater coverts faintly tipped with cinnamon. Tail bright olive- 

 green. Below, tawny wood-brown, Naples-yellow on the abdomen 

 and olive-yellow on the crissum. Inconspicuous orbital ring pale buff. 

 Bill and feet pinkish buff becoming deep sepia with age." 



The following plumages of the Maryland yellowthroat are also 

 described by Dr. Dwight: The first winter plumage is acquired "by 

 a partial postjuvenal molt, beginning about the middle of July, 

 w-hich involves the body plumage and the wing coverts, but not the 

 rest of the wings nor the tail." It is unlike the previous plumage 

 in being "above, deep olive-brown, greener on the upper tail coverts, 

 the crown and forehead tinged with Mars-brown, the forehead fre- 

 quently with a very few feathers black basally. The wing coverts 

 chiefly olive-green. Below, bright lemon on the chin, throat and cris- 

 sum, pale straw-yellow on the abdomen, the flanks washed with 

 olive-brown, and a very faint buffy pectoral band." Dr. Dwight notes 

 that "the malar and auricular regions show traces of the black mask 

 varying from a few black feathers to a considerable area always 

 veiled by ashy edgings. The black seldom invades the lores and fore- 

 head and never the orbital ring as in the adult. The orbital ring is 

 buffy white." 



The first nuptial plumage, he says, is acquired "by a partial pre- 

 nuptial moult which involves chiefly the forehead, crown, sides of 

 head and chin and not the rest of the plumage. These areas are some- 

 what worn, as a rule, when the birds reach New York in May, but 

 specimens from Jamaica, West Indies, taken December 2nd, January 

 9th, 22d and 24th and February 4th show actual moult in progress. 

 It is not surprising that the feathers assumed should show consider- 

 able wear before May. The black feathers of the 'mask' are acquired." 



