134 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part i 



nest and eggs of same found on vine ten feet high." The nest is 

 normally placed in a thick bush, low tree, or tangled ^dne. The records 

 of eight sets of eggs collected in Cameron County, Tex., indicate that 

 each nest was in a small bush; the lowest was only 16 inches from the 

 ground and the highest was 5 feet. The nest is cup-shaped, com- 

 pactly built, but somewhat untidy in appearance. The materials 

 used in its construction consist primarily of dry grass and small stems 

 but may include strips of vegetable fiber, plant cotton, and other 

 similar substances. One nest included a piece of cast-off snake skin, 

 another a strip of paper. The nest is usually lined with rootlets and 

 fine grasses, however five of the eight available records show that some 

 hair was used in the lining. 



Eggs. — The varied bunting normally lays three or four eggs to a set. 

 The shape varies from short-ovate to elongated-ovate. The shell is 

 pale bluish white, unmarked, and the eggs are practically indistin- 

 guishable from those of the indigo and lazuli buntings. Measurements 

 of 21 eggs average 17.8 by 14.3 millimeters, the eggs showing the four 

 extremes measure 20.0 by 14.4, 19.0 by 15.0, and 16.5 by 13.5 

 millimeters. 



Plumage. — After the young leave the nest in juvenal plumage, the 

 male passes through four different changes before he reaches the adult 

 phase in the third winter, when he is over 2 years old. The female 

 remains nearly the same after the post-juvenal molt with only slight 

 changes from winter to summer. The juvenal plumage, both male 

 and female, is similar to the first winter plumage of the female, but 

 duller and more buffy brown, and the abdomen is buffy or grayish. 

 This is described by Ridgway (1901) as follows: "above grayish 

 brown or drab (less olivaceous than in summer female), the edges of 

 retrices and primaries dull glaucous, or inclined to that color, middle 

 and greater wing-coverts tipped with pale brownish buff, forming 

 two indistinct narrow bands; under parts dull whitish medially, pale 

 brownish laterally and across chest." 



After the juvenal stage, a first winter plumage is acquired by a 

 partial post-juvenal molt. The male in this plumage is similar to the 

 summer female except that he is more deeply colored and browner, 

 both above and below, with only the center of the abdomen whitish. 

 The female is quite similar in color but the upper parts are slightly 

 darker and more brownish. The first nuptial plumage of the male, 

 acquired by partial prenuptial molt, is much like that of the adult 

 female. Van Tyne and Sutton (1937) refer to a specimen taken on 

 May 29 and state, "A male bird taken by Semple * * * is in the first 

 nuptial plumage, scarcely distinguishable from that of the female." 

 The first nuptial plumage of the female is much like that of the adult 

 female but slightly more buffy. The male in second winter plumage, 



