152 BULLETIN 15 3, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



1. Natal down. — Not seen or found in literature, but probably 

 white on the underparts ; dark sepia on the top of head and back of 

 neck; rufous brown on rest of upperparts. (I suggest this because 

 of the great similarity in ju venal plumages between the species of 

 Actophilornis and Jacana; the natal down of the latter being as sug- 

 gested as probably like that of the former.) 



2. Juvenal plumage. — Acquired by a complete postnatal molt. 

 Entire underparts white except the sides and flanks which are red- 

 dish brown mixed with white; top of head and back of neck dark 

 fuscous brown ; a wide stripe of the same color from the bill through 

 the eyes, separated from the crown by a superciliary stripe which is 

 whitish anteriorly and yellowish brown posteriorly, Reichenow ^^ says 

 that the superciliaries are white; Grote,^^ writes yellowish brown; 

 sides of mantle and posterior part of neck yellowish, but not as bright 

 as in adults; back, scajDulars, and interscapulars, light cinnamon 

 brown, this color being, however, more or less confined to the tips 

 and edges of the feathers, which are otherwise oily brownish olive; 

 lesser and middle wing coverts bright liver brown; greater coverts 

 olive fuscous, externally edged with dull liver brown tipped with 

 whitish; remiges fuscous with an oily greenish sheen, the inner 

 secondaries dull cinnamon brown terminally; rump and upper tail 

 coverts bright, deep liver brown, fuscous basally; central rectrioes 

 glossy raw umber with indistinct transverse striations, lateral rec- 

 trices raw umber on the inner webs; rufous liver brown on the 

 outer ones which are externally edged with raw umber; under wing 

 coverts, very deep liver brown; iris, brown; feet, bill, and frontal 

 shield (which is very small), dusky olive gray. 



This plumage is retained only a short time, when it is partly re- 

 placed by an incomplete post ju venal molt involving the feathers of 

 the crown, nape, hind neck, mantle, back, scapulars and interscap- 

 ulars, and of the upper breast. This molt gives rise to the — 



3. Immature plumage., which is vforn until the bird is nearly two 

 years old (about 20 months). It is similar to the juvenal plumage, 

 but the breast is tinged with yellowish like the sides of the lower 

 neck; the back is dark, rich, liver brown, with an occasional oliv- 

 aceous juvenal feather persisting, the crown, nape, and hind neck are 

 mostly deep black, but somewhat mixed with brownish feathers re- 

 tained from the preceding plumage ; the stripe from the bill through 

 the eye is black, and the superciliaries are wholly white and slightly 

 narrower than in juvenal birds. 



When the bird is nearly two years old it undergoes another molt, 

 which seems (from totally inadequate material) to be complete, and 

 which results in the — 



"'VOg. Afr., vol. ::, p. 268. 

 »»Journ. f. Ornlth., 1912, p. 509. 



