WILLOW PTAEM1GAN 183 



crown and occiput; the rest of the head and the underparts are 

 " colonial buff "; the upper parts are variegated with " colonial buff," 

 black, and " cinnamon-rufous," the last mainly in the center of the 

 back and rump, bordered by broad black bands ; a small spot on the 

 lores, a larger auricular spot, and a narrow line behind the eye are 

 black. 



The juvenal plumage comes in first on the wings, then on the 

 scapulars and back, while the chick is very small; the juvenal remiges 

 are " sepia," bordered with " cinnamon-buff " or buffy white, and 

 their coverts are tipped with buff ; the last of the down to disappear 

 is on the chin, neck, and belly. The juvenal plumage is at its height 

 before the young bird is half grown, at which time the post juvenal 

 molt begins, early in August. In full juvenal plumage the feathers 

 of the mantle are black, edged, notched, or barred with " ochraceous- 

 tawny," and with triangular white tips; the breast and flanks are 

 " ochraceous-tawny," heavily barred or spotted with black or dusky ; 

 the belly is buffy or grayish white ; the remiges are as stated above, 

 except the outer two, which are the last to appear and are white; 

 the rectrices are black, edged, spotted, or barred with " ochraceous- 

 tawny." 



When the young bird is nearly half grown the postjuvenal molt 

 begins by shedding the juvenal remiges, which are replaced by white 

 ones. This is a more or less incomplete molt, involving most of the 

 wings (except the two pairs of outer white primaries) , the tail, and 

 a varying extent of the body plumage. In this intermediate, or 

 preliminary, winter plumage, the sexes are still practically alike. 

 There may be only a few scattered, reddish brown, finely vermicu- 

 lated, or mottled feathers, or the renewal may be nearly complete; 

 the belly, flanks, and legs become white. 



This intermediate plumage is worn for a very short time while 

 the young bird is getting its growth ; for, during the last of August 

 and through September, a supplementary, partial molt takes place, 

 which completes the change into the white winter plumage. Young 

 birds can be distinguished during their first winter by the outer 

 primaries, which are more worn and often speckled at the tips. 



Both young and old birds have a partial prenuptial molt in spring, 

 the date varying greatly with the latitude and season. The reddish 

 spring plumage begins to appear on the head and neck of the male 

 at about the time that bare ground begins to appear in its summer 

 home, from the first to the middle of April in Alaska. The females 

 molt a month or more later. Dr. Jonathan Dwight (1900) says: 



Females may now be distinguished with certainty from males for the first 

 time by plumage characters, the barring being coarser and extending to the 

 head, throat, and breast, the feathers of which in the male are reddish brown, 



