EASTERN SHARP-TAILED SPARROW 803 



which passes over the eye and one down the side of the throat; feathers 

 of the back marciiiied "\\*ith orayjsh and sometimes whitish; bend of the 

 wing yellow; tail-feathers narrow and sharply pointed, the outer feath- 

 ers much the shortest; breast and sides washed with buffy, paler in 

 summer, and distinctly streaked with black; middle of the throat and 

 belly white or whitish," 



The sexes are similar in plumage but E. H. Forbush (1929) says 

 that the female is the smaller. This was confirmed by G. E. Woolfen- 

 den (1956), who found the weight of 33 males to average 20.7 grams 

 and of 14 females to average 17.8 grams. J. L. Peters (1942) mentions 

 that there is "a more rufescent type and a less rufescent type" of 

 plumage, although these are not actually two color phases. 



Partial albino specimens have been described from Scarboro, Maine, 

 Nantucket, Mass., and Mt. Pleasant, S.C. J. L. Peters (1942) 

 described one partial melanistic specimen which he tentatively assigned 

 to nelsoni; curiously enough, this bird was taken at Cape Sable, Fla., 

 far south of the normal wintering range. 



The sequence of plumages was described by J. Dwight (1900) as 

 follows: 



1. Natal down. Grayish woody brown. 



2. Juvenal plumage, acquired by complete post-natal moult. Every where rich 

 buflF brightest on superciliary and malar stripes and on jugulum; the back broadly, 

 the jugulum and sides narrowly streaked with clove-brown. Crown and wings 

 nearly black, -wing coverts and tertiarics broadly edged with ochraceous buff, 

 the secondaries with russet, the primaries and their coverts with greenish tinged 

 olive-gray, the alular with white. Tail olive brown with clove-brown shaft 

 streaks and indistinct barring. Auriculars dusky. Bill and feet pinkish buff the 

 former becoming dusky, the latter sepia brown with age. 



3. First winter plumage acquired by partial post-juvenal moult during Septem- 

 ber and early October which involves almost the entire plumage except the 

 primaries, their coverts and the secondaries, and apparently these also in some 

 vigorous individuals. Unlike the previous plumage; the upper parts resembling 

 A. maritima. Above, dull brownish olive-green, an orange tinged patch on the 

 nape, the feathers of the back edged with pearl and cinereous gray, the crown rich 

 sepia faintly streaked with clove-brown, an indistinct median stripe cinereous gray. 

 The tertiaries are edged with buff, the secondaries and greater coverts with russet, 

 the lesser coverts with olive-yellow; the edge of the wings is bright lemon-yellow. 

 The new tail has more olive and is less barred than the old. Below, dull white, 

 washed on the chin, across jugulum and on sides, flanks and crissum with ochra- 

 ceous buff, superciliary and malar stripes deeper buff; streaked on jugulum, sides 

 and crissum with clove-brown veiled by overlapping feather edgings. Auriculars 

 cinereous. The buff everywhere fades rapidly and abrasion is marked bringing 

 the throat streaking into prominence. Birds become grayer above and much 

 whiter below by fading and by actual loss of the veiling feather tips * * *, 



The nuptial plumage is acquired by a complete molt prior to 

 migration in March and April each year, after which the first year 

 birds are indistinguishable from older ones. The birds arrive on 

 the breeding grounds in fresh plumage, although abrasion soon 



