EVERGLADE KITE 75 



In fresh juvenal plumage the young bird is quite richly colored. 

 The crown and occiput vary from "sayal brov;n" to "ochraceous- 

 tawny", heavily streaked, especially on the occiput, with "mummy 

 brown" ; the under parts are "ochraceous-tawny" to "tawny", heavily 

 marked with "mummy brown", in the form of narrow streaks on 

 the throat and involving large central portions of the breast feathers ; 

 the flank feathers are "mummy brown", notched with "tawny"; 

 the tibiae are unmarked "tawny"; the primaries are nearly black, 

 tipped with "cinnamon"; the tail above is "mummy brown" to 

 nearly black, broadly tipped with "cinnamon-buff"; the upper tail 

 coverts are "warm buff" to "light buff"; the rest of the upper parts 

 are "mummy brown", broadly tipped with "cinnamon" or "cinnamon- 

 buff" on the back and wings, except that the lesser coverts are very 

 broadly edged with "tawny" or "russet." The sexes are about alike 

 in this plumage, but they can be distinguished by the tails, which show 

 the same differences as in adults. 



The juvenal plumage is worn through the first winter, subject to 

 much wear and fading, the lighter edgings disappearing by wear 

 and the bright colors fading to pale buff or nearly white ; I have seen 

 this faded plumage in March, Aj^ril, and May birds. But usually 

 an extensive molt takes place in spring, at which the sexes begin to 

 differentiate. This molt involves much of the body plumage, the 

 wing coverts, and the tail. Young males acquire much slate-colored 

 plumage on the upper parts and some on the breast; but, in both 

 sexes, much of the new plumage of the under parts is broadly edged 

 or notched with "tawny" or "cinnamon." Whether this plumage is 

 worn throughout the second year the material does not show. An 

 adult male that we collected, and another that w^e saw closely, in 

 March, were molting the primaries, so it may be that the complete 

 annual molt begins in spring and that the young birds referred to 

 above were undergoing a molt into a second-year plumage. Smnmer 

 and fall material is needed to settle the question. 



Some of the manuals imply that the sexes are alike, in adult 

 plumage, or fail to make the difference clear. They are easily recog- 

 nized in life. The female is somewhat larger than the male; her 

 general color is "mummy brown" or "bister", instead of bluish slate- 

 color, mixed with whitish or pale buff below, with much whitish 

 streaking on forehead and throat and with duller colors on the soft 

 parts ; the under side of the tail is different, the dark portion being 

 browner and more restricted and the subterminal light portion more 

 extensive. 



Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926) has described the colors of the soft 

 parts as follows : "The immature female taken October 28, when 

 fresh, had the bill, anterior to the cere, black ; base of bill, including 

 the mandibular rami, the skin back as far as the eye and a narrow 



