382 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. ii4 



more reddish olive above than adult males. Nearest the Medal 

 Bronze of Ridgway. Specimens of almae exemplifjdng this plumage 

 are 193042, 419145, and 425279. H. u. swainsoni: Subadult males 

 in fresh plumage are not too different from adult males; in series 

 they appear to be somewhat less bright reddish olive above. Ex- 

 amples are 271375, 301600, 349253, 361680, 393349, and 458079. 



Adult males in breeding plumage: Hylocichla ushdata ustulata: The 

 upperparts are dull russet, similar to the Saccardo Umber of Ridgway. 

 Specimens selected at random from this color series are 529 (ing), 

 286675, and 156359. H. u. oedica: Has the upperparts quite near 

 the deep olive of Ridgway. Examples are 394934, 420624, and 262237. 

 H. u. almae: The upperparts are dark ashy gray; Ridgway's Ohve 

 is nearest this hue. The following random samples are illustrative: 

 395459, 465332, 465976, 468145, 397341. The type specimen of 

 almae belongs here. This specimen has caused considerable confu- 

 sion in the past because it is slightly lighter in value than other, more 

 "typical," specimens of the western population; however, the dorsal 

 coloration is definitely Olive in hue if not in saturation. Another 

 specimen, taken at A^ountain City, Nev., a short distance from Moun- 

 tain Lake, is definitely almae. H. u. swainsoni: More reddish olive 

 above than almae, and its dorsal coloration falls between the Brownish 

 Olive and light Buffy Olive of Ridgway. Samples of adult males 

 in breeding plumage are 136319, 271370, 259580, 340549, 382036, 

 394307, and 4440 (ing). 



Subadult males in breeding plumage: This plumage is retained by 

 first-year bh'ds until they have completed nesting activities. It is 

 characterized by spotted-wing coverts. The feathers of first-year 

 birds in breeding plumage are much more abraded than those of 

 adults at the same season of the year because the first-year birds did 

 not undergo a postnuptial moult during the previous fall. Two 

 examples of Hylocichla ustulata almae in "typical" subadult breeding 

 plumage are 367528 and 397342. Although they usually retain a 

 slight reddish-oHve wash above, subadult breeding specimens of 

 swainsoni become so dark that they are sometimes difficult to separate 

 from almae. This condition is probably responsible for the conclusion 

 of several authors (Burleigh and Peters, 1948; Braund and McCullagh, 

 1940) that incana [= almae] extends all the way across northern 

 Canada to the Atlantic coast. A warm yellowish wash at the base 

 of the pileum is a characteristic of the eastern population and, when 

 present, is an excellent diagnostic character in separating the two 

 races of this particular age and plumage. Occasional birds occiu- in 

 the plumage of subadults but lack the spotting of the wing coverts. 

 The type of clarescens is an example of this sort. Two examples of 

 swainsoni in the spotted-covert subadult breeding plumage are 382039 



