BIRDS 295 



studied species, and also apparently the most generalized of the sub- 

 genus Geospiza^ we give the following detailed descriptions of the 

 different stages which were briefly outlined in the introduction to the 

 genus. The birds in the first plumage are in Stage II, Stage I having 

 been apparently crowded out of the life history in the subgenera Geo- 

 spiza and Cactoriiis. 



Stage II. Touiig Males and Females just out of Nest. — This 

 stage represents the first phase of the plumage of birds of both sexes 

 after leaving the nest and is characteristic of young birds of the first 

 year during spring and summer. We have no specimens taken later 

 than June, so we do not know when the change from this stage to the 

 next takes place. Young birds taken in December and January are in 

 Stage III. 



Feathers all soft and lax. Top of head and back brownish or dusky, 

 the feathers withbuffy, sometimes with buffy -yellowish margins widest 

 on middle of back and on rump. Wing feathers sooty-brown, all of 

 them with buffy-yellow edgings, these widest and most yellow on the 

 greater coverts, narrowest and grayer on the outer edges of the pri- 

 maries. Upper surface of rectrices dusky-brown, higher than the 

 wings, edged with olive-buff. Sides of head and lower parts grayish- 

 buff, more or less spotted with brown, especially on the throat and 

 breast. Some specimens are almost uniformly pale below ; others are 

 thickly spotted. Each feather below has the concealed basal part 

 dark slaty-plumbeous, the marginal part grayish-buff and between 

 these two colors an arrowhead-shaped spot of dark brown. The size 

 and intensity of this spot varies ; when small it is almost entirely con- 

 cealed by the buffy marginal color, and when large it causes the con- 

 spicuously spotted appearance of some specimens. Lower surface of 

 wings and tail brown, paler than above, the primaries and secondaries 

 with pale grayish inner margins. Bill either plain pale yellowish or 

 yellow with the upper mandible clouded with light brownish. Feet 

 blackish-brown. Examples: Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum 

 Catalogue Nos. 4349, 4539? 454'? Iguana cove, Albemarle, March; 

 No. 4539, female, James, April; No. 4541, male, James, April. 



Stage III (a) Voung Males and Females of the Whiter Alonths. 

 — Young birds are mostly in this stage about Tagus Cove during De- 

 cember and January. When the plumage is attained we do not know, 

 for we have no specimens taken earlier than the last of December. 



Plumage compact and of the same texture as in adult birds, not 

 loose and soft as in Stage II. Upper parts brownish. The cen- 

 tral areas of the feathers dusky-brown, the marginal parts lighter 



