Academy of Science. 39^ 



ON THE ADULT MALE PLUMAGE OF WILSON'S 

 PHALAROPE. 



{Steganopus Wilsoni S:ib.) 

 By S. W. WiLLisTON, New Haveu, Conn. 



From careful observations the present season in Southern Wyoming, I became 

 •well satisfied that what has been hitherto considered the young plumage of this 

 bird, has been confounded with the adult male. The birds first made their appear- 

 ance in the vicinity of Lake Como, May 5th, and afterwards became somewhat 

 abundant, breeding in the marshy lands during June. A jierfectly formed egg was 

 taken from the oviduct of a female, June 8, although search for the nests was un- 

 successful. The plumage here given is based upon the uniform result of seventeen 

 dissections, in which the female plumage was invariabl)^ as given in Dr. Coues' ex- 

 cellent Key to North American Birds. 



Stcganopus Wilso/ti male. Crown dark, nenrly the color of the lesser wing coverts, 

 somewhat ashy on the occiput and nape. Forehead lighter. The stripe running 

 from bill, back through the eyes, so characteristic of the female, is faint, and nearly 

 the color of the forehead. The cinnamon stripe on either side of the neck, is 

 faintly marked and speckled with ashy; breast and fore part of the neck more 

 purely white than in the female. The intersc ipulars, and many of the scapulars 

 black edged with tawny. Upper tail coverts brown, bordered with white; other- 

 wise as in the female. 



The absence of black, and the deep rich cinnamon upon the neck and scapulars, 

 together with dark markings of the crown and back, render the plumage strikingly 

 different from the female, and I could hardly believe, till after repeated dissections, 

 that this soberly marked bird was the adult mate of the so richly colored female. The 

 birds are so confiding in their habits, that after I hadsliot nearlj^ a score, I forebore 

 their further destruction, but watched them as they circled in graceful flight about 

 me, or swam so lightly in the water. I invariably distinguished the different plum- 

 age of the pairs. 



That they should have shown without exception, when at last a year old, the 

 adu't plumage in the female, and the young plumage in the male, seems wholly 

 improbable, and I doubt not that future observation will confirm my discovery. 



No words can convey the beautiful and graceful forms of these birds, as they swim 

 so lightly about upon the water. The\' prefer the small marsh}'' ponds, and never 

 venture upon rough water. The nearly related Lobipes hyperboreus, on the other 

 hand, delight in deep water, rising and falling upon the high waves, far beyond the 

 reach of fire-arms. 



SPERMOPHILUS RICHARDSONIL 



By S. W. WiLLlSTON. 



I watched with considerable interest, the present season, the habits of this sper- 

 mophile on the Laramie plains, wliere they exist in great numbers. They were 

 seen ver}"^ early in the spring, feeding upon the first green things that appeared, 



