3. HBLMINTHOPHILA. 245 



the quills with narrow ashy fringes at the tips ; tail-feathers dusky 

 brown, edged with olive-yellow, with narrow white fringes near the 

 end of the inner web ; head ashy grey, contrasting with the back, 

 with a concealed patch of orangc-rnfous on the crown ; from the 

 base of the bill above the eye a line of ashy white, the eyelid also 

 ashy white ; lores and feathers below the eye ashy ; ear-coverts and 

 sides of neck light ashy grey ; throat and breast light ashy grey, 

 streaked with yellow, the feathers being yeUow in the centre with 

 ashy margins ; the abdomen less distinctly marked, the lower 

 abdomen ashy whitish : i;nder tail-coverts purer and brighter 

 yellow ; axillaries pale yellow ; under wing-coverts white washed 

 with yellow, brighter along the edge of the wing: "bill dusky 

 above, pale greyish blue beneath ; feet and claws dusky ; iris hazel " 

 (Audubon). Total length 4-6 inches, culmen 0'45, wing 2*45, 

 tail 2'1, tarsus 0-65. (Mus. Salvin and Godman.) 



The specimen described is marked " adult " by Dr. Coues, who 

 procured it in Dakota (Souris Eiver) on the 18th of September. It 

 ought therefore to be in perfect autumn plumage, as its new 

 feathering indeed shows it to be. No other specimen in the Salvin- 

 and-Godman collection, or in that of the British Museum, exactly 

 resembles it, aU the others having a yeUow eyebrow, and little or 

 no grey on the head, which is olive-yeUow like the back. 

 , The specimen described as H. lutescens (p. 246) is in the British 

 Museum, and was killed on the 18th of May ; it must be therefore 

 in breeding-dress. The yellow eyebrow and eyelid are so distinct, 

 that I scarcely understand why the trinomial name of IT. celata 

 lutescens should be given to it, as it would appear to bo a much more 

 easily recognizable species than our WiUow-Wren and Chiffchaff in 



I Europe. Dr. Coues's description of II. celata in summer corresponds 

 exactly with the specimen killed in autumn and described above, 

 especially in the colour of the under surface, which in II. lutescens 

 is nearly entirely yeUow, without the grey on the throat and breast, 

 nor does it show the streaked appearance of H. celata. Only two 

 explanations appear to me possible. Either H. celata and H. 

 lutescens are two thoroughly distinct species, or else, as in H. 

 peregrina and the Old-World Phylloscojyi, the autumn plumage of 

 the young bird is much yellower than that of the adult, and the bird 

 does not lose this yelloiv plumac/e in its first year, but returns to North 

 America and breeds in it. When fully adult, on the other hand, it 

 must retain the grey head, white eyebrow, and yellow-and-grey 

 streaked under surface throughout the winter. The specimens at 

 my disposal are not sufficient to settle this question. All the birds 

 in the Salvin -and -Godman collection from Utah (1), Vancouver 

 Island (2), San Francisco (1), Mazatlan (2), Presidio, Mexico (2), 

 La Parada, S. Mexico (1), and Vera Paz (1) belong to H. lutescens. 



Hah. North America at large, but especially the middle and 

 western regions ; rare or occasional in the Eastern Province ; north 

 to high latitudes in British America and Alaska : migratory ; breeds 

 in arctic regions and in alpine localities further south (Coues). 

 Winters in Mexico. 



