Notes on the Plumage of North American Sparrows 245 



In juwiKil |)lunia.!j;(.', the Chestnut-collared Longspur has the feathers 

 of the \rdvk lerminall\- margined with whitish, producing not a streaked, 

 but ringed ajJi^earance. The bird, indeed, is surprisingly like a juvenal Grass- 

 hopper Sparrow^ in this respect. The underparts are huffy, more or less 

 heavily streaked with blackish, the throat being whiter. 



The first winter plumage is acquired by molt, which appears to be restricted 

 to the body plumage, the wing and tail feathers being retained. The bird now 

 resembles the adult in winter plumage, but, as a rule, has less black on the 

 underparts. The lesser wing-coverts resemble the greater coverts in color, 

 and are not l^lack bordered with white as in the adult, and the chestnut of 

 the nape is less evident. 



The prenuptial, or spring molt, is very limited, being apparently restricted 

 to the anterior portions of the head, the change from the brownish winter 

 to the striking breeding plumage being accomplished chiefly by a wearing 

 away of the brownish tips and margins of the feathers. 



First nuptial resembles adult nuptial plumage, but the chestnut nape is 

 paler, and the lesser wing coverts are brownish as in winter. 



The adult male, at the postnuptial molt, acquires a winter plumage 

 (Fig. 2), which, as has just been said, resembles that of the young bird, but 

 has the lesser wing-coverts black and more black on the underparts. Nuptial 

 plumage is acquired, as in the young bird, partly by molt but chiefly by 

 abrasion. 



The female (Fig. 3) presents no striking seasonal changes in plumage. 

 In worn summer plumage the underparts become more or less streaked, and 

 the basal chestnut or blackish marking on some, doubtless old specimens, 

 then become partly revealed. 



Lapland Longspur (Figs. 4-6). The Longspurs, as a group, may be known 

 by the length of the hind toe-nail. While this may not be regarded as an easily 

 observed field character, it might at least serve in distinguishing the tracks 

 of these birds from those of certain Sparrows which they resemble in plumage. 



The Lapland Longspur differs from the Chestnut-collared Longspur, as 

 the plate shows, in many respects, but in hfe, even at a distance, they could 

 be readily identified by the difference in the amount of white in their tail- 

 feathers, the former having only the two outer feathers wdth white, the latter 

 the outer four. Indeed female, and some winter male, Lapland Longspurs 

 more nearly resemble, superficially. Vesper Sparrows than they do birds 

 of their own group. 



In juvenal plumage the Lapland Longspur is very Sparrow-hke in appear- 

 ance, with the forebreast and sides streaked with dusky and buff. Late in 

 July or early in August, this plumage is exchanged for the first winter plumage 

 (Fig. 6), which is acquired by molt of the body feathers and most of the wing 

 coverts, the tail feathers and wing-quills of the juvenal plumage being retained. 

 The young bird is now essentially like the adult in winter plumage. 



