Notes on the Plumage of North American Sparrows 



TWENTY-THIRD PAPER 



By FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



(See Frontispiece) 



Harris's Sparrow {Zonotrichia querula, Figs, i and 2). — The male and 

 female of the species are alike in color, and adults in winter differ from adults 

 in summer only in having the cheeks buff instead of gray, and the flanks and 

 back somewhat browner. 



The nestlings (known only from three specimens in the American Museum, 

 taken by Seton and Preble on Artillery Lake, Mackenzie, August 7, 1907J 

 closely resemble nestling Song Sparrows. At the postjuvenal molt the body 

 feathers and wing-coverts are renewed, the tail and wing-quills being retained, 

 and the first winter plumage is acquired by the first week in September. This, 

 as Fuertes' drawing (Fig. 2) shows, differs from the adult winter dress mainly 

 in having the throat largely white instead of black (some specimens show more 

 or less black on the throat), the black being restricted to a broad necklace on 

 the breast, and in having the black of the crown largely obscured by brownish 

 or grayish edgings. 



The spring (prenuptial) molt begins in March. It appears to be largely 

 restricted to the head, neck, and anterior parts of the body, and to be of less 

 extent in the adult than in the immature birds. After the breeding plumage 

 is acquired there is but little change in the color of the bird's plumage. 



Golden-crowned Sparrow {Zonotrichia coronata, Figs. 3 and 4). — In 

 the female of this Ix^autiful Sparrow the golden-yellow crown-patch averages 

 duller and its bordering black stripes are more narrow and less intense than 

 in the male, but the difference between the two is so slight that the sexes can- 

 not surely be distinguished in life by color alone. 



The only nesthng I have seen (taken in the Kenai Mts., Alaska, August 

 9, 1901) has nearly completed the postjuvenal molt, but enough of the juvenal 

 plumage remains to show that the breast is streaked, while the upperparts 

 resemble those of a Song Sparrow at the same age. The body plumage and 

 wing-coverts are in full molt, and the wings and tail are probably all that is 

 retained of the nestling plumage. 



The first winter plumage (Fig. 4) differs from the breeding dress mainly 

 in the color of the crown, the ashy hindhead being now the color of the back; 

 the yellow patch is so obscure as to be at times barely evident, and the broad 

 black borders are but faint lines. The back is like that of the adult, but the 

 throat and breast are washed with brownish, and there are indistinct lines at 

 the sides of the throat. Adults in winter more nearly resemble adults in sum- 

 mer, but have the markings of the crown duller. The spring (prenuptial) molt, 

 which begins about April i, appears to be restricted to the head, throat, and 

 breast, which now acquire the colors of the breeding bird. 



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