Notes on the Plumage of North American Birds 



THIRTY-SEVENTH PAPER 



By FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



(See Frontispiece) 



Bush-Tit {Psaltriparus minimus and races. Fig. i). The Bush-Tits of this 

 group may be known by their brownish crown. The male and female are alike 

 in color; the young bird closely resembles them but has the crown somewhat 

 darker, and the winter plumage differs from that worn in summer only in being 

 slightly deeper in tone. Three races of this species are known: The Bush-Tit 

 (P. m. minimus) of the Pacific coast from northern Lower California to Wash- 

 ington, in which the crown is sooty brown; the California Bush-Tit (P. m. 

 calif ornicus) , which occupies the interior of California and Oregon, and has 

 the crown much brighter than in the coast form; and Grinda's Bush-Tit {P. m. 

 grinds), a form of the Cape Region of Lower California with a grayer back. 



Lead-colored Bush-Tit {Psaltriparus plumbeus. Fig. 2). The gray 

 crown, of the same color as the back distinguishes this species from the Bush- 

 Tits living west of the Sierras. The male and the female are alike in color; the 

 young is essentially like them, but has less brownish on the sides of the head, 

 and there are no seasonal changes in color. 



Lloyd's Bush-Tit (Psaltriparus melanotis lloydi. Figs. 3, 4). Lloyd's 

 Bush-Tit is a northern form of the Black-eared Bush-Tit of the Mexican 

 tableland. Occurring over our border only in western Texas, southern New 

 Mexico, and southern Arizona, it is rarely observed by the field ornithologist. 

 The adult male may always be known by its black cheeks; and when the female 

 has any black on the sides of the head (as in Fig. 4), no difficulty is experienced 

 in identifying her. But immature males and often some apparently adult 

 females are without black, and they then so closely resemble the Lead-colored 

 Bush-Tit that it is impossible to distinguish them by color alone. 



Verdin (Auriparus flaviceps. Fig. 5). When it leaves the nest, the young 

 Verdin is a gray bird with no yellow on its head or chestnut on its wing-coverts, 

 but at the postjuvenal molt both yellow head and chestnut patch are acquired, 

 and the bird, now in its first winter plumage, cannot be distinguished from its 

 parents. These closely resemble each other, but the female sometimes has less 

 yellow on the head. After the colors of maturity are acquired, they are retained, 

 and thereafter there is essentially no change in the Verdin's appearance through- 

 out the year. 



There are but two races of the Verdin. One (A. f. flaviceps) occupies our 

 Mexican border from coast to coast. The other, the Cape Verdin {A. f. lam- 

 procephalus) , a smaller bird with a brighter yellow head, is found only in the 

 Cape Region of Lower California. 



Wren-Tit (Chamcea fasciata. Fig. 6). The Wren-Tit enjoys the distinction 

 of being the only species in the only family of birds peculiar to North America. 



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