180 Brewster's Descriptions of the First Plumage 



nape dull, unspotted black, and a decided greenish-yellow tinge to the 

 white both above and below. 



First plumage : female. Forehead Blightly spotted with white; croum- 

 patch scarl t, exactly as in the male. Nape unspotted. Beneath brownish- 

 white, haired obscurely upon the Hanks and spotted continuously across 

 the breast with dusky. From a specimen in my collection obtained by 

 Mr. W. D. Scott, at Coalburgh, W. Va., July 25, 1872. Another speci- 

 men before me (Upton, Me., August 13, 1874) has the forehead and occi- 

 put, with a narrow median line connecting them, thickly spotted with 

 white, hut no scarlet. Still a third, in the collection of Mr. C. J. May- 

 nard, has the crown irregularly patched with scarlet feathers. The sex of 

 all these specimens was determined by the most careful dissection. 



95. Picoides arcticus. 



First phi/mage : male. Similar to the adult, hut with the yellow crown- 

 patch rather more restricted ; the black of the upper parts duller ; the 

 white beneath tinged with brownish, and the bars upon the sides dusky 

 instead of black. A few feathers upon the lower interscapular region are 

 spotted with white. From a specimen in my collection shot at Upton, 

 Me., duly 31, 1874. Unfortunately no females in strictly first plumage 

 arc available for comparison. A moulting Bpecimen, however, which has 

 acquired most of the second or autumnal plumage (Upton, Me., August 

 10, 1874), shows a patch of thickly sprinkled yellow feathers upon the 

 crown, while another, taken as late as September •">. still retains several 

 similar feathers. There can be little doubt hut that among a good series 

 df young females in hist plumage many would be found to occur with 

 yellow crown-patches quite conspicuously developed. All among a large 

 number of adult females examined have the crown entirely plain. 



96. Sphyrapicus varius. 



First plumage: male. Crown dull yellowish-green obscurely tinged in 

 places with dusky-red ; nape and a broad stripe extending through and 

 behind the eve dull plumbeous-ash spotted with brownish-white : rest of 

 Upper parts like the adults, the white spots, however, tinged with pale 

 greenish-yellow. Throat dull yellowish-scarlet. Malar stripes meeting 

 In-low tie throat-patch, mottled with dusky. Central line of abdomen 

 greenish-yellow ; rest of under part- dull greenish and olive, barred ev< ry- 

 where with dusky or dull black Prom a Bpecimen in my collection Bhot 

 at dpton, Me., August 10, 1874. The amount of variation exhibited by a 

 large series of males in first plumage is considerable. In one or two there 

 is no red upon the throat ; in others that part is brownish-white with a 

 few scattered red feathers ; many have the crown dull-brown, thickly 

 Bpotted with brownish-white. 



First plumage: female. Crown very pale greenish-buff, each feather 

 narrowly tipped with brown ; feathers of interscapular region dusky, with 



