Notes on the Plumage of North American Birds 379 



BRIDLED TITMOUSE 



The Bridled Titmouse occurs in the highlands of Mexico, south to Guerrero 

 and northern Oaxaca. It ranges north to the mountains of Central Arizona 

 (Prescott and Camp Apache), and in southwestern New Mexico north to 

 Cooney and Silver City. Like the other members of this genus, it is non- 

 migratory. 



Notes on the Plumage of North American Birds 



THIRTY-FOURTH PAPER 

 By FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



(See Frontispiece) 



Tufted Titmouse {Baolophus bicolor. Figs, i, 2). — Few birds show less 

 variation with age, sex, or season than do our Titmice of this genus as well as 

 of the genus Penthestes, which contains the Chickadees. The Tufted Tit in 

 nestling or juvenal plumage closely resembles its parents, but its forehead lacks 

 the black frontlet. It has but little crest, and the gray of the plumage is 

 washed with brownish. 



At the postjuvenal, or first fall molt the tail feathers and wing-quills are 

 retained, the rest of the plumage being molted. The new pliunage (first winter) 

 then acquired resembles that of the adult, but in some specimens the crest 

 and black frontlet are not so fully developed. 



There appears to be no spring molt, and the shght difference between winter 

 and summer plumage is occasioned by wear and fading. 



After the breeding season there is the usual complete molt, and if the full 

 crest and black forehead have not already been acquired, they are obtained 

 now. 



Black-Crested Titmouse {Bceolophus atricristatus atricri status, Figs. 3, 4). 

 The whitish or rusty forehead and long, black crest at once distinguish this 

 bird from the 'Tufted Tit,' though, aside from the characters mentioned, the 

 birds are surprisingly ahke. The sexes usually resemble each other, though the 

 crest is sometimes duller in the female. 



In nesthng plumage, the forehead as well as crown is gray, somewhat darker 

 than the back or blackish, and the crest is much shorter than in the adult. 

 At the postjuvenal molt this plumage is changed for one Uke that of the 

 adult, though in some individuals the black crest is not so highly developed. 



UulII the postnuptial molt the slight changes which occur in the plvmiage 

 of this species are due to wear and fading. 



Semmett's Titmouse {Bceolophus atricristatus sennetti) is a nearly related race 

 of the preceding from which it differs, according to Ridgway, in being larger, 

 clearer gray above, in having the crest feathers in the female more often tipped 



