530 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



and tertiaries, but excepting those of the crown and nape, are narrowly 

 tipped with whitish. The middle coverts have a narrow median 

 streak of rusty, while the greater ones are edged with the same. 

 Below the color is as in the adult female, but the squamation of the 

 breast is obsolescent. The tail is not fully grown, and the feathers of 

 the chin, forehead, and tibiae are just sprouting. The wing-spots are 

 indicated on the coverts and tertiaries, but are almost entirely devoid 

 of metallic lustre. 



Another bird from the same locality (No. 17,061, Bishop Collection), 

 although taken earlier in the season, seems to indicate that the first 

 winter plumage is acquired by a postjuvenal moult which apparently 

 involves the wing-coverts and body-plumage alone. Unfortunately 

 there are no other specimens available showing this moult, while 

 examples from Danfuskie Island, South Carolina (No. 23,703, Col- 

 lection Carnegie Museum) and Broro Neck, Georgia (No. 13,907, 

 Bishop Collection), taken as late as November 25 and December 5 

 respectively, are still practically in juvenal dress. As this species is 

 known to breed in almost every month of the year, however, the 

 time of moulting is evidently not arbitrarily circumscribed. More- 

 over, it is quite possible that in some cases there is a limited prenuptial 

 moult, involving the feathers of the head and throat, in early spring. 

 Such at least is indicated by certain specimens from Dummitt's and 

 Miami, Florida (Nos. 10,553, 10,555, and 14,116, Collection Museum 

 Comparative Zoology), taken between February 7 and 26, which 

 individuals are doubtless immature, judging from their light-tipped 

 greater wing-coverts. At any rate, it is by such a change that the 

 young male becomes indistinguishable from the adult, except some- 

 times by the rather duller and fewer metallic wing-spots. Probably 

 the birds with the most and brightest spots are the oldest. 



A young female (No. 133,134, Collection U. S. National Museum, 

 Anastasia Island, Florida, May 15, 1894), closely resembles the young 

 male first described, but is rather duller and browner below. A 

 female in first nuptial plumage (No. 4,186, Collection Museum 

 Comparative Zoology, Indian River, Florida, April 20) is quite 

 uniform above, including the crown, and duller and browner than in 

 fully adult birds, with conspicuous white edgings to the wing-coverts, 

 which have apparently been retained from the juvenal plumage. 



Seasonal variation. — No differences are observable in adult males 

 taken in December, January, and May. A November specimen is 



