THE FLICKER. 71 



crescent varies greatly in extent and in color from scarlet to 

 vermilion. The .sides of head, chin, throat and forebrea.st 

 from drab through fawn, ecru-drab to vinaceous-cinnamon. 

 The black breast-patch being a generic character remains 

 fairly con.stant. The under parts vary in the extent and 

 depth of tone of the pale fawn-cinnamon wash, and the size 

 and shape of the black spots. In four specimens the bend of 

 the wing is apparently immaculate, but the small black spots 

 are discovered beneath the surface. The absence or presence, 

 nimiber and extent of the light edgings on the tips and outer 

 vanes of the primaries, and the tips, edgings and barrings of 

 the rectrices offer a more complicated study, as variation 

 occurs more frequently in these parts, and can be successfully 

 investigated only with un.stinted material. 



Aside from the black malar stripes or " moustaches " which 

 vary in length and breadth, a usually greater width of nuchal 

 crescent, and an apparentl}' le.ss frequently .spotted condition 

 of the tips and outer vanes of the primaries of the male, I can 

 detect no constant difTerentation of sexes. The pattern of col- 

 oration of the fully fledged j'oung is very near the same as the 

 adults, but the spots and bars are u.sually much broader, giv- 

 ing a coarser and darker effect. The immature female as well 

 as the male resembles the mature male in having black malar 

 .stripes, and the female in having a narrower nuchal band and 

 in the extent of primary markings. The wings and tail are of 

 a duller yellow and the feathers of the forehead and crown are 

 u.sually tipped or mottled with .scarlet vermilion, dragon's 

 blood or brick-red, posteriorly fading to a rusty brown or burnt 

 umber over the ashy-gre}', which extends almost ai-ound the 

 eye in .some .specimens. The lores are frequently blackish, 

 and one .specimen has a dusk}- superciliary .stripe. The throat 

 is often tinged with a.shy, pronounced in one specimen, and oc- 

 casionally a dull vinaceous-buif. The black breast tract is 

 .shaped more like a semi-circle than the crescent of the adult, 

 and the whole body has a fluffy, lustrele.ss appearance. 



The color pattern of the tail coverts is subject to much 

 variation at any period of the bird's life, but ordinarily follows 

 a definite line of progression. Chapman, in Bulletin American 

 Museum Natural History, Vol. III., p. 314, illu.strates the de- 

 velopment of the long upper tail coverts in fifteen figures, 



