1885.] PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 627 



termiuation in the way above iudicated, but one wbicli tlie respective 

 collectors, not realizing the importance thereof, failed to ascertain. 



The explanation of the fact that some males are taken in spring: 

 without this coronal decoration is not very easily found, and the only 

 one I can advance — a not very satisfactory one, it must be admitted — 

 is that they are birds of very late broods, which for this or some other 

 reason have not undergone the fe,ll molt. 



Two of the birds shot this fall, and several more found in tlne^ 'Sst- 

 tioual Museum collection, exhibit such a remarkable difference in the 

 color of the crown from the normal scarlet-vermilion that it may be 

 well to indicate them in detail : 



No. 1971 (Coll. C. W. B.), $ hornot. Ilchester, Md., October 25, 1885. 

 Collected by C. W. Beckham. 



No. 59315 (TJ. S. N. M.). Washington, D. C, October 20, 1859 (hot 

 " sexed," but undoubtedly a male, and probably a hornoUne]l ij¥}* 

 lected by D. W. Prentiss. 



The color of the crown in these two specimens is almost exactly of 

 the same shade, i. e., a pale red-lead approaching orpiment-orange,* 

 and there is a tendency to pale vermilion toward the ends of the feathers^ 

 a few of which are tipped with dusky, and the white at the bases is 

 more pronounced than in any other specimens examined. 



No. 1481 (Coll. W. P.), S hornot. Alexandria County, Virginia, Oc- 

 tober 25, 1885. Collected by William Palmer. 



This is the most interesting skin of the series, the feathers of the 

 crown being white at the base, passing insensibly into a light yellow, 

 and then into vermilion towards the tips, i)erhai)s indicating that the 

 feathers change into the normal scarlet-vermilion without molting. 



No. 60955 (U. S. N. M.). Henry's Fork of Green Eiver, October 3, 

 1870 (not •' sexed," but doubtless a male of the year). Collected by H. D- 

 Smith. Quite similar to the last, but the contrast between the yellow 

 and vermilion is not so marked as in that one. 



No. 6G706. (U. S. N. M.), $ . Fort Garland, Colo., May 30, 1873. Col- 

 lected by H. W. Henshaw. 



The crown of this specimen is quite like those of the first two, but of 

 a more decided reddish hue, approaching the usual scarlet- vermilion. 

 This is the only spring male of the series that has this yellowish crowu^ 

 but the feathers of the general plumage are very much abraded and de* 

 composed — almost mere shreds — showing that the bird had not molted 

 at the usual time and was still wearing his last year's clothes. With 

 this explanation I think it may be safely assumed that this pale-yellow- 

 ish crown is a peculiarity of the fall plumage of some young males. 

 Whether it pertains to an early plumage of all of them, and subse- 



* Thede color terms are those adopted in Mr. Eidgway's forthcoming manual, "A 

 Nomenclature of Colors for the Use of Naturalists, and a Compendium of Useful 

 Knowledge for Ornithologists." 



