IC2 DwiGHT, Variations of the Aviericati Goldfinch. fApr 



camans with May tristis. Another interesting fact in connection 

 with the feather changes of salica7nans is the more limited prenup- 

 tial moult. While in tristis this involves almost the entire body 

 plumage, in salicamatis it frequently stops short of the renewal of 

 feathers at a number of points, so that the persistent old feathers, 

 especially in females, tend to produce a brownness that is lacking 

 in the yellower eastern birds. 



Having thus briefly reviewed some of the salient features that 

 should be considered in studying variation, we may now examine 

 at some length the details of plumage and the plumage changes in 

 the Goldfinch. 



J. Natal Plumage. — This ephemeral first stage of plumage is 

 largely acquired before the chick is hatched and consists of a few 

 long downy filaments known as neossoptiles. It would be inter- 

 esting to make comparison of geographical races at this early 

 period, but material of this sort is sadly lacking. The neossoptiles 

 are in direct continuity with the feathers of the next generation 

 and are lost, even before the nest is deserted, through the post- 

 natal moult. 



2. Juvenal Phwiage. — This is commonly known as the nest- 

 ling or 'first' plumage. It develops rapidly; the chin and sides 

 of head being the last areas to be clothed, and the body feathers 

 are worn but a short time before they are replaced through 

 the postjuvenal moult. The feathers of this second stage have 

 been called mesoptiles, in distinction to those of later genera- 

 tions which are known as teleoptiles. In males of tristis the up- 

 per parts are uniformly bistre, shaded with deep wood-brown, and 

 generally there is a faint greenish or yellowish tinge. The abdo- 

 men is primrose-yellow; breast, sides, and crissum washed with 

 ochraceous-buff. The chin, throat and supraloral region are 

 pale olive-yellow of varying intensity and extent. The wings and 

 tail are black ; the wing-coverts, tertiaries and secondaries 

 broadly edged with ochraceous-buff or clay-color, the edgings form- 

 ing two wing bands at tips of greater and median coverts, the distal 

 feathers being whiter. Several primaries are basally white, the 

 spot showing beyond the primary coverts. The terminal third of 

 each rectrix is dull white on the inner web. 



Aside from variation in the original depth of the browns and 



