ee | Dwicut, Moult of North American Shore Birds. 375 
the wings and new tail indicating probably a young bird; Macror- 
hamphus scolopaceus (Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. Nos. 49438, ?, and 
49439, @, March ro, California), with new body feathers just 
appearing; Zringa minutilia (Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. No. 59511, 
9, April 22, Trinidad, W. I.), still chiefly in winter dress; and 
igialitis semtpalmata (Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. No. 29850, 3g, 
April 14, South Carolina), with a few new feathers. These are 
only a small part of the specimens that might be cited in proof 
of the occurrence of a prenuptial moult in both young and old, 
and further evidence may be found in May specimens which are 
in fresh new plumage except for such feathers as fail to moult. 
‘A smaller number of these are to be found on birds that appear 
to be adults, a greater number on young ones, and females regu- 
larly renew fewer feathers than males of like age. 
In the foregoing pages, I have outlined the facts, as we find 
them, concerning the moulting of the Shore Birds, but in order to 
emphasize and bring them out still more clearly, I purpose takings 
up a few familiar species and tracing their moults and plumages in 
natural sequence. 
SPOTTED SANDPIPER (Actifis acini 
1. Matal Down. This is well developed before the bird leaves 
the egg, forming a dense, continuous clothing. Above, the fila- 
ments or neossoptiles are partly banded with black and pale brown, 
producing a mottled olive-gray appearance, and partly black, pro- 
ducing the median stripe from the bill to the tail. Below, they 
are white, those of the sides of the head buff-tinged except a black 
loral and postocular streak. The anterior border and extremity 
of the wing and the orbital ring are white. 
Many specimens from different localities illustrate this stage. 
Two in my own collection (J. Dwight Jr., No. 1221, June 21, New 
York; and No. 3612, July 6, Prince Edward Island, Canada) are 
typical examples. 
2. Juvenal Plumage acquired by a complete postnatal moult, 
the down filaments being really a continuation of the apical barbs 
of the succeeding feathers, in most cases, but not found at the 
