304 DwiGHT, Plumages of the Scoters. [july 



Sd Winter Plumage (and all later winter plumages) (Plate 

 XXIX, Fig. 4 cf , Fig. 5 9) acquired by a complete second post- 

 nuptial moult. A specimen (Am. Mus. No. 90694 cf, July 28) 

 has moulted the body plumage, but still retains the wings and tail, 

 another (Am. Mus. No. 119177 cf , Aug. 4) is at about the same stage 

 and still another (No. 7151 cf , Sept. 1) is at the flightless stage 

 having shed the wing quills. Still another (Am. Mus. No. 76208 d^ , 

 Aug. 24) is the most advanced and has new flight-feathers, tail and 

 body feathers mostly grown. The less highly developed bills and 

 the browner plumage of some birds may or may not indicate less 

 mature birds, but on account of individual variation it is impossible 

 to guess the age of such specimens with any certainty, after they 

 lose the last of the juvenal feathers. We must know the age of the 

 feathers if we wish to know the age of the bird. 



Oidemia deglandi. 



Natal Down. Dusky brown above and dull white below, whitish 

 under the eye and a white patch of down foreshadowing the white 

 wing patch. 



Juvenal Plumage (Plate XXX, Fig. 1) acquired by a complete 

 postnatal moult. The white speculum distinguishes this species 

 from all the Scoters except fusca and carho which it closely resembles 

 in this plumage. The light patches on the sides of the head are 

 as a rule rather larger than those of yerspicillata and are often of a 

 dingier white. The posterior spot is the larger of the two and the 

 anterior is apt to be brownish towards the bill. There is much 

 variation, the light area often extending to the forehead and some- 

 times almost coalescing with the posterior spot. The feathering of 

 the bill is diagnostic. Birds wholly in this plumage may be found 

 from October (J. D., Jr., No. 474, 9 , Oct. 21) to April (J. D., Jr., 

 No. 34134 9, April 18). 



1st Winter Plumage (Plate XXX, Figs. 2 and 3) acquired by a 

 partial postjuvenal moult, more or less of the brown body plumage 

 being replaced by black feathers in the male, brown in the female; 

 the white head patches are obliterated in the male, merely dulled 

 in the female. A band of dark brown feathers develops in males 

 along the sides and flanks, but it is less conspicuous than in the 



