^°'i9i4''^^] DwiGHT, Plumages of the Scoters. 305 



adult. The color of the bill soon approximates that of the adult 

 but the upward swelling of the culmen seems to require a year or 

 more for its full development, as indicated by specimens that are 

 adult in plumage. The white of the secondaries is not so extensive 

 as it is in adults, but this is a variable character. 



It is worthy of careful note that no white crescent below and 

 behind the eye develops until the first postnuptial moult. The 

 little feathers of the lower eyelid, brown in the other species, in 

 this one are dingy white in the juvenal dress and fade whiter, and 

 when the new feathers of the first winter grow they are either a 

 dingy white or more often tipped with brown or black which is lost 

 as the tips wear off, but no white feathers grow during the first 

 winter on the area where the white crescent of the adult is found. 

 1st Nuptial Plumage. Practically the same as the first winter 

 plus wear or with a partial prenuptial moult and therefore chiefly a 

 mixture of juvenal and first winter feathers, and sometimes those 

 added by the prenuptial moult. 



2d Winter Plumage acquired by a complete postnuptial moult. 

 Adult characters are now assumed except that the bill has less of a 

 "hump" than in older birds, but there is doubtless great individual 

 variation. The brown band along the sides is now conspicuous 

 and wears and fades because of its color more than do the black 

 feathers of adjacent parts. In fusca and carbo, however, this band 

 is as black as the breast and abdomen adjacent. A bird belated 

 in moult (Am. Mus. No. 115554, September 17), has new wings 

 and tail, but still retains brown juvenal feathers below and on the 

 back, while about the head and elsewhere are scattered many 

 brown greatly worn feathers; the white spot below the eye is small, 

 the bill is sloping but its color is bright. 



In the adult female the obliteration of the white spots of the 

 side of the head is much more complete than in perspicillata and 

 the feathers that grow upon them are basally whiter and often 

 merely tipped with black especially those of the posterior spot. 



2d Nuptial Plumage acquired by a partial prenuptial moult as 

 shown by many specimens moulting in April and May. As this 

 plumage is the same as the winter the only obvious effect is to 

 freshen up the bird. A specimen (J. D., Jr., No. 8238 d") of May 8 

 shows the brown band much worn with the darker new brown 



