506 SwARTH, California Foryns of Psaltriparus. [q^V 



ently but two distinguishable stages of plumage during the hfetime 

 of the individual: (1) the juvenal plumage, acquired in the nest, and 

 worn about four months; and (2) the first and subsequent winter 

 plumages. Adults and immatures are, as far as I can see, abso- 

 lutely indistinguishable after the autumnal molt, when the young 

 bird loses the juvenal plumage, and the adult the faded and shabby 

 last year's garb, and both don similar covering. 



Following are detailed descriptions of selected juvenals and adults 

 of the various California species and subspecies of PsaltrijMrus} 



Psaltriparus minimus minimus. 



No. 2123; juvenal male in fresh, newly acquired plumage; San 

 Jacinto Mountains, Riverside County, California; May 24, 1908. 

 Pileum, buff y -brown; back, hair-brown; under surface of body, 

 whitish, palest on throat, and darkening to drab-gray on sides and 

 flanks. 



No. 2529; juvenal male in very worn plumage; San Jacinto 

 Mountains, Riverside County, California; August 25, 1908. 

 Pileum, avellaneous; back mostly clothed in new feathers; plum- 

 age of under surface of body abraded so that most of the light col- 

 ored tips of the feathers are worn away, and the dusky bases show 

 through. The bird is generally dirty and faded in appearance. 



No. 1623 (Grinnell coll.); male, in fresh, fall plumage; Pasa- 

 dena, California; October 17, 1896. Pileum, olive-brown; back, 

 rather darker than hair-brown; under parts darker than in the 

 juvenal plumage, drab-gray on throat and median line of belly, 

 darkening to drab on sides and flanks. 



Although there are distinguishable dissimilarities in coloration 

 between adults and juvenals, these differences are not great. They 

 are accentuated, however, by the different textures of plumage in 

 the two stages. The juvenal, with shorter and fluffier feathers, and 

 with more extensively light-colored bases, gives a general effect 

 that is rather mottled and uneven. The adult (first winter and 

 later), with the plumage more dense and lustrous, has a generally 

 smoother and better groomed aspect. 



1 In descriptions of colors Ridgway's Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, 

 1912, has been the basis for comparison. 



