92 Allen on First Plumages. [April 



nestling; the clothing feathers being nearly full-grown when 

 the young bird leaves the nest, while the flight feathers are only 

 partly so. The first flight feathers may be moulted in a few 

 weeks, or be worn during the first year, even in species not 

 distantly related. Thus in the Woodpeckers, the Cowbird, and 

 the Horned Larks they are moulted in the course of a few weeks, 

 with the first clothing feathers, while in the Sparrows and in 

 most Passerine birds they are not renewed till the following 

 summer. 



Speaking generally, the first clothing feathers in Passerine 

 birds are replaced by a more permanent set soon after the young 

 bird leaves the nest. This 'first' or 'nestling' plumage can 

 usually be recognized by its loose, flufiy texture, as compared 

 with that of adult birds of the same species, even though the 

 coloration may be similar; but generally it differs notably also in 

 color, and often in pattern of markings, from that which 

 immediately succeeds it, or from any plumage which may be 

 afterward acquired. Familiar illustrations are furnished by the 

 Robin and the Bluebird, where the first plumage is so strikingly 

 unlike, both in color and markings, that of the adult bird of 

 either sex. The difference is almost as great in many of the 

 Sparrows, as, for example, in the Juncos and Towhees, and is 

 even conspicuous in such species as the Field and Chipping 

 Sparrows. 



Although this first plumage is particularly interesting and 

 instructive, affording frequently clues to ancestral relationships, it 

 has not until recently attracted the attention it deserves, even 

 among 'professional' ornithologists. Fledglings, as a rule, have 

 not been looked upon as attractive additions to the cabinet ; and 

 being furthermore rather difficult to prepare as specimens, on 

 account of the loose texture of the plumage and the tenderness of 

 the skin in young birds, they have not proved attractive to 

 collectors. Of late years, however, their importance has been 

 more fully recognized, and 'first plumages' are now considered 

 as an essential feature of a collection, even by amateurs, and are 

 not unfrequently kept in stock by dealers. 



Some years since attention was called to this long-neglected 

 subject by Mr. William Brewster, through his series of papers 

 published in the 'Bulletin' of the Nuttall Ornithological Club 



