284 Palmer, Plumage* of the Hooded Warbler. \^\ 



Dr. Merriam, in his 'Review of the Birds of Connecticut' 

 (Trans. Conn. Academy, Vol. IV, 1S77, p. 26), speaks of this 

 species as follows : "From the limited amount of material I have 

 been able to examine, and from the notes given me by Mr. Sage 

 and Mr. Bicknell, I am inclined to believe that the female bird, 

 like the male, is several years — at least three — in attaining 

 its full plumage ; . . . ." 



Dr. E. A. Mearns (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. Ill, p. 72) 

 quotes the above from Dr. Merriam and adds: "With a large 

 series of specimens before me, I can fully indorse Mr. Merriara's 

 views. The females of the second summer are entirely without 

 any black upon the head, and I have frequently found them sitting 

 upon their eggs in this condition. Males of the same age show 

 very evident traces of black." 



Mr. Ridgway says (Manual, 1887, p. 527) : "Young in first 

 autumn : similar to adult female, without black on head." 



He also, in the 'Birds of Illinois' (p. 175) quotes Dr. Merriam 

 and Dr. Mearns as above, and on page 173 says: "Young: no 

 black whatever about the head." 



Dr. Coues (Key, 1892, p. 313) describes the young as follows: 

 " 9 5 adult, and young £ , with the black restricted or interrupted, 

 if not wholly wanting, as it is in the earlier stages, when the 

 parts concerned are simply colored to correspond with the 

 tipper and under surfaces of the bird. Hood said to be not 

 perfected until the third year, and to be finally acquired, in the 

 fulness of its extent if not in the purity of the black, by the 

 female." 



The only approximately correct statement that I have been able 

 to find is that of Messrs. Samuel F. Rathbun and Frank S. 

 Wright (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, Vol. IV, p. 117) as follows: 

 "We secured female birds with the black gradating from a single 

 spot to a full tracing of the hood. We also found young males of 

 the year with the black as dense and glossy and the yellow as rich, 

 as in the best adults; yet the little 'spike-tails' scarcely exceeded 

 half an inch in length, and their peculiar plumage marked them 

 as young." 



It seems most improbable that such a difference should exist 

 between the specimens mentioned above and those described 

 below, which were all collected by me in Virginia. 



