BIRDS OF KANSAS. 125 



White Phase. 



SP. CHAR. "Adult: Prevailing color white, with the ends of several outer 

 primaries plumbeous, the plumage tinged here and there (in quantity varying 

 with the individual) with delicate pale bluish pearl gray. Colors of the soft 

 parts as in the blue adult. Young: Similar to the adult, but with the plumes 

 absent or but slightly developed. Bill pale lilaceous, becoming gradually black 

 on terminal third; legs and feet uniform pea green, lighter and brighter than in 

 the blue phase; iris Naples yellow." 



Slue Phase. 



"Adult: Head and neck rich purplish maroon, with a glaucous cast, the 

 feathers more chestnut beneath the surface; rest of the plumage uniform dark 

 bluish plumbeous, the plumes with a glaucous cast, the maroon and plumbeous 

 gradually blended. In breeding season, bill ultramarine blue at the base, the 

 end black; lores and eyelids ultramarine blue; iris pale yellow; tibiae, tarsi and 

 toes black. In autumn, bill light plumbeous on the basal half, the terminal half 

 black; lores and eyelids very pale dull greenish; iris sulphur yellow; legs and 

 feet uniform pea green, darker at the joints. Young: Similar in color to the 

 adult, with less-developed plumes or with none at all; the head and neck more 



plumbeous." 



Pied (or Intermediate) Phase. 



"The plumage mixed white and plumbeous, in proportion varying with the 

 individual, forming a series connecting unbrokeuly the two extremes described 

 above." 



(The above description of the adult "white" and "blue 

 phases" is the present accepted one, but from my observation 

 I have been led to think that the white phase, and those un- 

 dergoing the changes in color, are young birds that, when 

 fully matured, will be found invariably dressed in the blue at- 

 tire. I know that the birds occasionally breed in their various 

 stages of color, and so do quite a number of land and water 

 birds, before they assume their final dress. If a mere phase in 

 color, we ought to find young birds blue as well as white, and 

 they may have been so found, but not among the hundreds that 

 I have met with, both in and out of their nests, and I do not 

 know of a naturalist that claims to have seen one in the blue 

 dress. It is therefore my opinion that the description under 

 the heads of "white phase" and "pied or intermediate phase, " 

 should only be accepted as descriptive of the young and imma- 

 ture, or not fully developed birds.) 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male...... 23.00 40.00 10.20 4.25 8.75 8.00 



Female.. 21.50 37.00 9.50 4.10 3.50 2.80 



