166 DWIGHT 



orange tinged. There is much individual variation in the intensity of the 

 orange eveiywhere. 



4. First Nuptial Plumage acquired by a partial prenuptial 

 moult which involves most of the plumage except only the 

 primaries, their coverts, and the secondaries. The tide of moult 

 often passes by wing coverts, alulae, tertiaries or in fact any 

 feathers which often remain here and there worn and in sharp 

 contrast to new feathers adjacent, and the outer wing coverts 

 are frequently left over and sometimes a rectrix or two. The 

 full orange and black body plumage is assumed at this moult, 

 the tertiaries and wing coverts being broadly edged with white, 

 and the black and yellow tail is acquired. The orange is 

 usually paler than in adults and the black feathers of the back 

 are generally edged with orange. There is a Panama bird (Am. 

 Mus. Nat. Hist., No. 41939) showing the prenuptial moult in 

 progress on the back, forehead, occiput, sides of head and breast, 

 throat and chin, upper and under tail coverts, the two central 

 rectrices and the greater wing coverts ; and a Guatemala specimen 

 (Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist.) also without date shows moult on the 

 head. Birds in this dress may be distinguished from adults by 

 the worn brownish primaries in contrast to the new black, white 

 edged tertiaries. Plate II, figs. 9 and 10 shows the difference 

 between a first nuptial tertiary which is new grown and an adult 

 nuptial tertiar}' which is really a worn adult winter feather. 

 Similar differences in the rectrix next to the middle pair are 

 shown by figS. 11 and 12, a large amount of black belonging to 

 the adult feather. I have seen one young bird in this plumage 

 with the orange mostly replaced by blood-red which invades 

 even the wing coverts and the black nape. 



5. Adult Winter Plumage acquired by a complete post- 

 nuptial moult in July, the birds usually disappearing soon after. 

 Two males in my collection (J. Dwight, Jr., No. 6883, August 

 26th, and No. 6885, September 13th, Long Island, New York), 

 are in fresh winter dress without trace of their recent moult. 

 Different from first winter dress, jet black wing quills and central 

 rectrices being assumed with rich orange and black body plum- 

 age. The feathers of the back are narrowly edged with dull 



