ORNITHOLOGIST 



— A^D — 



OOLOGIST. 



$1.00 per 

 Annum. 



Published for thk BRISTOL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



Establishetl, March, 1875. 



Single Copy 

 10 Cents. 



VOL. XII. 



BOSTON, MASS., DECEMBER, 1887. 



No. 12. 



The 



Spring and Fall Plumage 

 of Our Shore Birds. 



BY JOHN C. CAHOON, TAUNTON, MASS. 



Under the above heading in the August num- 

 ber of the O. AND 0., Mr. F. H. Carpenter 

 speaks of the error into which many ornithol- 

 ogists have fallen in dividing the conditions of 

 plumage of birds, especially those of order 

 Limicohx'^ and says : " That such a distinction of 

 plumage should receive due attention and class- 

 ification is without dispute, but when the divi- 

 sion is based upon the change in seasons rather 

 than age of the birds, some exceptions should 

 be cited." 



I am glad that Mr. Carpenter has opened this 

 subject, as for some time I have been trying to 

 find an opportunity to express my ideas concern- 

 ing the plumage of our shore or beach birds, 

 but should have neglected to do so but for Mr. 

 Carpenter's remarks, which have drawn my at- 

 tention to it. I have given the matter a careful 

 consideration, and from my own experience 

 have been unable so far to make any exceptions 

 why the division of plumage should not be 

 based entirely upon the age of birds rather than 

 the change in seasons. In my following re- 

 marks, taken from notes of some seven seasons 

 spent among our New England shore birds, 1 

 shall endeavor to throw' as nmch light on the 

 subject as possible. 



That our shore birds receive less attention 

 than any of our North American birds can be 

 easily seen by looking through the columns of 

 magazines and papers devoted to Ornithology. 

 The inacessibility of their haunts, tiieir erratic 

 flights and wariness, renders it no easy task 

 for the study of our Limicohn. Their range of 

 migrations is wide, extending from their north- 

 ern breeding homes in the Arctic regions to the 

 tropical countries below the equator, where 

 most of them resort to in the winter. To ob- 

 serve their date of arrival and departure during 



their migration seasons, their plumage and 

 habits, one must necessarily be out on their 

 feeding grounds behind his blind and decoys in 

 all kinds of weather, from early in the morn- 

 ing until late at night, for a variety that 

 was rare to-day may become abundant to- 

 morrow. 



The plumage of all birds is a subject that I 

 think requires more careful study than any 

 other relating to ornithology. In most of oui 

 land birds the male has a brighter dress than 

 the female, while in our shore birds there 

 is no sexual ditterence in the brightness of 

 plumage. 



All birds are said to be in their brightest 

 plumage in the breeding season, but that there 

 are exceptions, and that some birds are brighter 

 in the fall and winter, all ornithologists and 

 collectors know. One that has especially come 

 under my observation, both in the breeding 

 and fall plumage, in which the fall is much 

 brighter, is the Purple Grackle (Qmscalus pur- 

 pureits). 



I think all ornithologists will agree with me 

 that it takes a certain number of years for a 

 bird to attain the adult or full plumage, and the 

 brighter and more conspicuous the adult plu- 

 mage,the more seasons it requires to complete it. 

 It maj^ be that birds with plain dress rcijuire as 

 many seasons to it, but there is so little difter- 

 ence in the young and adult plumage that we 

 do not notice the length of time that it requires 

 to complete it. Any one ma}' see the diflerent 

 seasonal stages of plumage by looking over a 

 number of skins collected in the spring, taking 

 male orioles, tanagers, or any bright-colored 

 species for examples. You will see quite a 

 number of distinct stages from the dull plu- 

 mage of the second season to the bright one of 

 the adult. 



In our New England shore birds, I think the 

 Black-bellied Plover is the most noticeable in 

 its difterent seasonal stages of plumage. In ex- 

 amining many specimens of this bird, I am cer- 



Copyright, 1887, by F. H. Carpenter and F. B. Webster. 



