48 LAWRENCE, Abnormal Coloring of Birds’ Plumage. {January 
green Canaries). One of the brood was entirely white, the other 
three were all of the dark green color of the mother, without a 
particle of white in their plumage. 
I recollect that the idea then occurred to me, that all the white 
element of color from the male was concentrated in one individual 
of the brood, which should have been disseminated to some extent 
among the others. I did not consider the white bird to be an 
albino, and as it was very beautiful we intended keeping it, sup- 
posing it to be a male, but soon after being fully fledged, it un- 
fortunately escaped.. The others we thought -were probably 
females, and having no claims to beauty they were given away. 
For the case of the Parrot to be parallel to that of the Canaries, 
all the others of the brood should have been without any blue 
color, but that they were so can only be a matter of conjecture. 
Another instance of the blue color being predominant, is that 
of a specimen of Vzreolanius which was sent me from the 
Smithsonian Institution some years ago, as possibly a new species. 
I found it to be an abnormally colored example of V. pzulchellus. 
The usual plumage of this species is as follows: above of a 
rather light clear green; the head and hind neck light blue; the 
under plumage of a pale yellowish green; the throat and inner 
margins of the quills pale yellow. The specimen under exam- 
ination is of a uniform light blue color above, and of a pale 
whitish blue below; the throat and inner margins of the quills 
whitish. This seems similar to the two cases above mentioned. 
For quite a long time [ have had in my possession an example 
of Procnias tersa, which is entirely of a clear light yellow— 
much resembling a Canary Bird in color,—and having a few very 
"pale dusky bars on the sides. ‘These bars, although nearly obsolete, 
enabled me to determine the species, as they are a strongly marked 
character, in the normal plumage of both sexes. In the regular 
_ plumage of the female of this species, the only yellow color is 
on the abdomen and under tail coverts, the rest of the plumage 
being green. The male is verdigris-blue, with a white abdominal 
stripe, and no yellow whatever in its plumage. I can only 
attribute this abnormal coloring to a similar cause to that which 
produced it in the other cases. 
I procured in Fulton Market, a specimen of 7ympanuchus 
americanus, male, which was of an unusual color. The rufous 
coloring which exist in the neck tufts, and in some individuals 
