UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 



IN 



ZOOLOGY 



Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 179-195 February 18, 1911 



THE LINNET OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS 

 A PROBLEM IN SPECIATION 



BY 



JOSEPH GEINNELL 

 (Contribution from the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology of the University of California) 



At the outset certain facts apropos of the discussion to follow 

 should be stated. In the linnet, at least of California {Carpo- 

 (lacus fro)d.ali,^), the male and female are always differentially 

 marked beginning with the post- Juvenal (first fall) molt. After 

 the post-juvenal molt, in both sexes, there is but one annual 

 molt, occurring in August. The female at no period of its life- 

 time has any trace of bright colors (red, orange or yellow). 

 Neither has the juvenal male up to the time of its post-juvenal 

 molt any trace of bright colors. At its post-juvenal molt the 

 male acquires a first annual plumage not perceptibly different in 

 matter of intensity or extent of color from that assumed at any 

 later or more "adult" period of life. A corollary of the fact 

 last stated is that during the winter and spring— from September 

 until the time of appearance of full-fledged young the following 

 season — there are no male linnets without color. This is very 

 different from the case in Carpodacus purpureus and C. cassini, 

 where the post-juvenal molt of the male leads into an uncolored 

 first annual plumage, practically identical with the plumage of 

 the normal adult female. The above facts are abundantly indi- 

 cated by the extensive series of specimens in the California 

 Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. 



The colored areas of the male are : broad frontal band, with 

 lateral extensions posteriorly over each eye and auricular patch, 

 to posterior limit of latter; rump; whole chin, throat, malar 



