Vor. II, Pt. 11] LOOMIS—A REVIEW OF THE TUBINARES 113 
rife, and the discrimination of the plumage generations is 
rather perplexing in some instances. 
Continued, but ununiform, progress is manifested in the 
feather renewal of the September series, which is distributed 
as follows: 2nd, one specimen; 8th, two; 9th, two; 14th, one; 
18th, one; 22nd, one; 23rd, five. Viewed superficially, cer- 
tain specimens appear to be in full plumage. Closer examina- 
tion, however, reveals the presence of old feathers, worn new 
ones, and growing feathers. In only five cases has the first 
primary outgrown the second one. According to Mr. Beck, 
incipient erotic enlargement of the generative organs was dis- 
played in a male and female of the 23rd, indicating the ap- 
proach of the season of reproduction. 
The twenty specimens of October (4th to 25th), seven of 
November 4, and two stragglers of November 30 and two of 
December 9 complete the material under consideration. The 
primaries, except in two specimens, are in a good state of 
preservation, but the greater, middle, and lesser wing-coverts 
as a rule are much worn. Mr. Beck reports functional activity 
of the testes in three such specimens, taken October 21 and 
November 4 and 30; in each, feather replacement is nearly or 
quite at a standstill. In some of the other October and Novem- 
ber specimens slight renewal is in progress, particularly on the 
breast and abdomen. Ina December straggler, having slightly 
worn primaries, growing contour-feathers occur beneath the 
surface on the jugulum, breast, abdomen, side of neck, cervix, 
and dorsal region. Rectrices are also being replaced in this 
December specimen, in one of November 4, and in four Octo- 
ber specimens, shot on the 4th, 15th, and 21st. 
The progressive character of the renewal during the months 
preceding October tends to show that the later feather growth 
is the culmination of a protracted moult rather than the be- 
ginning of a definite new one. Nevertheless, it may be that a 
postnuptial merges into a limited prenuptial moult and that 
there is a deferred limited postjuvenal one. 
The following table summarizes the measurements in milli- 
meters of ninety-three males and thirty-seven females—all 
from the North Temperate Zone. The wing-measurements 
are only approximately correct, the distal primary being worn 
or not fully grown in some instances. 
