Notes on the Plumage of the North American Sparrows 17 
the adult. The spring feather-growth is confined to the chin, and the breeding 
birds differ from winter ones in being somewhat grayer, in the absence of margins 
to the feathers of the crown and their reduction on the feathers of the back, 
giving to the last-named area a more sharply streaked appearance. 
The Western Tree Sparrow differs from the eastern race chiefly in being paler 
above. 
Field Sparrow (Dec., Fig. 4). The Field Sparrow needs comparison with 
no other species, its general reddish brown color and pinkish bill easily distin- 
guishing it. The sexes are alike, and there are no marked seasonal changes in 
plumage. The nestling is streaked below, but in the fall the young bird resembles 
the adult, and both differ from summer specimens in being richer in tone and 
in having a darker suffusion of buff on the breast and sides. The spring molt 
appears to be restricted to the chin, and the breeding plumage is acquired by wear 
and fading. 
The Western Field Sparrow is a strongly marked race which is much paler 
than the eastern form, the general tone of the color above being no browner than 
in the Clay-colored Sparrow. 
Clay-colored Sparrow (Dec., Fig. 5). The Clay-colored and Brewer’s 
Sparrows closely resemble one another and at times are distinguished with 
difficulty. In breeding plumage the former is somewhat browner above, with 
the black streaks decidedly broader; the hind-neck is grayer; the median crown 
stripe and superciliary line more pronounced, and there is a more or less sharply 
defined ear-patch. I have, however, seen fall and winter specimens in which 
these characters were less pronounced, and which so closely approached some 
specimens of Brewer’s Sparrow that it was questionable to which species they 
belonged. 
The Clay-colored Sparrow shows no variation with sex, and, as a rule, but 
little with age or season. Adults, in fall, resemble the young, and at this season the 
plumage averages browner than in summer; this affects the sides of the head and 
breast, and the superciliary line is not so well marked, the crown stripe less 
defined, and the gray hind-neck band is not evident. The spring molt, so far as 
I have observed, occurs in April and involves the chin, crown, wing-coverts and 
tertials; and the renewal of feathers in these parts, with some fading of the feathers 
which are not molted, brings the bird into breeding plumage. 
Brewer’s Sparrow (Dec., Fig. 6). This species may be known from its 
nearest relative, the Clay-colored Sparrow, by the characters mentioned under 
that species, with which it agrees in varying but little with age or season. Fall 
specimens are more buffy than those in summer plumage, and the young of the 
year, at this season, have the wing-coverts tipped with buff. The nestling is streaked 
below, and in this plumage is difficult to distinguish from the nestling of the 
Western Chipping Sparrow. — 
The spring molt appears to be confined to the head, where there is a slight 
feather-growth, and one April specimen has been examined which is acquiring 
