Notes on the Plumage of North American Sparrows 



FIFTEENTH PAPER 



By FRANK M. CHAPMAN 



(See frontispiece) 



Black-headed Grosbeak {Zamelodia melanocephala. Figs. 1-3). The 

 plumages of this species are not so interesting as those of the Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak. Both sexes have the under wing-coverts the same color, the yellow 

 being just as bright in the female as in the male. The juvenal plumage of the 

 male closely resembles its first winter plumage (Fig. 3), which, as in the Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeak, is gained by molt of the body feathers and wing coverts, 

 the tail and wing-quills being retained. The spring molt, also, appears to 

 agree in extent with that of the Rose-breast; only the primaries, their coverts, 

 the secondaries and some of the tail-feathers of the first winter plumage 

 (Fig. 3) being retained. With the exception of these feathers, the bird, now 

 in first nuptial plumage, resembles the fully adult male (Fig. i), but is paler 

 below and has the belly with more w^hite. 



At the postnuptial or fall molt, this plumage is followed by the second win- 

 ter plumage, which doubtless resembles that of the adult. This differs from 

 the adult summer plumage only in being widely margined, with rusty above 

 and with buffy below. 



Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Za;«f/o(//<7 ludoviciaiia. Figs. 4-7). This species 

 undergoes a most interesting series of plumage changes which are well repre- 

 sented in our plate. The male juvenal plumage resembles that of the first 

 winter (Fig. 4), but is whiter below and shows no pink on the breast. The 

 wings and tail of this plumage are retained at the postjuvenal molt, but the 

 body feathers and the wing-coverts are molted, and the bird thus passes into 

 first winter plumage (Fig. 4). This, as will be seen, closely resembles that of 

 the female, but the under wing-coverts are rose-pink, not saffron, as in the 

 female, and there is usually at least a trace of pink on the breast. (The speci- 

 men figured shows rather an exceptionally strong pink tinge.) 



The following spring, all of this plumage, except the primaries and second- 

 aries and the primary coverts, is lost by molt, and the bird appears in a plu- 

 mage essentially like that of the adult (Fig. 5), but for the brown primaries and 

 secondaries; and there are usually black spots on the rosy breast, while the 

 throat is less solidly black. This plumage is therefore not unlike that of the 

 adult male in winter (Fig. 6), but the throat is blacker. It is, however, sub- 

 ject to much variation. At the postnuptial molt, this first nuptial plumage is, 

 as usual, completely molted, and is followed by that of the adult in winter 

 (Fig. 6). The full, mature breeding plumage is not therefore acquired until 

 the second spring, when, by partial molt and some wear, the bird shown in 

 Fig. 6 acquires the plumage represented by Fig. 5. 



The plumage of the female is deeper, more buffy, in winter than in summer; 

 but in its main features is alike at all seasons and all ages. 



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