BIRDS. 185 



the eggs of Budytes flavus leucostriatus so closely that had they not been identified by means 

 of the parent it would have been impossible to distinguish them, and in the preliminary separa- 

 tion of eggs which I made prior to looking up the numbers in my note-book I included them 

 in the series of Yellow Wagtail's eggs. Set No. 80 has the same appearance. The smallest 

 eggs are set No. 345, from the same locality. These have the ground-color almost concealed 

 by the fine reddish-brown specking, and measure respectively .75 by .57, .75 by .58, .76 by .57, 

 .77 by .56, and .76 by .55. From the sets marked by spots, or by spots and irregular blotches 

 sparsely enough distributed to allow the ground-color to be distinctly seen, there is a regular grada- 

 tion, the markings becoming heavier, darker colored, and more abundant, until the ground-color 

 may be entirely concealed under the rich, warm chocolate-brown, which reveals only a very faint 

 mottling of olive-brownish where the ground-color is less thickly overlaid. Many of the sets are 

 more or less plentifully marked with irregular zigzag markings of dark umber-brown, very much 

 as in the eggs of the Orioles, but less decided than in the latter. The pattern and style of 

 coloration vary greatly, but are pretty well defined by the variations described in the preceding 

 notes. It may be remarked that eggs of the same set rarely show very much individual variation. 



Ifotes on plumage. — Partly-fledged birds taken the last of June or first of July have the feath- 

 ers of the crown, back, rump, breast, and throat with black or very dark-brown shaft-lines, which, 

 uijon the breast and throat, are narrowed to about one third the width of the feather. On the 

 crown and back the black central markings occupy over half this width. The feathers of the 

 crown are edged with a dingy yellowish-buff; those on the nape with grayish or dull ashy, and 

 on the back and rump with a dingy yellowish-gray or buffy. There are two indistinct white wing- 

 bars. The throat is dingy ashy. The edges of breast-feathers are soiled yellowish^ which washes 

 the feathers of the entire under-surface. Tertiaries, secondaries, and greater coverts broadly edged 

 with a dull shade of chestnut. Primaries lightly edged with a paler shade of the same. Quill 

 and tail feathers dark-brown, the latter edged with reddish-brown. A little later the bird attains 

 its growth, and by abrasion the feathers soon lose a great part of their fluffy immature appear- 

 ance. The dingy yellowish of the abdomen changes to soiled whitish ; the throat also becomes 

 lighter and the yellowish borders of the feathers on neck and breast wear so that the dark shaft- 

 markings appear less diffused, and are more sharply defined. The crown is occupied by a well- 

 defined area of feathers with black centers and rusty reddish edges. A dingy white area begins 

 on the lores at base of bill on each side, and passes back, encircling the eye to the nape. This 

 area is dotted with fine, dark shaft-lines. Ear-coverts dull rusty reddish. Back, shoulders, and 

 rump feathers with heavy dark centers, edged with grayish or yellowish gray and dull buff. The 

 pattern of tail-feathers is the same as in adult. Wing and tail feathers brown, the latter darkest. 

 Wing-coverts tipped with white, forming indistinct wing bars. Tertiaries, secondaries, and prima- 

 ries with dull ashy-white tips. 



This state of plumage is scarcely attained before it begins to give i^lace to the fall and winter 

 dress with which we are familiar when the birds come trooping down from the north at the 

 commencement of winter. Beginning on the lower part of the breast the feathers are gradually 

 moulted and replaced, the change extending slowly toward the bill. I am inclined to think that 

 the moult commences about the tail and rump, and slowly extends forward. It begins the last of 

 July and first of August, at which time the old birds are already far advanced in their autumnal 

 change. In my collection are adult males with nearly complete winter dress taken July 23, and 

 probably some make the change even earlier than this. They begin to move south before they 

 have fully moulted, so that only the comparatively few individuals which have completed the moult 

 in September are found in perfect winter dress on their northern breeding grounds. 



The males reach the Upper Yukon on their return in spring by the 5th to the 18th of April in 

 nearly perfect breeding dress, and from the examination of specimens obtained there by Mr. 

 McQuesten, as also of others taken in full breeding plumage, I am led to believe that, like the Snow 

 Bunting, this bird does not undergo a spring moult, but attains its breeding plumage merely by 

 the wearing away of the light edges to the feathers ; at the same time the feathers are imbued with 

 a richer shade and a greater amount of coloring matter. Therei is considerable individual varia- 

 tion in these birds, which, however, consists mainly of a variable intensity of coloration rather 

 than a change of pattern. In the males the postocular stripe varies from a pure white to a richer 



