90 



IN BIRD LAND. 



white underneath, and that may account for the 

 albino quality of this specimen. 



When he is first fledged, the pattern of the young 

 cardinal grossbeak's plumage very much resembles 

 that of his mother ; but soon the bright red of his 

 full dress begins to peep here and there through the 

 grayish-olive of his kilts and trousers, so to speak, 

 making him look as if he had been meddling with a 

 keg of red paint and had splashed himself liberally 

 with it. By and by there is a very odd blending of 

 tints in his suit. Scarcely less curious is the garb 

 of the young white-crowned sparrow ; his whole 

 head is black or blackish- brown, except a tiny speck 

 of white in the centre of the crown, gleaming like 

 a diamond in its dark setting. In the adult bird 

 the whole crown is a glistening white, bordered on 

 each side by a black band, which circles about on 

 the forehead and separates the crown-piece from 

 the white superciliary line. 



Some of the warblers are scarcely recognizable in 

 their juvenile attire. For example, the young black- 

 poll, bay-breasted, and chestnut-sided warblers bear 

 little, if any, resemblance to their parents, whose 

 diversified nuptial robes make our woodlands radiant 

 in the spring. The young are quite tame in their 

 soiled olive plumes, and look so much alike that 

 the ornithologist is often at his wits' end to tell 

 them apart. Were it not for the yellow rumps of the 

 magnolia and myrtle warblers when young, one 

 would scarcely know them from a dozen other 

 species as they pursue their journey southward in 



