30 



white, but no scarlet. Still a third, in the collection of Mr. C. J. May- 

 nard, has the crown irregularly patched with scarlet feathers. The sex of 

 all these specimens was determined by the most careful dissection. 



95. Ficoides arcticus. 



First plvmiage : male. Similar to the adult, but with the yellow crown- 

 patch rather more restricted ; the black of the upper parts duller ; the 

 white beneath tinged with brownish, and the bars upon the sides dusky 

 instead of black. A few feathers upon the lower interscapular region are 

 spotted with white. From a specimen in my collection shot at Upton, 

 Me., July 31, 1874. Unfortunately no females in strictly first plumage 

 are available for comparison. A moulting specimen, however, which has 

 acquired most of the second or autumnal plumage (Upton, Me., August 

 10, 1874), shows a patch of thickly sprinkled yellow feathers upon the 

 crown, while another, taken as late as September 5, still retains several 

 similar feathers. There can be little doubt but that among a good series 

 of young females in first plumage many would be found to occur with 

 yellow crown-patches quite conspicuously developed. All among a large 

 number of adult females examined have the crown entirely plain. 



96. Sphyrapicus Taiius. 



First plvmage : male. Crown dull yellowish-green obscurely tinged in 

 places with dusky-red ; nape and a broad stripe extending through and 

 behind the eye dull plumbeous-ash spotted with brownish-white ; rest of 

 upper parts like the adults, the white spots, however, tinged with pale 

 greenish-yellow. Throat dull yellowish-scarlet. Malar stripes meeting 

 below the throat-patch, mottled with dusky. Central line of abdomen 

 greenish-yellow ; rest of under parts dull greenish and olive, barred every- 

 where with dusky or dull black. From a specimen in my collection shot 

 at Upton, Me., August 10, 1874. The amount of variation exhibited by a 

 large series of males in first plumage is considerable. In one or two there 

 is no red upon the throat ; in others that part is brownish- white with a 

 few scattered red feathers ; many have the crown dull-brown, thickly 

 spotted with brownish- white. 



First plumage : female. Crown very pale greenish-buff, each feather 

 narrowly tipped with brown ; feathers of interscapular region dusky, with 

 transverse bands of yellowish-white ; rest of upper parts like the adult. 

 Throat brownish-white ; abdomen pale brownish-yellow ; breast and sides 

 dull brownish-olive, thickly barred with dusky. From a specimen in my 

 collection shot at Upton, Me., August 6, 1873. 



The first plumage of this species is worn for a longer period than that 

 of any other bird with which I am acquainted. Some specimens taken as 

 late as October and November seem not to have fully perfected their first 

 moult, many of the earlier feathers being still retained. In this condition 

 they present a curiously patched appearance, and scarcely any two are 



