1922] Swarth: Birds and' Mammals of the Stikine Region 279 



These young waxwings presented a most striking appearance in 

 life, for to my surprise they exhibited all the characteristic markings 

 of the adult. Not only that, but the yellow tip to the tail was much 

 brighter, more of an orange yellow, than it is in any of the old birds. 

 The wax tips to the secondaries were present in each of the four males 

 but not in the female. Two of the birds had four such tips, one had 

 five, and one had seven, as many as are seen in any of the adults. 

 These wax tips are as large as in many old birds. As rectrices and 

 remiges were but partly grown out, the brightly colored tips occupied 

 a much greater proportion of the whole than is the case in fully feath- 

 ered birds. The resulting color effect was most bizarre. The young, 

 with their remarkably vivid markings, looked utterly unlike the soberly 

 colored adults. 



The four young males are very much alike in color and markings, 

 the only differences in appearance being those arising from the slight 

 difference in stage of development. The marginal primary markings 

 are present, sharply defined, and in each ease bright yellow. In many 

 adults these markings are white. In the young males the terminal 

 tail band is orange-buff, the primary tips, light orange-yellow. In the 

 brightest adult at hand the tail band is light cadmium, the primary 

 ■ tips, lemon chrome. In the young female the tail band is somewhat 

 paler than in the males, though still more orange than in any adult. 

 The primary tips are but slightly tinged with yellow. 



A still more remarkable feature in the young males is the fact that 

 in each one the rectrices are distinctly tipped with red. These red 

 tips are not fully developed sealing-waxlike scales such as are on the 

 secondaries, but are produced by red coloration of the terminal portion 

 (4 or 5 mm. in length) of the feather shaft of the reetrix. 



The female parent of this brood (the only one of the pair collected) 

 is a highly plumaged bird. It has six secondaries of one wing, five 

 of the other, with wax tips, the primary margins are bright yellow, 

 the tail is broadly tipped with yellow, and there is a faint suggestion 

 of red in one or two of the tail feathers. 



As regards the young birds, it is seen that they possess all the 

 peculiar markings of the most brightly colored adults except the "re- 

 turn margin" upon the primaries. This is not seen in any of the 

 young. The yellow wing and tail markings are much brighter than in 

 any adult at hand, even than in freshly molted birds with these feathers 

 but partly grown. While the young birds possess all the markings of 

 the adults, they are appreciably different in general body color. They 



