296 SNODGRASS AND HELLER 



brown, but not buffy 'as in Stage II ; the pale margins narrowest 

 on the head, widest on the rump. Upper surfaces of wings and tail 

 sooty brown, somewhat lighter than the central parts of the feathers 

 of the dorsum ; the primaries narrowly edged with ashy-gray. The 

 greater coverts rather widely edged with buffy-brown ; secondaries and 

 rectrices more narrowly edged with buffy-brown. The buffy edgings 

 on the coverts are duller and not so conspicuously yellow as on birds 

 in Stage II. Below pale grayish with a slight buffy tinge on the belly 

 and sides, the feathers with jfiubterminal arrowhead shaped brown 

 spots producing a streaked or spotted appearance on a pale ground 

 formed by the light marginal parts of the feathers. The spots most 

 numerous on the throat, breast and sides ; the middle of the abdomen 

 plain. Under surface of wings and tail as in last stage. The bill may 

 be entirely yellowish, entirely dusky-yellowish, brownish-yellow with 

 dusky tip, or entirely brownish above and yellowish below or yellow- 

 ish below with, the tip dusky. Feet blackish brown. (Examples: 

 Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum Cat. No. 3880, female, Tagus 

 Cove, Albermarle, January; No. 4202, female, Tagus Cove, Janu- 

 ary; No. 4194, female, Narboro, April; No. 4194, female, Tagus 

 Cove, January; No. 4106, Iguana Cove, December.) 



(^) Adult Females. — In plumage the adult female belongs to Stage 

 III, being almost indistinguishable,^ except by the color of the bill, 

 from young birds in the stage just described. The females, however, 

 differ from young birds in this stage in lacking the buffy margins to 

 the wing coverts, these being narrowly margined with grayish-brown. 

 The bill is in some cases perfectly black as in the male, but it gener- 

 ally has a distinct brownish color rather than black, and in breeding 

 birds the lower mandible may be pale brownish. Feet blackish- 

 brown. (Examples : Leland Stanford Jr. University Museum Cat. 

 No. 4369, female, Tagus Cove, March; No. 4392, female, Tagus 

 Cove, March ; No. 4406, female, Tagus Cove, March ; No. 4409, 

 female, Tagus Cove, March — all taken mated with adult males.) 



Stage IV. Lnmature Males. — In this stage the males begin to 

 differentiate from the females in the color of the plumage. Birds in 

 this stage are similar in general pattern of coloration to males in the 

 last stage. They differ, however, in having the dusky areas of the 

 feathers of the lower parts much larger, so that below the specimens 

 appear covered with crowded brown spots, especially on the throat and 

 breast. The belly is generally mostly free from spots, but both the 

 belly and sides are strongly shaded with brownish-buff. The bill is 

 generally black, sometimes entirely so, but generally somewhat paler 



