180 Brewster’s Descriptions of the First Plumage 
nape dull, unspotted black, and a decided greenish-yellow tinge to the 
white both above and below. 
First plumage: female. Forehead slightly spotted with "white ; croicn- 
patch scarlet , exactly as in the male. Nape unspotted. Beneath brownish- 
white, barred obscurely upon the flanks and spotted continuously across 
the breast with dusky. From a specimen in my collection obtained by 
Mr. W. D. Scott, at Coalburgh, W. Va., July 25, 1872. Another speci- 
men before me (Upton, Me., August 13, 1874) has the forehead and occi- 
put, with a narrow median line connecting them, thickly spotted with 
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. Picoides arcticus. 
First plumage : 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 varius. 
First plumage : 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 
