Descriptions of First Plumage of Cer- 
tain North Am, fibs. Wm. Brewster. 
61. Coturniculus henslowi. 
First plumage. Top of head, neck, upper parts of back and rump, oliva- 
ceous brown ; crown with a broad black ; spotted stripe on each side. 
Feathers of interscapular region with heavy central spots of dull black. 
Beneath pure delicate straw-color, lightest on the abdomen, deepest, with 
a strong buffy tinge, on the throat, breast, and sides ; no spots or markings 
of any kind on the under parts. Outer edging of primaries and secondaries 
dull cinnamon ; wing-coverts buff. Lores and spot upon the auriculars 
dusky. Bill colored like that of the adult. From two specimens in my 
cabinet, collected at Concord, Mass., June 19, 1878. With the single ex- 
ception of Chrysomitris tristis, this is the only species of the Fringillidce, 
so far as I am aware, in which the young in first plumage are entirely 
immaculate beneath. 
Autumnal plumage : young female. Bill black. Crown, cheeks, and su- 
perciliary line, anteriorly, reddish-buff. A narrow maxillary and inframax- 
illary stripe and a small spot behind the auriculars, black. Top of head 
with two broad stripes of dark brown upon the sides. Post-orbital space, 
neck, nape, and back anteriorly dull olive-green, the nape dotted finely with 
dusky. Tertiaries, upper tail-coverts, and feathers of interscapular region 
with broad, rounded, central spots of black, shading round their edges 
into dark chestnut, and tipped narrowly with ashy-white. Outer surface 
of wing similar to the adults, but paler. Under parts pale reddish-buff, 
fading into soiled white upon the abdomen. A broad continuous band 
of black spots across the breast, extending down the sides to the erissum. 
Throat flecked faintly but thickly with dusky. Chin, jugulum, and 
central abdominal and anal regions unspotted. From a specimen in 
my cabinet, collected at Osterville, Mass., November 6, 1874. In the 
absence of sufficient material for comparison, I am unable to say whether 
this specimen represents the typical autumnal plumage or not. The 
black bill is, to say the least, a remarkable feature, and one not found in 
either the adult or young in first plumage. 
BuliN.O.O. 3, July, 1878. p. 
