Besoriptions of First Plumage of Cer- 
tain North Am, Bbs. Wm. Brewster. 
64. Ammodromua caudacutus. 
First plumage : male. General coloring, both above and beneath, bright 
reddish-brown, nearly as in the superciliary stripe of the adult. Feathers 
of interscapular region streaked centrally with dark brown ; nape brownish- 
olive, unspotted. Two broad stripes of dark brown on the sides of crown. 
Wings and tail scarcely more reddish than in adult. Sides of head with 
fewer dark markings. Sides of breast somewhat thickly streaked with 
dusky ; otherwise unmarked. From a specimen in my collection, taken 
at Rye Beach, N. H., August 20, 1869. It is not a little remarkable that 
in a family whose 3 r oung are nearly without exception more thickly 
streaked or spotted than their parents, — and often, indeed, conspicuously 
marked in this manner, when the parent is entirely plain, — this bird in 
first plumage should exhibit less streaking beneath than the adult, which 
has not only a continuous band of dusky markings across the breast, 
but also the sides thickly marked in a similar manner. In view of 
this fact, the further development of the young is most interesting. 
When the autumnal plumage is acquired, the dusky streakings upon the 
sides of the breast are entirely lost, and do not again appear until after the 
spring moult, when, as previously stated, they are distributed over much 
larger areas. A nearly analogous case of development is afforded by the 
Arctic and Wilson’s Terns, whose young have the bill and feet at first pale 
red or yellow, afterwards dusky or nearly black, and again, when fully 
adult, deeper and clearer red than when first from the nest. 
Bull, N.O.C, 3. July, 1878. p. 
' Albinism and Melanism in North 
American Birds* Ruthven Deane. 
I am indebted to Mr. 
N. 0. Brown for a specimen of a male Sharp-tailed Finch, which he 
collected at Scarborough, Me., October 19, 1877, showing slight 
traces of albinism. A few white feathers may be seen over each 
superciliary stripe and also on the secondaries and coverts of one 
uriw^. 
BmLL N.O.O. 4, Jan., 1879, p.28 
