Descriptions of 
tain North Am, 
First Plumage of Cer- 
Bbs. Wm. Brewster. 
77. Molothrus ater. 
First plumage : female. Above olivaceous-brown, the primaries, Secon- 
daries, greater and middle coverts, and every feather upon the nape and 
interscapular region, edged with light sugar-brown. Superciliary line 
and entire under parts delicate brownish-yellow. The throat and lower 
area of abdomen immaculate ; everywhere else thickly streaked w 
purplish-drab. From a specimen in my cabinet taken at Cambridge 
Mass , August 4, 1875. A male in first plumage differs m being much 
darker and more thickly streaked beneath. Specimens m process o 
change into the autumnal plumage are curiously patched and marked 
with the light brown of the first plumage and the darker feathers of t 
fall dress. All the remiges and rectrices are moulted with the rest of the 
first plumage during the first moult. . m m 
Bull, N, O.O, 3 , July, 1878. p. /«* 3 • 
7 
Albinism and Melanism in North 
American Birds* Rutliven Deane, 
M. pecorisn cUA^, w A* £ . 
Bull N.O.O. 1, April, 1876, p. 22 
Albino Cowbikd. — Aug. 11, 1881, while 
at Kaneville, 111., I shot an Albino Cow- 
bird {Molothrus ater.) It measured 7£ 
inches long and was of a creamy white 
color with the exception of the head and 
breast, which were a little more on the yel- 
low tint. It was with a flock of Redwing 
Blackbirds. When I picked it up its eyes 
shone like fire. The iris was of a fire red. 
The pupil being pink the effect can be 
imagined. I could not discern the sex. — - 
Jos. L. Hancock , Chicago , III. 
0.40, Vlll. Mar. 1883.P.A4 
, 7- I also secured on May 3, a $ Cow_Buntj£g 
with a light yellowish patch on the right sic e 
of the neck about the size of a dime. 
O.&O. XIII. Dec. 1088 p.184 
