Richard C. McGregor

“ Young birds are much browner than the adults, and can immediately be recognized by their more freckled appearance, the feathers of the upper surface having ochraceous margins. The mottling of the rufous on the neck is much as in the adult birds but there is more white and less rufous, and the chest-feathers are much more broadly edged with white; the breast is dusky brown as well as the sides of the body; the abdomen is white; the sides of the face and ear-coverts are chestnut, with a little streak of white at the base of the mandible. ”

“ There is a great deal of individual variation in color, but all the various phases may be found in the birds of any one locality, the coloring changing greatly with the season, as well as with age, and frequently a good deal of variation occurs even among fully adult birds shot at a given time.
“If it be granted that we are dealing with but a single species, and we fail to see how anyone can doubt it who will look over a good series of specimens, it only remains to decide what name belongs to it. ”

“ Birds of the year do not entirely lose the marks of immaturity until their second autumn molt; the wing-coverts and innermost secondaries frequently retain the pale tips, though these are white rather than ochraceous; the throat and eye-stripe of the female are much suffused with ochraceous, and the throat of the male resembles that of the adult female. ”

“ Sclater says: “It is impossible to mistake this noble species, distinguished at once by its pure white throat and silvery blue under surface.”
“The plumage of some of the young birds, being in an interesting stage of transition, is worth describing. The youngest example, a male, has the upper parts and wings like those of the adult, but the breast, sides, and flanks are of a dirty, grayish olive, only one or two of the silver-blue feathers being visible, and the entire middle of the breast and belly are pale scarlet. ”

“ After the autumn molt both sexes have a buffish brown margin to every feather, so that they are scarcely distinguishable, and resemble the adult female in breeding plumage except that the quills and tail-feathers are margined with buffish brown at the tip, and the innermost secondaries and wing-coverts are similarly margined, not only at the tip but along the outside webs; the under parts are also darker in color. It is not known that birds of the year differ from adults. ”

“ Adult birds, either in winter plumage or perhaps in the second year, are blacker than in the summer plumage. Some of these black-plumage [169] birds have ornamental feathers which looks as if they were fully adult, and therefore they may be birds of the second year, as it is quite evident that the grayer plumaged ones are very old and perfect in livery.
“The white streak down the throat is often absent or reduced to a few spots. It appears to be absent equally in quite young birds and in old ones also, and it may be the result of inherent melanism in the species. ”

“ Upper mandible of bill blackish brown, edge of upper and whole of lower yellow-ocher; rictus and inside of mouth yellow; iris ocherous brown; legs and toes plumbeous, with paler soles; upper parts ocherous olive, with a few rather faint streaks of blackish brown; eyebrow and cheeks ocherous, more buff-colored on the lores; over the eyebrow a black streak marks each side of the head; under parts yellowish buff, much paler on the throat, under neck, and center of belly; wing-coverts and tertiaries deep hair-brown, margined with ocherous olive; quills hair-brown edged with light chestnut-brown ”

“ Females are dark brown except the crown, nape, chin, and more or less of the throat, which are buff with brown stripes. There is sometimes a patch of buff on the breast, the wing-coverts and back have buff edges, and the upper tail-coverts are rufous.
“The young of both sexes resemble the female, except that the buff on the head is sometimes unstreaked and more limited in extent, being confined in some cases to a nuchal patch or even wanting altogether. ”

“ Adult male in breeding plumage.—Does not differ from the winter plumage to the same extent as in T. canutus; upper surface only slightly suffused with rufous; scapulars and inner secondaries more or less bright chestnut with black subterminal bars; under surface white; throat thickly streaked and fore neck so closely barred as to become almost black, these black bars extending on to breast and along the sides of body; the under tail-coverts spotted with black. ”

“ From Cape Engaño we have received an immature female, which has the head and upper mantle whitish buff, with brown shaft-spots; there is the beginning of a short deep black superciliary band extending above the eye, while a few feathers of a more adult plumage are beginning to make their appearance on the occiput; these are brownish red, with a white subterminal black tip. (The appearance of this black eyebrow-stripe is very puzzling, as it does not appear in the adult plumage; it may be part of an intermediate plumage or fade with age and wear to the dark brown of the adult.) ”

“ Young.—“An immature male resembles the female, but has tail and greater coverts like those of adult male, though the ocelli are much smaller and absent on inner webs of all the tail-feathers except three middle pairs; one or two feathers of mantle have a metallic bluish green patch in the middle and traces are apparent of black plumage on mantle, wing-coverts, throat, and under parts.” ”

“ Adult.—Chin, upper throat, a band from throat to eye, and feathers above eye, all black, followed on throat by a white space which shades gradually into the dull chestnut-brown of lower throat and sides of neck and head; breast and sides black; abdomen, thighs, and crissum dull chestnut; back, rump, and wings brown, the rump lighter; primaries and most of the secondaries black, some of the latter edged with pale buff; tail-feathers pure white when fresh but soon becoming yellow or dirty buff. ”

“ In June of the third year, or when the bird is about thirty months old, the molt into adult breeding plumage is commenced and the change is entirely effected by October, except that in this first breeding season the wing-coverts never become entirely white as in the old birds, the feathers of these parts being a mixture of long sharp-pointed, white feathers, and comparatively blunt brown ones. Between June and October the pouch, which has hitherto been spotless, becomes blotched with livid as in the adults, the blotches extending to the face; the legs turn to dark brown ”