Changes in the Plumage of Geothlypis trichas.—In the interesting review in the October 'Auk' (1SS5), of the tenth volumeofthe British Museum Catalogue ofBii-ds, Mr

iSS6.j Geiieral Notes. 2

70

cently examined this bird and found it to be the

common

Oven-bird (5. aurocapillus).

Itisonlyjust to Professor

Hamlin

to state that he should not be held responsible forthe error, as he sent a large

number

of alcoholicspeci-

mens

to the

Cambridge Museum

at that time, and after they had been identified, the list of

names (among

which

was

(^Seiurus ludoviciantis) was returnedto

him

and by

him

incorporatedinhis paper.

Nor

wasthe mistake Mr. Allen's, as he was not connected with the

Museum

until severalyearslater.

Tliisleaves Seinnis ludovicianus with but a single recordfor the State of Maine.

—

Arthur

P.

Chadbourne.

Cambridge, Mass.

Changes

in the

Plumage

of Geothlypis trichas.

—

In the interesting review in the October 'Auk' (1SS5), of the tenth

volume

ofthe British

Museum

Catalogue ofBii-ds, Mr. Allen very appropriately takes occa- sion to correct the gross error, into which

most

of the books have

fallen, in regard to the winter

plumage

of the males of so

common

andextensivelydistributed a species as Geothlypis trichas.

The

error in question is a statement to the effectthat inwinter the adult maleloses the conspicuous black and ashy markings about the head,andtakeson the uniform olivaceous and brownish colors of the upper parts of the female. In

making

this correction, however, Mr.Allen, I believe,does notgofarenough,for accordingto

my

observations the malesnot onlv neverassume the

plumage

of the female after having once attained the masculinelivery, but

young

birds moultdirectly into a

plumage

approach- ingthatofthe adultmale (whichwillbe indicated in detail farther on),

when

theybegin in

August

to shedthewell-known fluffy'firstplumage.' withitsgreenishandochreish tints,brownishwing-coverts,etc.

There are, Mr. Allen states, instances in which the

young

male has beentaken in winterin thefemale plumage, butthese,I think, should be regarded as exceptional. I have

examined

verycarefully the two large series of this bird (including Mr.Brewster'soccidetitalis. which,for the purpose

we

havein hand,

may

be 'lumped' with trichas) contained in the collectionoftheNational

Museum,

andin that ofMr.

Henshaw,

besides ten oradozen otherspecimens,

amounting

altogetherto 144 individuals, and havefailed to find a singlewinter male without the adult black and ashy markings. ButIdid find threespring maleswith these characters soimperfectlydevelopedas toindicate,probably,that the birdshadpassed the preceding winterinthe

plumage

of the female.

The

changesin

plumage when

the

young

male begins his first moult, which occurs in August, in the latitude ofWashington,

maybe

brieflv

summarized

as follows:

— ^The

^{feathers of the} head and middle of the throatappearto bethefirstthat are lost.

The

latterare replaced byyel- low ones (_notsobright,however, as inthe adult), whichatfirstare to be seen in linearblotches.

Those

of thehead give place to a

new

set,ofa finechocolate

brown

color, shadingoff intoolivaceoustowards thenapein mostbirds, in some, however, extending over almost thewhole of the

280

^{General Notes. [April}

upper purts. Before tliese two changes are completed, the first black feathersbeginto

show

themselves in themaxillarj region, andthey grad- uallyspread intoanirregularlyshapedpatchonthe sidesof theheadand neck. Nearlyallof these blackfeathers aretippedwith ash, the

amount

of whichappearstovary with the individual.

At

this stage the black is quite similartothat which adornsthe breastof G. Philadelphia; and in this

plumage

the bird is the one described hy

Audubon

(Orn. Biog., I, 1832, 124. pi. 24) as Sylvia roscoe, and isverv

common

during the latter partof

August

andin September.

The

next step in this

somewhat

pro- tracted changebegins in September,

when

theblack feathers

make

their appearanceon the forehead at the base ofthe upper mandible,

whence

they continue to extend until the area usuallycovered with blackis at- tained; andthe borderofhoary ash

now

appears sharply defined against the black

mask

andthegreenisholiveand

brown

of therest of the upper parts.

The

ashytips totheblackfeathershave

now

entirelydisappeared.

A New

Orleans specimen (No. 90.665) taken

November

23, undoubtedly a

young

bird oftheyear, illustrates this phase very perfectly. No.2782, (Coll. II.

W.

11.), collected

November

i, shows a stage preceding the last; the softchocolate

brown

coversthewhole backof the head,and the ashy band, which seems to be a very variable character, is very

much

restricted.

It

may

be welltostate that of the 144 specimens examined of trichas and occidentalism 24 of

them

were

young August

and autumnal males in varioustransitional stages ofplumage, andtherearenone of

them

taken laterthan

August

20which donot

show some

traces of thechanges above indicated. There ^is another peculiarity of

^oung

fall birds, female as well as male,which seems to be very constant,first pointed out. I be- lieve,by ProfessorBaiid (Rev.

Am.

Bds. 1864, 221),namely, the

much

lightercolorof thebill as

compared

with springbirds.

During

the past

summer

andautumn,thewriterenjoyedexcellentfacili- tiesforobservingtheYellow-throat inhisnative haunts.

A

favorite col- lecting

ground

was an old forest-surrounded field, near Ellicott City.

Md., throughthe centreofwhichran abrookof considerable^size,

whose

banks wirefringedwith suchadense andluxuriantgrowthofbushesand tangled vinesas tomeet overthe middle ofthe stream, forming,as any

•bird-man'knows, aparadiseforYellow-throats, Chats, andother thicket- lovingspecies.

On

threeor fourdifferentoccasionsduringthe latterpart of

August

Ipenetrated thistunnel of verdure,and by employingthe well-

known

'screeping'device

— making

a noise-machineout of theback ofthe hand and the lips

—

^{attracted the usual}

mob

of curious, scolding, and anxious littlebirds.

The young

Yellow-throats wereparticularly numer- ous inthese excitedassemblages,and once^Icounted seven

young

males with the incipient black masks,and two

young

females in sight at the

same

tiine,the

most

distantof

them

nottwentyfeet from the spotwhere

I was sitting.

During

the following

month

(September), I found the

young

males in the transitional

plumage

quite

common

in Kentucky, where^Icollected agood deal.

i8S6.| General Notes.

28

1

Thereisone specimen intheNational

Museum

collection thatdoubtless deserves specialmentionin this connection.

The

label thereof reads as follows^:

"66,643. Geothljpis trichas Jad. No. 104. Cleveland, Ohio,

May

ii, 1S74. J. S. Newberry,

M.

D. Largetesticlesstt^ted tohave been found.

Given toSmithsonianInstitution byE. Coues."

Taken

byitself the label presentsnothing remarkable, but tied to the legofthisparticularbirditaffordsusoneof thoseby no

means uncommon

ornithological puzzles, which,in the language ofDundreary,

"no

fellow canfindout."

The

birdisinthefullspring

plumage

of thefemale,with- outa single trace of black orash aboutthe head.

—

Charles Wickliffe Beckham,

Washington, D. C.

Unseasonable Birds on

Long

Island.

—

^i. Galeoscoptescarolinensis.

—

On December

30, 1SS2,while passingalong oneof the streetsofourvillage

—

FortHamilton

— my

attentionwasarrestedbyabii-d note, familiaryet strangely out of place at that season

—

none other than the character- isticcryof the Catbird. Icaughtsight of the bird a

moment

later,hop- ping aboutinthe branchesof alilac bush in aprivate yard,notadozen feetfrom me,so thatthere

was

noerrorin theidentification.

2.

Oidema

perspicillata.

— ^During

^{a week's stay at}

^Montauk

^Point,

from _July 15 toJuly 21, 1883, I

saw

on several occasionsa flockof 'Sea Coots' floating on the ocean about 250 or 300 yards from shore.

To

which of the three species they belongedIcould nottell.

On

June 12, 1884, Isawa flock ofat leastfifty 'Sea Coots' in the

Lower New York

Bay, off

Coney

Island, but the distance

was

too great to determine the species; butonthe 20th of the

same

month,while sailing in Gravesend Bay,abouttwomilesbelowFortHamilton,

we came

upon three individ- uals of O. perspicillata.

We

ran

down

to within 20 yards of

them

be- foretheytookwing, butas the

gun

had been left at home,in deference tothe ladies, Iwas unabletosecure them.

3. Harelda glacialis.

—

While yatching in North Oyster Bay,

Long

IslandSound, on _July 12, 1884,Ishota fine male 'Old Wife.'

The

bird wasapparently wellanduninjured,and was

swimming

aboutin a lively

manner

as

we

approached.

My

firstshoteithermissed or only

wounded

it slightly, forit instantly roseand

was

flying off rapidly

when

Ikilledit

with

my

second barrel. Iskinned it. and could not find any

marks

of old

wounds

orotherinjuries. Itwas in full

plumage

and differed from theadultsusually takeninthis latitude by the greater

amount

oforange

brown

on thebackandscapulars.

The

darkzone on the OTeast was also ofa lightershadethanusual.

—

De

L. Berier,

j^

Broadivay,Neiv

Tork

City.

Two

Additions tothe

Texas

Avi-fauna.

—

^Ihavetakenin

Cook

Countj', Texas,thefollowing:

Syrnium

nebiilosiim alleni, Turdusfuscescenssalici- cola.

—

G. S.

Ragsdale,

Gainsville, Texas.