220 RUFFED GROUSE.
Length 18 inches, extent of wings 52 feet; bill along the ridge | , along
the gap ; tarsus 17
, middle toe If.
T
2 Adult Female. Plate XLI. Fig. 3 .
The plumage of the female is less developed and inferior in beauty.
The feathers of the head and ruff are less elongated, the latter of a
duller black. The tints of the plumage generally are lighter than in
the male.
( 221 )
T H E O R C H A R D ORIOLE.
ICTERUS SPURIUS, BONAP.
P L A T E X L I I . M A L E I N D I F F E R E N T S T A T E S , A D U L T F E M A L E A N D N E S T .
THE plumage of many species of our birds undergoes at times very
extraordinary changes. Some, such as the male Tanagers, which during
the summer months exhibit the most vivid scarlet and velvety black, assume
a dingy green before they leave -the country, on their way southward.
The Goldfinch nearly changes to the same colour, after having
been seen in a gay apparel of yellow and black. The Rice Bird loses
its lively brightness until the return of spring. Others take several years
before they complete their plumage, so as to shew the true place which
they hold amongst the other species, as is the case with the Ibis, the
Flamingo, and many other Waders, as well as with several of our land
birds, among which, kind reader, the species now under your consideration
is probably that in which these gradual improvements are most observable
by such persons as reside in the country inhabited by them.
The plumage of the young birds of this species, when they leave the
nest, resembles that of the female parent, although rather less decided in
point of colouring, and both males and females retain this colour until
the approach of the following spring, when the former exhibit a portion
of black on the chin, the females never altering. In birds kept in cages,
this portion of black remains without farther augmentation for two years;
but in those which are at liberty, a curious mixture of dull orange or
deep chestnut peeps out through a considerable increase of black-coloured
feathers over the body and wings, intermixed with the yellowishgreen
hue which the bird had when it left the nest. The third spring
brings him nearer towards perfection, as at that time the deep chestnut
colour has taken possession of the lower parts, the black has deepened on
the upper parts, and over the whole head, as well as on the wings and
tail-feathers. Yet the garb with which it is ultimately to be covered
requires another return of spring before it is completed, after which it
remains as exhibited in the adult male, represented in the plate.
These extraordinary changes are quite sufficient of themselves to lead
naturalists abroad into error, as they give rise to singular arguments even