1896
has been compared by Mr. Brewster with a bird (No. 44,087) in his collection, and which he has loaned me. Mr. Brewster remarks: "The Toronto bird is a trifle the darker on the back and the chestnut of its under parts is slightly richer, but in other respects the two specimens are almost exactly alike." This No. 44,087 is not sexed, but with little doubt is an adult female. The outer margins of the interscapulars are decidedly brownish, but whether this marking appears in the two Toronto birds is not stated.
It appears, therefore, that there is less sexual difference in neoxena than in exilis. In size the two birds agree.
| Ardetta neoxena, ♂ immature | Ardetta elixis, ♂ immature |
| Similar to adult male but black of the head and back somewhat duller, the outer margins of the interscapulars slightly tinged with chestnut. | Similar to adult male but crown duller, the feathers margined with chestnut rufous; back slate gray or blackish slate gray, the feathers tipped with chestnut rufous and ochraceous buff; under parts more heavily washed with buff, and with numerous blackish shaft-streaks. |
Four of the ten specimens of neoxena now in my possession are birds of the year, three of them still showing remains of the nestling plumage. This is especially marked in a male from Toronto (Aug. 24, J. H. Ames) in which the nestling plumage still covers the abdominal region while the feathers of the head and back, although fully grown, still have the downy neossoptiles attached to their tips. These specimens are of the utmost importance for they evidently show that the immature plumage of neoxena, or the first plumage succeeding the nestling down, is practically like that of the adult, while exilis, on the contrary, at this age, differs markedly from the adult.
Here also should be mentioned the notes of Mr. J. F. Menge on the nest and young of neoxena, as quoted by Mr. W. E. D. Scott.[1] Mr. Menge, who collected four of the six Florida specimens, writes as follows: "I herewith send you notes concerning
the Bittern as requested by Mr. J. W. Atkins, first found on 8th
- ↑ Auk, VIII, 1891, 309.
