Hello everyone,

Glad to see that Dennis is back and chose not to become a llama hearder.

Color perception dose vary from person to person. Speaking for myself, it
varies from eye to eye. My left eye sees a slightly different shade
than my right eye. I can olny assume that together, they see the right
thing.

One other problem is the ablity for the observer to communicate there
observation to others. I said that there was a light chestnut wash on the
nape. I should say a *very* light chestnut wash on the nape. I watched
the bird in subdued light for for about 30 minutes. When the bird ws
feeding on the ground right at my feet (10 + or -) and it would bend its
neck downward I noticed the chestnut color. Then when it sat out in the
sun to preen, again from about 10 feet, I could make out more chestnut
color to it. By that point, I was looking for it. I pointed this out to
people that were standing next to me. At first they didn't notice it,
it took a while, but they eventually picked it up.

I also studied the passerine book before I went down to see it.

The other possibility is that there are two birds.

Even if you exclude the nape color, which was not easy to see, the *very
white* lesser wing coverts and the black on the belly is enough to separate
males from females.

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Russell Rogers
4510 Glenn Way SW
Seattle, WA 98116
(206) 935-6280
rrogers at halcyon.com
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