CHAR. Body stout, head broad. Bill short and stout, broad at the base,
the culmen curved from the base, the commissure considerably arched.
Bill blue-black. Feet stout. Type, _V. flavifrons_. For figure, see
page 379.
Species and Varieties.
COMMON CHARACTERS. A broad stripe from bill to and around, but
not beyond, the eye. Two broad white bands across the wings. Bill
plumbeous-blue, black toward culmen. Iris brown in all species?
1. L. solitarius. Spurious primary exposed. Throat and orbital
ring white.
_a._ Spurious primary well developed,—.60 or more long, .10
broad.
Nape and side of neck plumbeous; upper tail-coverts
olive-green. Crissum tinged with yellow, but none on side of
throat, nor across breast. Wing, 3.05; tail, 2.40; bill, from
nostril, .27; tarsus, .66. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United
States, straggling westward to the Pacific Coast, especially
in its migration southward into Mexico, where it penetrates
in winter as far as Guatemala … var. _solitarius_.
Above continuous olive-brown; below ochraceous-white, with a
buffy tinge across breast, and deeply olivaceous along sides.
Crissum tinged with yellow. Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.15; bill, 30;
tarsus, 66. _Hab._ Pacific Province of United States,
straggling in autumn eastward into the Middle Province …
var. _cassini_.
Above continuous ashy-plumbeous. Beneath pure white, ashy
along sides, and very slightly so across breast. Wing, 3.25;
tail, 2.50; bill, .30; tarsus, .66. _Hab._ Middle Province of
United States, south, in winter, through Western Mexico to
Colima … var. _plumbeus_.
_b._ Spurious primary very minute,—about .30 long by .04 wide.
Nape and side of neck olive-green; upper tail-coverts
plumbeous. Crissum not tinged with yellow, but sides of the
throat and across the breast are. Wing, 3.10; tail. 2.20;
bill, .29; tarsus, .64. _Hab._ Coban, Vera Cruz, Guatemala;
resident? … var. _propinquus_.[77]
2. L. flavifrons. Spurious primary concealed. Throat and
orbital ring yellow.
Anterior half of body olive-green above, lemon-yellow below;
posterior half plumbeous-ash above, white below. Wing, 3.00;
tail, 1.90; bill, .32; tarsus, .70. _Hab._ Eastern Province
of United States, south, in winter, to Costa Rica, and very
rare in Cuba.
Lanivireo solitarius, BAIRD.