_Leucosticte_, SWAINSON, Fauna Bor. Am. II, 1831, 265. (Type,
_Linaria tephrocotis_, SW.)
[Line drawing: _Leucosticte tephrocotis._
19255 ♂]
GEN. CHAR. Bill conical, rounded, rather blunt at the tip; the culmen
slightly convex; the commissure slightly concave; the nostrils and
base of commissure concealed by depressed bristly feathers; a
depressed ridge extending about parallel with the culmen above the
middle of the bill. Another more conspicuously angulated one extending
forward from the lower posterior angle of the side of the lower
mandible, nearly parallel with the gonys. Tarsus about equal to the
middle toe and claw. Inner toe almost the longer, its claw not
reaching beyond the base of the middle one. Hind toe rather longer,
its claw longer than the digital portion. Wings very long; first quill
longest; all the primaries longer than the secondaries. Tail forked.
This genus differs from _Ægiothus_ in the more obtuse and curved bill,
the less development of bristly feathers at the base, the ridge on the
lower mandible, the lateral toe not reaching beyond the base of the
middle one, and possibly a longer hind toe. Its relationship to the
other allies will be found expressed in the synoptical table of
_Coccothraustinæ._
[Illustration: _Leucosticte tephrocotis._]
The number of American species, or at least races, of this genus has
been increased considerably since the publication of Birds of North
America, five now belonging to the American fauna, instead of the
three there mentioned. Of the species usually assigned to the genus,
one, _L. arctoa_, is quite different in form, lacking the ridge of the
mandible, etc., and in having the ends of the secondaries graduated in
the closed wing, instead of being all on the same line. The colors,
too, are normally different; in _arctoa_ being dusky, with
silvery-gray wings and tail, without rose tips to the feathers of the
posterior part of body; and in _Leucosticte_ proper, the wings and
tail being dark-brown narrowly edged with whitish, or more broadly,
like the ends of the feathers of the body behind, with rose-color. For
the present, however, we shall combine the species, not having before
us any American specimens of _L. arctoa_.
From the regular gradation of each form into the other—the extremes
being thus connected by an unbroken chain of intermediate forms—it
seems reasonable to consider all the North American forms as referable
to one species (_L. tephrocotis_, SW., 1831) as geographical races.
They may be distinguished as follows:—
COMMON CHARACTERS. Body anteriorly chocolate-brown; posteriorly
tinged with rose-red. Wing-coverts (broadly) and quills edged
with the same. Head above light ashy or silvery-gray, as are also
the feathers around the base of upper mandible; the forehead and
a patch on crown blackish. Throat dusky.
_Additional Characters._ The chocolate-colored feathers and the
secondary quills, sometimes the tail-feathers and greater
wing-coverts, edged with pale brownish-white or fulvous; the
interscapulars with darker centres. Rose of rump and upper
tail-coverts in form of transverse bands at end of feathers, that
of abdomen more a continuous wash. Lining of wings and axillars
white, tinged with rose at ends of feathers. Feathers of crissum
dark brown, edged with whitish, sometimes tinged with rose. Bill
generally reddish or yellowish, with blackish tip.
A. Auriculars chocolate-brown.
1. Whole side of head below the eye, including the
auriculars, chocolate-brown. Chin not bordered anteriorly
with ash. In the breeding-season, head darker and ash
wanting. Wing, 4.35; tail, 3.00; bill, .44; tarsus, .72. Hab.
Interior regions of North America … var. _tephrocotis_.
2. Cheeks, lores, and anterior border of the chin ash-color.
Wing, 4.00; tail, 2.80; bill, .44; tarsus, .70. Hab. Colorado
and Wyoming Territories … var. _campestris_.
B. Auriculars ash-color.
3. Wing, 4.30; tail, 3.00; bill, .40; tarsus (?). Chocolate
of the breast, etc., light, exactly as in tephrocotis; rose
beneath restricted to the abdomen; lores and chin light ash.
Hab. Northwest coast from Kodiak to Fort Simpson, east to
Wyoming Territory … var. _littoralis_.
4. Wing, 4.60; tail, 3.40; bill, .40; tarsus, .78. Chocolate
very dark, inclining to sepia; rose extending forward on to
the breast; lores blackish; chin dusky gray. Hab. Aleutian
Islands (St. George’s, Unalaschka, and Kodiak) …
var. _griseinucha_.
A closely allied species[113] from Kamtschatka and the Kurile Island
differs mainly in having the nasal feathers as well as the head
blackish, but without distinct patch on the top, and the nape rusty,
in contrast with the back. It is about the size of _L. tephrocotis_.
This species may yet be detected in the westernmost Aleutians.
Leucosticte tephrocotis,[114] SWAINSON.