_Leucosticte griseinucha_, ELLIOT, Illust. Birds Am. X. _Leucosticte
littoralis_, BAIRD, Tr. Ch. A. S. I, 1869, 318, pl. xxviii, f.
1.—DALL & BANNISTER, IB. p. 282.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 162.
SP. CHAR. Body chocolate-brown, the feathers narrowly margined with
paler, those of the back with rather darker centres. Abdomen, flanks,
crissum, rump, upper tail-coverts, wing-coverts, and quills edged with
rose-red, more or less continuous (least so on the rump); the outer
edges of secondaries and tail-feathers pale fulvous, the latter with a
rosy shade. Head silvery-gray; the forehead and patch on crown black;
the chin gray, continuous with that of cheek; the throat dark brown,
shading into the chocolate of breast. Bill yellowish, the extreme tip
dusky. Nasal feathers white. Length, 7.10; wing. 4.30; tail, 3.10;
exposed portion of first primary, 3.40. Length of bill from forehead,
.60; from nostril, .35. Tarsus, .76.
HAB. Kodiak (BISCHOFF); Sitka (BISCHOFF); Fort Simpson, British
Columbia (HEPBURN); Gilmer, Wyoming (DURKEE).
This race, which we believe to be the Southern coast representative of
_griseinucha_, bears much resemblance to that bird, but is
considerably smaller; the colors are brighter and lighter, more like
those of _tephrocotis_, and the bill is shorter and more conical, the
dark patch on the head more restricted, the chin more ashy, and the
brown of the head not so far forward. From _tephrocotis_ it is
distinguished by the extension of the ash of head below the eye; and
from _campestris_ by having the ear-coverts ashy, instead of the
anterior portion of the cheeks only; and there is apparently a greater
extent of gray on the chin.
Specimens obtained at Kodiak in February are distinguishable from
specimens of _griseinucha_, obtained with them at the same place, only
by their much smaller size, and lighter chocolate tints. The
occurrence of both these races at the same place, at the same time, is
a subject for speculation. A perfectly typical specimen (No. 59,906)
is in the collection from Gilmer, Wyoming Territory, obtained by Mr.
H. R. Durkee, a frequent contributor to the collections of the
Smithsonian Institution, and sent by him along with numerous specimens
of _L. tephrocotis_, with which it appears to have been mixed.
Leucosticte tephrocotis, var. griseinucha, BAIRD.