_Poospiza belli_, var. _nevadensis_, RIDGWAY, Report on Birds of
40th Parallel.
SP. CHAR. Resembling _P. belli_, but purer ashy above, with the dorsal
streaks very distinct, instead of almost obsolete. Wing, 3.20 (instead
of 2.50); tail, 3.20 (instead of 2.50); bill (from forehead), .35;
tarsus, .76. (Type, No. 53,516 ♂, Western Humboldt Mountains, Nev.,
United States Geol. Expl. 40th Par.)
_Young._ Streaked above, the crown obsoletely, the back distinctly.
Whole breast and sides with numerous short dusky streaks upon a white
ground. Markings about the head indistinct, wing-bands more distinct
than in the adult.
HAB. Middle Province of United States, north to beyond 40° (resident).
[Line drawing: _Poospiza belli_, var. _belli_.
11211]
The difference in size between the race of the Great Basin and that of
the southern Pacific Province, of this species, is quite remarkable,
being much greater than in any other instance within our knowledge.
This may, perhaps, be explained by the fact that the former is not
migratory, but resident even in the most northern part of its range;
while the California one is also resident, and an inhabitant of only
the southern portion of the coast region, not reaching nearly so far
north as the race of the interior.
The coloration of the two races is quite identical, though in all
specimens of var. _belli_ the dorsal streaks are obsolete, sometimes
even apparently wanting, while in the var. _nevadensis_ they are
always conspicuous. The former appears to be more brownish above than
the latter.
HABITS. These birds, Mr. Ridgway states, have a very general
distribution, extending as far west as the eastern base of the Sierra
Nevada. At Carson City, February 27, he heard for the first time their
sweet sad chant. A week later he found the sage-brush full of these
birds, the males being in full song and answering one another from all
directions. In walking through the sage-brush these Sparrows were seen
on every side, some running upon the ground with their tails elevated,
uttering a chipping twitter, as they sought to conceal themselves
behind the shrubs. Some were seen to alight upon the tops of dead
stalks, where they sit with their tails expanded almost precisely
after the manner of the Kingbird. The song of this bird is feeble, but
is unsurpassed for sweetness and sadness of tone. While its effect is
very like the song of a Meadow Lark singing afar off, there is,
besides its peculiar sadness, something quite unique in its modulation
and delivery. It is a chant, in style somewhat like the spring
warbling of the Shore Lark.
On the 24th of March, at Carson City, he found these Sparrows very
abundant and everywhere the predominating species, as it was also the
most unsuspicious and familiar. It was even difficult to keep them
from under the feet. A pair would often run before him for a distance
of several rods with their unexpanded tails elevated, and when too
nearly approached would only dodge in among the bushes instead of
flying off.
On the 9th of April, walking among the sage-brush near Carson City,
Mr. Ridgway found several nests of this Sparrow, the female parent in
each instance betraying the position of her nest by running out, as he
approached, from the bush beneath which it was concealed. With
elevated tail, running rapidly and silently away, they disappeared
among the shrubbery. In such cases a careful examination of the spot
was sure to result in finding an artfully concealed nest, either
embedded in the ground or a few inches above it in the lower branches
of the bush. He did not find this species east of the northern end of
Great Salt Lake, nor was it seen in the neighborhood of Salt Lake
City, where the other species was so abundant.
The eggs of this species differ very essentially from those of the _P.
bilineata_. They are oblong in shape, have a light greenish ground,
marked all over the egg with very fine dots of a reddish-brown, and
around the larger end with a ring of confluent blotches of dark purple
and lines of a darker brown, almost black. They measure .80 by .60 of
an inch. They resemble very closely a not uncommon variety of the eggs
of the _Spizella pusilla_.
Footnotes:
[1] We are indebted to Professor Theodore N. Gill for the present
account of the characteristics of the class of Birds as distinguished
from other vertebrates, pages XI-XV.
[2] Dr. Coues, in his “Key to North American Birds,” gives an able and
extended article on the general characteristics of birds, and on their
internal and external anatomy, to which we refer our readers. A paper
by Professor E. S. Morse in the “Annals of the New York Lyceum of
Natural History” (X, 1869), “On the Carpus and Tarsus of Birds,” is of
much scientific value.
[3] Carus and Gerstaecker (Handbuch der Zoologie, 1868, 191) present
the following definition of birds as a class:—
Aves. Skin covered wholly or in part with feathers. Anterior pair of
limbs, converted into wings, generally used in flight; sometimes
rudimentary. Occiput with a single condyle. Jaws encased in horny
sheaths, which form a bill; lower jaw of several elements and
articulated behind with a distinct quadrate bone attached to the
skull. Heart with double auricle and double ventricle. Air-spaces
connected to a greater or less extent with the lungs; the skeleton
more or less pneumatic. Diaphragm incomplete. Pelvis generally open.
Reproduction by eggs, fertilized within the body, and hatched
externally, either by incubation or by solar heat; the shells
calcareous and hard.
[4] _Methodi naturalis avium disponendarum tentamen._ Stockholm,
1872-73.
[5] This group is insusceptible of definition. The wading birds, as
usually allocated, do not possess in common one single character not
also to be found in other groups, nor is the collocation of their
characters peculiar.
[6] Corresponding closely with the Linnæan and earlier Sundevallian
acceptation of the term. Equivalent to the later _Oscines_ of
Sundevall.
[7] As remarked by Sundevall, exceptions to the diagnostic pertinence
of these two characters of hind claw and wing-coverts taken together
are scarcely found. For, in those non-passerine birds, as _Raptores_
and some _Herodiones_, in which the claw is enlarged, the wing-coverts
are otherwise disposed; and similarly when, as in many _Pici_ and
elsewhere, the coverts are of a passerine character, the feet are
highly diverse.
[8] _Laminiplantares_ of Sundevall plus _Alaudidæ_.
[9] _Scutelliplantares_ of Sundevall minus _Alaudidæ_.
[10] Nearly equivalent to the Linnæan _Picæ_. Equal to the late (1873)
_Volucres_ of Sundevall.
[11] A polymorphic group, perfectly distinguished from _Passeres_ by
the above characters in which, for the most part, it approximates to
one or another of the following lower groups, from which, severally,
it is distinguished by the inapplicability of the characters noted
beyond. My divisions of _Picariæ_ correspond respectively to the
_Cypselomorphæ_, _Coccygomorphæ_, and _Celeomorphæ_ of Huxley, from
whom many of the characters are borrowed.
[12] Groups G., H., and I. are respectively equal to the
_Charadriomorphæ_, _Pelargomorphæ_, and _Geranomorphæ_ of Huxley.
[13] In the true conirostral or fringilliform genera the under
mandible has high strong tomia, bent at an angle near the base; the
corresponding portion of the upper mandible is deep, so that the
nostrils are nearer the culmen than the tomia. The whole bill is more
or less bent in its axis from the axis of the cranial base, so that
the palate curves down, or is excavated or, as it were, is broken into
two planes meeting at an angle,—one plane the anterior hard
imperforate roof of the mouth, the other the back palate where the
internal nares are situate (Sundevall). The single North American
genus of _Tanagridæ_ (_Pyranga_) is here conventionally ranged on
account of its high nostrils and conic bill, although it does not show
angulation of the tomia. The _Icteridæ_, with obviously angulated
tomia, shade into the _Fringillidæ_ in shortness and thickness of
bill, and into other families in its length and slenderness.
[14] These two genera, _Psilorhinus_ and _Gymnokitta_, of the family
_Corvidæ_, have naked nostrils, as under _dd_, but otherwise show the
characters of _Corvidæ_.
[15] With the _Paridæ_ the authors of this work include the Nuthatches
as a subfamily _Sittinæ_, which I prefer to dissociate and place as a
group of equal grade next to _Certhiidæ_.
[16] In the genus _Ampelis_ and part of the _Vireonidæ_ it is so
extremely short as to appear absent, and is displaced, lying concealed
outside the second (apparently first) primary, like one of the primary
coverts; however, it may always be detected on close examination,
differing from the coverts with which it is associated in some points
of size and shape, if not also of color.
[17] In _Ampelis_ there is tendency to subdivision of the lateral
plates; in _Myiadestes_ the anterior scutella are obsolete.
[18] Excepting _Picoides_, in which the true hind toe (hallux) is
wanting; the outer or fourth toe being, however, reversed as usual,
and taking the place of the hind toe.
[19] Excepting _Sphyrapicus_, in which the tongue is not more
protrusible than in ordinary birds.
[20] Our species falls rather in a restricted family _Aridæ_, as
distinguished from _Psittacidæ_ proper.
[21] In a perfectly fresh specimen of _Turdus mustelinus_, the basal
half of the first phalanx of the inner toe is connected with the first
joint of the middle toe by a membrane which stretches across to within
two fifths of the end of the latter; there appears, however, to be no
ligamentous adhesion. The basal joint of the outer toe is entirely
adherent, and a membrane extends from nearly the basal half of the
second joint to the distal end of the first joint of the middle toe.
When this connecting membrane becomes dried the division of the toes
appears considerably greater.
When the toes are all extended in line with the tarsus, the hind claw
stretches a little beyond the lateral and scarcely reaches the base of
the middle claw.
The plates at the upper surface of the basal joints of the toes are
quadrangular and opposite each other.
[22] See Baird, Review American Birds, I, 1864, 7, 8.
[23] _Harporhynchus ocellatus_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1862, p. 18, pl.
iii.
[24] _C. ardesiacus_, SALVIN, Ibis, N. S. III, 121, pl. ii.
[25] _C. pallasi_, TEMM. Man. d’Orn. I, p. 177.—SALVIN, Ibis, III,
1867, 119. (_Sturnus cinclus_, var. PALLAS, Zoögr. R.-As. I, 426.)
[26] _S. azurea_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 62. (_S. azurea_,
SWAINSON.)
[27] _Parus meridionalis_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 293.—BAIRD, Rev.
81.
[28] _Parus sibiricus_, GMEL. S. N. 1788, p. 1013.
[29] This remark applies to the Mexican race.
[30] _N. rufa_, BAIRD. (_Alauda rufa_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788,
798.)
[31] _P. bogotensis_, BAIRD. (_Anthus bogotensis_, SCLATER, P. Z. S.
1855, 109, pl. ci.)
[32] _Anthus (Notiocorys) rufus_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 156
(_Alauda rufa_, GM.). _Hab._ Isthmus of Panama.
[33] _Anthus (Pediocorys) bogotensis_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864,
157 (_Anthus bogotensis_, SCLATER). _Hab._ Ecuador, Colombia.
[34] _Sylvia pitiayumi_, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict. II, 1816, 276. _Parula
pit._ SCLAT. Catal. 26, no. 165.—BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, I, 1865, 170.
[35] _Parula insularis_, LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. X, Feb. 1871.
[36] _Parula inornata_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, I, 1865, 171.
[37] Or if with white markings, the prevailing color yellow, as in _D.
pinus_, in which only the adult ♂ has the wing-bands ashy-white.
[38] The wing-formula, though varying among individuals, is
nevertheless in a measure characteristic. An average specimen is in
each case chosen.
[39] _D. gundlachi_, BAIRD, Review Am. B. I, 1865, 197.
[40] _Dendroica petechia_, BAIRD, Review, 199. (_Motacilla petechia_,
LINN. 1766.)
A specimen from Port au Prince is smaller, measuring, wing, 2.50;
tail, 2.10; bill, .31; tarsus, .74. It is perhaps lighter green above
than Jamaican specimens. These features may only be characteristic of
the particular individual.
[41] _D. ruficapilla_, BAIRD, Rev. 201.
A single specimen from Porto Rico differs in some respects from the
average of a series from the other islands named. The chief
differences are, less thickly streaked throat, and distinct
shaft-streaks of dark chestnut on the back. However, one or two
specimens of true _ruficapilla_ from St. Thomas have the upper part of
the throat streaked, and one of them has the streaks on the back. In
all probability other specimens from Porto Rico would be more like
typical species of this race as seen in the majority of those from St.
Thomas and St. Bartholomew.
[42] _D. aureola_, BAIRD, Rev. 194. (_Sylvicola a._ GOULD, Voyage
Beagle, 1841, 86.)
[43] _D. capitalis_, LAWR. Pr. Phila. Acad. 1868, 359. Barbadoes.
_Dendroica_, BAIRD, Rev. 201.
[44] _D. vieilloti_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. S. May, 1860, 192. (Panama,
Carthagena.)—BAIRD, Rev. 203.
[45] _D. rufigula_, BAIRD, Rev. p. 204. The habitat as Martinique, W.
I., was there queried, but without any reason for so doing other than
that this was the locality of Vieillot’s species, with which the type
described in Review nearly agreed. Should _Vieillot’s_ species be
really from Martinique, in all probability the present bird will be
found to be different, and therefore not entitled to the name here
given. Provided such is the case, the name “_ruficeps_,” Cabanis,
cannot with propriety be used, as under that head he includes
specimens from Carthagena (true _vieilloti_), Costa Rica, and Mexico
(the latter _bryanti_).
[46] _D. vieilloti_, var. _bryanti_, RIDGWAY.
[47] _Sylvicola eoa_, GOSSE, Birds of Jamaica, 1847, 158;
Illustrations Birds Jam. _Dendroica eoa_, BAIRD, Rev. 195. The true
position of this species is very uncertain, owing to the imperfect
description, or rather the incomplete plumage, of the types. There is
no doubt, however, that it is entirely different from any other, and
in its having, as expressly stated, the inner webs yellow, thus
bringing it into close relation with the “Golden Warblers.”
[48] _D. pharetra_, BAIRD, Rev. 192. (_Sylvicola pharetra_, GOSSE,
Birds Jam. 1847, 163.)
[49] _D. adelaidæ_, BAIRD, Rev. April, 1865, 212.
[50] _D. pityophila_, BAIRD, Rev. 208. (_Sylvicola p._ GUNDL. Ann. N.
Y. Lyc. Oct. 1855, 160.)
[51] _Dendroica adelaidæ_, BAIRD, Rev. 1865, 212. _Hab._ Porto Rico.
[52] _Geothlypis rostratus_, BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. March, 1867,
67, Inagua.
[53] _Geothlypis melanops_, BAIRD, Review Am. Birds, I, April, 1865,
p. 222.
[54] _Geothlypis æquinoctialis_ (CABANIS), BAIRD, Rev. I, p. 224.
(_Motacilla æq._ GMELIN, S. N. I, 1788, 972.)
[55] _Geothlypis velata_ (CABANIS), BAIRD, Rev. I, 223. (_Sylvia vel._
VIEILL. Ois. Am. Sept. II, 1807, 22, pl. lxxiv.)
[56] _Geothlypis poliocephala_, BAIRD, Review Am. Birds, I, April,
1865, p. 225.
[57] _Geothlypis poliocephala_, var. _caninucha_, RIDGWAY.
The _G. speciosa_, SCL. (P. Z. 1858, 447; and BAIRD, Rev. 1864, p.
223), from Mexico, and _G. semiflavus_, SCL. (P. Z. S. 1860, 273,
291.—BAIRD, Rev. I, 1864, 223), from Ecuador, are species allied to
_G. trichas_, and possibly referable to it. The original descriptions
afford no tangible distinctive characters. It is barely possible,
however, that they are distinct.
[58] _Granatellus_, DUBUS. BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1865, 230. (Type,
_G. venustus_, DUBUS.)
[59] Genera _Myioborus_, _Euthlypis_, _Myiothlypis_, _Basileuterus_,
_Idiotes_, and _Ergaticus_. All Middle and South America.
[60] _Setophaga picta_ (SWAINSON), BAIRD, Rev. 1865, 256. _Muscicapa
leucomus_, GIRAUD, Texas Birds. _Hab._ Mexico and Guatemala.
[61] _Setophaga miniata_ (SWAINSON), BAIRD, Rev. 1865, 256. _Muscicapa
derhami_, GIRAUD, Texas Birds. _Hab._ Mexico.
[62] _Hirundo_ (_Callichelidon_) _cyaneoviridis_ (BRYANT), BAIRD, Rev.
Am. Birds, 1865, 303. Bahamas. This species may yet be detected on the
Florida coast.
[63] _Progne subis_, var. _concolor_. _Hirundo concolor_, GOULD, P. Z.
S. 1837, 22 (James I., Galapagos). _Progne c._ BAIRD, Rev. Am. B.
1865, 278. _Progne modesta_, GOULD, Birds Beagle, 39, pl. v. (Same
specimen.)
[64] _Progne subis_, var. _furcata_. _Progne furcata_, BAIRD, Rev. Am.
B. 1865, 278. (Chile.)
[65] _Progne subis_, var. _elegans_. _Progne elegans_, BAIRD, Rev. Am.
B. 1865, 275. (Vermejo River. _? Progne purpurea_, DARWIN, B. Beagle
38 (Montevideo, November), Bahia Blanca, Buenos Ayres, September.)
[66] _Progne_ (_subis_ var?) _dominicensis_. _Hirundo dominicensis_,
GM. S. N. I, 1788, 1025. _Progne d._ MARCH, P. A. N. S. 1863, 295;
BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1865, 279.
[67] _Progne_ (_subis_ var?) _domestica_. _Progne domestica_ (VIEILL.)
BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1865, 282. (Paraguay and Bolivia.) (_Hirundo
domestica_, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict, xiv, 1817, 521.)
[68] _Progne_, (_subis_ var?) _leucogaster_. _Progne leucogaster_,
BAIRD, Rev. Am. B. 1865, 280. (Southern Mexico to Carthagena.) _Progne
dominicensis_ and _P. chalybea_, AUCH. (nec GMEL.).
From a careful examination of specimens of the above forms, the
opinion that they are all local differentiations of one primitive type
at once presents itself. The differences from the typical _subis_ are
not great, except in the white-bellied group (_dominicensis_ and its
allies), while an approach to the white belly of these is plainly to
be seen in _P. cryptoleuca_; again, some specimens of _dominicensis_
have the crissum mixed with blackish, while others have it wholly
snowy-white. While the male of _cryptoleuca_ is scarcely
distinguishable, at first sight, from that of _subis_, the female is
entirely different, but, on the other hand, scarcely to be
distinguished from that of _dominicensis_ and _leucogaster_. Adult
males of the latter species are much like adult females of
_dominicensis_, while Floridan (resident) specimens of _subis_
approach very decidedly to the rather unique characters of _elegans_.
It is therefore extremely probable that all are merely local
modifications of one species.
[69] _C. cyaneoviridis_, BRYANT; BAIRD, Rev. 303 (Bahamas).
[70] _Vireosylvia calidris_, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1865, 329.
(_Motacilla calidris_, L. Syst. Nat. 10th ed. 1758, 184.)
[71] _V. calidris_ var. _barbadense_, RIDGWAY.
[72] _V. olivacea_ var. _Chivi. Vireosylvia chivi_, BAIRD, Rev. 327.
(_Sylvia chivi_, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict. XI, 1817, 174.)
[73] _V. flavoviridis_ var. _agilis_. _Vireosylvia agilis_, BAIRD,
Rev. 338. (_Lanius agilis_, LICHT. Verz. Doubl., 1823, no. 526.)
[74] _V. magister_, BAIRD.
[75] _V. gilva_ var. _josephæ_. _Vireosylvia josephæ_, BAIRD, Rev.
1865, 344 (_Vireo josephæ_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1859, 137, pl. cliv).
Comparing typical examples of this “species” with those of _gilvus_
from North America, they appear very widely different indeed, so far
as coloration is concerned, though nearly identical in form. But a
specimen from an intermediate locality (54,262, Orizaba, Mexico, F.
SUMICHRAST) combines so perfectly all the characters of the two, that
it would be impossible to refer it to one or the other as distinct
species. It therefore becomes necessary to assume that the _V.
josephæ_ is a permanently resident tropical race of a species of which
_V. gilvus_ is the northern representative; which theory is
strengthened by the fact that of the latter there are no specimens
found south of the United States, indicating that in winter it does
not pass beyond their limit, or at least not far to the southward.
[76] The Jamaican bird is _V. calidris_, not _barbatulus_. In all
probability, however, they do not differ in habits and notes.—R. R.
[77] _Vireosylvia propinqua_, BAIRD, Rev. 1865, p. 348. This appears
to be merely a permanent resident race of _solitarius_, which itself
visits Guatemala only in winter. Closely resembling the latter, it
differs essentially in the respects pointed out above. The difference
in coloration is produced by a shifting, as it were, toward the head
of the yellow and olive, leaving the upper tail-coverts clear ash, and
the lower pure white, and encroaching upon the ash anteriorly to the
crown and ear-coverts, and the white alongside of the throat. In the
_V. plumbeus_ these tints are simply almost entirely removed, leaving
clear ash and pure white, with a tinge, however, of olive on the rump
and of yellow on the sides. In _V. cassini_ the tints are darkened and
browned by the peculiar influence of the region where found, there
being neither clear ash, nor olive-green, nor pure yellow or white, in
the plumage.
[78] _Vireo carmioli_, BAIRD, Review Am. B. I, 1865, p. 356. _Hab._
Costa Rica.
[79] _Bombycilla phœnicopterum_, TEMM. Pl. Col. II, 1838; pl. 450. The
_A. phœnicopterum_ is stated by Temminck to have the nasal setæ so
short as to leave the nostrils exposed, and to lack the sealing-wax
appendages; the latter condition may, however, result from the
immaturity of the specimen, as it is very common to find the same
thing in individuals of the other species.
[80] _Myiadestes obscurus_ (LAFRES.), BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1866,
430. _Hab._ Mountains of Mexico to Guatemala and Tres Marias Islands.
[81] _Myiadestes unicolor_ (SCLATER), BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1866,
428. _Hab._ Central Mexico and Guatemala.
[82] _Lanius excubitor_, LINN. Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 94.
[83] _Certhia flaveola_, LINN. Syst. Nat. ed. 10, 1758, 119.
[84] _C. flaveola_, A. & E. NEWTON, Ibis, 1859, 67. _Hab._ St. Croix.
_C. newtoni_, BAIRD.
[85] _C. flaveola_, var. _portoricensis_, BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H.
Jan. 1866. _Hab_. Porto Rico.
[86] _Motacilla bananivora_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 951.
(_Bananiste_, Buffon, St. Domingo.)
[87] _Certhiola luteola_, CAB. M. H. 1851, 96. _C. major_, CAB.; _C.
minor_, BON.
[88] _Certhiola bahamensis_, REICH. Handb. I, 1853, 253. _C.
flaveola_, BAIRD, B. N. A.; _C. bairdi_, CAB.
[89] _C. caboti_, BAIRD, MSS.
[90] _C. martinicana_, REICH. Hand. I, 1853, 252. _C. albigula_, BON.
[91] _C. dominicana_, TAYLOR, Ibis, 1864, 167.
[92] _C. barbadensis_, BAIRD, MSS.
[93] _C. frontalis_, BAIRD, MSS.
[94] _C. bartholemica_, SUNDEVALL & SPARRMANN, Vetensk. Akad.
Förhandl. 1869, 622.
[95] _C. mexicana_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 286.
[96] _C. peruviana_, CAB. Journ. 1865, 413? Perhaps different.
[97] _C. chloropyga_, CAB. M. H. 1851, 97. _C. brasiliensis_, BP.
[98] _Pyranga erythromelæna_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. Lond. 1856, 126.
(_Tanagra erythromelas_, LICHT. Preis.-Verz. d. Saüg. u. Vög. no. 69;
1831.)
[99] _Pyranga ardens_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 126. (_Phœnisoma
ardens_, TSCHUDI. Wieg. Archiv, 1844, 207.)
[100] _Pyranga bidentata_, SWAINS. Philos. Mag. 1827, 428.
[101] _Pyranga rubriceps_, GRAY, Gen. B. fol. p. 364, pl. lxxxix,
1849.
[102] _Pyranga erythrocephala_, BONAP. R. Z. 1851, 178. (_Spermagra
erythrocephala_, SWAINS. Phil. Mag. 1827, 437.) Were it not for the
small size, one would, without seeing a specimen, be inclined to
suspect this as being a young male of _P. æstiva_, which often occurs
in very similar plumage.
[103] _? Pyranga azaræ_, D’ORB. Voy. p. 264. RIDGWAY, Pr. Ac. N. S.
Philad. June, 1869, p. 132, fig. 2.
[104] _Pyranga saira_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 124. RIDGWAY, Pr. A. N.
S. June, 1869, p. 131, fig. 1. (_Tanagra saira_, SPIX, Av. Bras. II,
48, fig. 1.)
[105] _Pyranga testacea_, SCLATER & SALVIN, P. Z. S. 1868, 388.
RIDGWAY, Pr. A. N. S. June, 1869, p. 133, f. 1.
[106] _Pyranga roseigularis_, CABOT. (Description from the type.)
[107] Of this highly colored form, the average length of five
specimens is 7.55; in twelve the average is, wing, 3.67; tail, 2.86;
culmen, .67. The bill appears to be slightly darker than in North
American examples.
[108] _Coccothraustes abeillii_, SCLATER, Catal. Am. B. 123 (_Guiraca
abeillii_, LESSON).
[109] _Carpodacus frontalis_, var. _hæmorrhous_, _Carpodacus
hæmorrhous_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1856, 304. (_Fringilla hæmorrhous_,
LICHT. Verz. 1831.)
[110] _Loxia curvirostra_, LINN., Syst. Nat. 299.
[111] _Loxia bifasciata_, DE SELYS-LONGCHAMPS, Faune Belge, 76. BONAP.
& SCHLEGEL, Mon. des Loxiens, 7.
[112] _Fringilla linaria_, TEMM. Mass. Orn. 1835, 267 (not of
Linnæus). “_Fringilla rufescens_, VIEILL. Faun. Franç. tab. 41, f. 1.”
_Linota montium_, BP. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. Lox. 1850. “_Linaria
flavirostris_, BREHM.”
[113] _Leucosticte brunneinucha. Fringilla (Linaria) brunneinucha_,
BRANDT, Bull. Acad. St. Petersburg, 1841, 35. _Montifringilla
(Leucosticte) brunneinucha_, BON. & SCHLEGEL, Mon. Loxiens, 1850, 36,
pl. xlii.
[114] As this sheet is going through the press, we have been permitted
by Mr. J. A. Allen to examine a series of birds, obtained by him in
July, 1871, on Mt. Lincoln, Colorado, above the timber line, where
they were breeding abundantly. Although very different from winter _L.
tephrocotis_, they yet strongly suggest the idea of their being that
species in summer dress. They present the following characteristics:—
_Breeding plumage._ Differing from the stage first described above, in
entire absence of any ash about the head, and in deep black, instead
of yellowish bill. ♂ with the red tints intense carmine, instead of
peach-blossom pink, that of the abdomen extending farther forward. ♀
lacking the red, or with only a tinge of it. Hood dark vandyke-brown,
becoming nearly black on the forehead; rest of head light
chocolate-brown, similar to, but more faded than, that of the winter
plumage; nasal tufts grayish-white.
Ten specimens collected by Mr. Allen all agree in the characters
pointed out, by which they differ from the winter plumage of _L.
tephrocotis_. Taking into consideration the fact of their black
instead of yellowish bill, more intense red, and generally more dusky
colors, as well as the other points of distinction from the previously
known plumages of _L. tephrocotis_, and also that they are identical
in size and proportion, while specimens of _L. tephrocotis_ in the
breeding plumage have not before been seen, it seems very reasonable
to suppose that these specimens represent the breeding plumage of that
species. There is some resemblance to _L. brunneinucha_, which, from
the plate in Bonaparte and Schlegel’s monograph of the _Coccothraustinæ_,
seems to differ mainly in being lighter colored. Mr. Allen says that
these birds were breeding abundantly in the locality where they were
found.
[115] From the fact that this form is not found in any part of Alaska,
nor, indeed, north of California, it is probable that the localities
of _anthinus_ and _alaudinus_ were transposed in Bonaparte’s original
descriptions.
[116] Hybrid between _oregonus_ and _caniceps_, = “_annectens_,”
BAIRD, Geol. Surv. Cal. Orn. I, p. 564.
CHAR. Pinkish sides and convex outline to ash of breast, as in
_oregonus_, with the bright rufous back and ashy head, with black
lores of _caniceps_; a tendency in the rufous of back to tinge the
wings, as in _oregonus_. _Hab._ Southern Rocky Mountains. (Fort
Whipple, Arizona, COUES; Fort Bridger, Wyoming, DREXLER; Fort Burgwyn,
Mountains of Colorado, AIKEN.)
[117] Hybrid between _hyemalis_ and _oregonus_.
CHAR. Plumbeous back of _hyemalis_, with pinkish sides of _oregonus_;
or else reddish back of _oregonus_ and plumbeous sides of _hyemalis_,
or colors mixed both above and below. _Hab._ Sun River, Dakota;
McKenzie River District? Fort Whipple, Arizona; and Fort Bridger,
Wyoming.
[118] Hybrid between _caniceps_ and _cinereus_, = “_dorsalis_,” HENRY,
Pr. Phil. Ac. 1858, 117; BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 467.
CHAR. Rufous restricted to interscapular region, as in the former,
with black upper mandible, and pale ash throat of the latter. _Hab._
Fort Thorn, New Mexico.
[119] _Junco cinereus_, CABANIS, Mexican Snowbird. _Fringilla
cinerea_, SW. Syn. Birds Mex. in Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 435. _Junco
cinereus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 134.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
465. “_Fringilla rufidorsis_, LICHT.,” BONAPARTE; probably a catalogue
name. _Junco phæonotus_, WAGLER, Isis, 1831, 526.—BONAP. Comptes
Rendus, XXXVII, 518.
SP. CHAR. Ash-color above; with a broad quadrate interscapular patch
of rufous-chestnut, this extending over the wing-coverts and inner
secondaries. Beneath paler ash, lighter in middle region below, but
without distinct line of demarcation. Lores and anterior region of eye
dusky; in decided contrast. Outer three tail-feathers white, but dusky
at base and on outer web at end; the amount increasing internally.
Upper bill entirely black; lower yellow. Length, 6.40; height of bill,
.25; culmen, .46. _Hab._ Table-lands of Mexico.
[120] _Junco alticola_, SALVIN, Guatemalan Snowbird. _Junco alticola_,
SALVIN, P. Z. S. 1863, 189 (Highlands, Guatemala).—IB. Ibis, 1866,
193.
SP. CHAR. Similar to _J. cinereus_, but darker than Mexican species,
with less contrast between the rufous of back and the ash of head.
Tail with less white. Bill much larger: height, .34; culmen, .56.
_Hab._ Highlands of Guatemala.