Part 120

Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.40; culmen, .45; depth of bill, .23; tarsus, .85; middle toe, .63; lateral toes, .20 shorter; hind toe, .35. End of the wing formed by the four outer quills, of which the second and third are equal and longest, the first and fourth equal and just appreciably shorter; tertials considerably longer than the secondaries, and only .20 shorter than the longest primaries. Tail deeply emarginated (fork .20 deep), the lateral feathers longest.

The following measurements of about thirty fresh specimens, kindly furnished us by Dr. Coues, indicate the normal variation in size: “The males range from 5.10 to 5.85 in length, by 9.10 to 9.85 in extent, averaging about 5.65 by 9.50. The shortest-winged specimen was a female, expanding 8.85, though measuring 5.50 in length; the wing ordinarily ranged from 2.75 to 3.00.”

Dr. Coues also furnishes the following account of the habits of this species, which we print verbatim:—

“Out of thirty-one specimens collected July 14 and 15, twenty-nine were males, one female, and one young. This remarkable preponderance of males collected was owing to the fact that these attracted my attention as they sat singing on the tops of the weeds and low bushes; the females being probably down in the grass, incubating, or attending to their young,—at any rate not singing. In general appearance and manners they were so similar to Savanna Sparrows (Passerculus savanna) with which they were here associated, that they could only be distinguished at gunshot range after several days’ close observation. The song resembles that of the Savanna Sparrow, but may soon be learned; it consists of two or three chirps and an indefinite trill—zip, zip, zip, zurrrrrrr—in a mellow tinkling tone. The birds rise from the grass with a quick flickering flight, seldom going far before re-alighting. They remain in this portion of the country at least until October. Though scattered over the prairie, they tend to gather in little colonies; that is to say, one might ride a mile or so without seeing any, and then find numbers in the same spot. After leaving the prairie included in the bend of the Souris River, none were seen on the Coteau de Missouri; though this may have been owing to the lateness of the season. Late in July I scared a female off her nest on the prairie: the bird ran slyly through the grass, like a mouse, for some distance, before taking wing; her actions being like those of Plectrophanes ornatus under similar circumstances. Unfortunately, however, the nest was not found; but it will almost certainly be found to be built upon the ground, like that of Poocætes, Passerculus, and other allies.”

We learn by letter (dated October 7, 1873) from Mr. H. W. Henshaw, the naturalist of Lieutenant Wheeler’s expedition, that he has obtained (somewhere along the line of their route, apparently in New Mexico, but the locality is not mentioned) about thirty specimens of what he supposes to be this bird in the fall plumage. In regard to their habits, Mr. Henshaw writes as follows: “It is essentially a plain bird, with habits about half-way between those of the Savanna and Yellow-winged Sparrows, both of which were abundant in the same locality.”

=Plectrophanes ornatus= (I, 520). The abundant material brought in by recent collectors, among whom we may mention particularly Mr. Allen (see Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoöl. III, No. 6, p. 135) and Dr. Coues, throws additional light upon the relationship of this species and P. “melanomus” (I, 521), and affords conclusive evidence of their identity. The latter is merely a high stage of plumage, with the lesser coverts deep black, instead of brown as in midsummer, and rufous borders to the black feathers of the lower parts, which become worn off in midsummer.

=Passerculus alaudinus= (I, 537). Dr. Cooper informs me that in July, 1873, he found young but fully fledged birds of this species quite common along the beach near Santa Barbara, and where, possibly, they may have been mistaken by Dr. Heermann for P. rostratus. One he shot closely resembled in plumage the young Melospiza heermanni. They had been, without doubt, hatched on the grassy hills near by, and may breed farther south on the mountains. P. anthinus was numerous all summer in the neighboring marshes, but not away from salt water.

=Passerculus princeps= (I, 540). Additional specimens collected at Ipswich, Mass., by Mr. Maynard, and on Long Island by Mr. Lawrence, confirm the validity of this form, and likewise considerably extend its known range.

=Coturniculus passerinus=, var. =perpallidus= (I, 556). First described in Coues’s Key, October, 1872, p. 137.

=Coturniculus lecontei= (I, 558). Seven specimens of this interesting species were collected in August, 1873, by Dr. Coues, while attached to the Northern Boundary Survey. Five of them were obtained August 9, at the head-waters of the Souris River, on a boundless prairie. They inhabited the low portions of the prairie, where the grass was tall, recalling to mind the sea-shore marshes inhabited by the Ammodromi of the Atlantic coast. In habits they entirely resembled the seaside Buntings (A. caudacutus and A. maritimus).

These specimens reveal the fact that Leconte’s Bunting is quite as much an Ammodromus as a Coturniculus, being, in fact, just intermediate between A. caudacutus and C. henslowi, agreeing most nearly with the latter in style of coloration, and exactly resembling the former in form, the rectrices being even longer, stiffer, and more acute. This renders it necessary to unite Ammodromus and Coturniculus into one genus, recognizing them as subgenera, definable chiefly by the different style of coloration of the superior surface in the two groups. The name Ammodromus stands as the proper designation of the genus, being of earlier date.

Several stages of plumage are represented in the series obtained by Dr. Coues; and, the diagnosis of the species given on p. 552 being taken from a very defective specimen, we give here short descriptions taken from the elegant skins before us.

Adult male (No. 3,442, Coll. E. C.). Ground-color of the head white, tinged with buff on the maxillæ, and with ash on the auriculars; crown with two broad black stripes, separated by a narrow medial one of whitish; nuchal feathers bright rufous, edged with ashy-white, and shafted with black; dorsal feathers black, broadly edged exteriorly with white, and interiorly narrowly skirted with rufous. Beneath entirely white, tinged on the throat with buff, and streaked on the sides—from the breast to the flanks—with black. Length, 5.00; extent, 7.10; wing, 2.10; tail, 2.00; culmen, .42; tarsus, .68.

Adult female (No. 3,443, E. C.). Resembling the male, but, being in less abraded plumage, the colors more pronounced. The head is deep buff (just as in Ammodromus caudacutus), the auriculars and lores distinctly grayish-white, and the medial stripe of the crown ashy-white, except the anterior third, which is buff. On the lower parts, the whole lower side of the head, the entire breast, sides, flanks, and tibiæ, are deep buff, the sides sharply streaked with black. The abdomen, anal region, and crissum are pure white, in marked contrast. Length, 5.00; extent, 7.00; wing, 2.00; tail, 2.10; culmen, .45; tarsus, .70.

Young (Nos. 3,444, 3,445, and 3,446, E. C.). Ground-color above dull buff, below white; the pattern of the old birds seen in the markings, which, however, are pure black, all red and brown tints being absent,—except on the wings and tail, which are nearly as in the adult.

=Ammodromus maritimus= (I, 560). Mr. Maynard has discovered a very remarkable new local form of this species in Florida, which he has named var. nigrescens, possessing the following characters:—

Ammodromus maritimus, var. nigrescens, RIDGWAY.

CHAR. Above black, nearly uniform, and with a faint brownish cast; dorsal feathers with their outer edges narrowly grayish-white; remiges and tail-feathers edged with olive-brown; edge of the wing bright gamboge-yellow; supra-loral stripe deep yellow to above the middle of the eye; an obscure supra-auricular stripe of olive-grayish. Lores, auriculars, and cheeks nearly uniform black; lower parts pure white, covered with broad streaks of black, the anal region and middle line of the throat only unstreaked. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.50; culmen, .55; tarsus, .95; middle toe, .55. (1855, Coll. R. R.)

Specimens of var. maritimus from Fort Macon, North Carolina, are much darker than Connecticut examples.

=Zonotrichia leucophrys=, var. =gambeli= (I, 569). Specimens from the Pacific Coast, which are true gambeli, are uniformly different from Middle Province examples in several important particulars; the colors are all darker, the ash more sombre, and the dorsal streaks sooty-black instead of chestnut-brown. In everything except the coloration of the head they closely resemble Z. coronata. The Middle Province form may be named Zonotrichia leucophrys, var. intermedia, Ridgway.

=Junco= (I, 578). For a new synopsis of the genus, see Am. Nat. VII, October, 1873, p. 613.

=Junco hyemalis=, var. =aikeni= (I, 584). First described in Am. Nat. VII, October, 1873, p. 615.

=Junco oregonus= (I, 584). Dr. Cooper writes that the Oregon Snowbird frequents the Sierra Nevada, lat. 39°, up to an elevation of 9,000 feet. He found a nest with three eggs at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, July 28, 1870.

=Poospiza belli= (I, 593). A fall specimen from Dr. Cooper, collected at Saticoy, California, October 8, 1872, shows a new plumage of this form, and substantiates the remarkable difference, in every stage of plumage, from var. nevadensis (I, 594). It differs from specimens of the latter in the corresponding dress, in the following particulars:—

Sub-maxillary bridle deep black, very broad, and reaching to the bill; pectoral spot conspicuous, black; sides strongly washed with ochraceous; above dark plumbeous instead of light ash; no trace of streaks on the back. Wing, 2.80; tail, 3.00; culmen, .40; tarsus, .80. (No. 63,652, Mus. S. I.)

=Spizella monticola= (II, 3). Collected by Henshaw in Southern Utah, in October, 1872. Probably found throughout the Middle Province region.

=Spizella socialis= (II, 7). Dr. Cooper informs us that the Chipping Sparrow frequents the Sierra Nevada, near latitude 39°, up to 9,000 feet elevation, in summer, and is the only species of Spizella to be seen there at that season.

=Spizella pallida=, var. =breweri= (II, 13). Dr. Cooper met with this species arriving from the South, in small flocks, April, 1873, frequenting bushy grounds ten miles inland. They had the song and habits as described, but were not seen in the low country in summer.