Part 272

An immature, but fully grown, male differs from the adult in having the crown brown, but somewhat darker than the back and with a few black feathers; lores and jaw dusky; white cheek-patch small and poorly defined; chin dusky; throat and breast slightly olivaceous.

This bullfinch is not uncommon in the mossy oak forests of the highlands of Luzon.

693. PYRRHULA STEEREI Mearns.

STEERE'S BULLFINCH.

Pyrrhula steerei Mearns, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. (1909), 36, 445.

Mindanao (Mearns).

"Characters.--Similar to Pyrrhula leucogenys Grant, from the mountains of Lepanto in northern Luzon. The Mindanao bird differs in being smaller, with a differently colored, much smaller bill, more brownish coloration, and a tendency to whitening on the middle of the abdomen, which the Luzon bird lacks.

"Adult male (type, killed July 9).--Crown and front of head all round, to just behind eye, black; crown glossed with purplish blue; lores, malar region, chin, and upper throat dead black; auriculars white; scapulars and interscapular region deep broccoli-brown; rump white; rectrices, upper tail-coverts, primaries, secondaries, tertials, primary-coverts, and base of greater wing-coverts, glossy bluish black; lesser wing-coverts dark broccoli-brown; terminal two-fifths of greater wing-coverts broccoli-brown, paler terminally; outer web of innermost secondary edged externally with orange-vermilion; under parts broccoli-brown, shading to whitish on middle of belly and to tawny ochraceous on crissum; axillars pure white; under wing-coverts brown at base, broadly white terminally; underside of shafts of primary-quills white nearly to the tips. Fresh specimens, including the type, were noted in the field as having the iris dark brown; bill plumbeous-black, perceptibly horn-color at extreme base; feet brownish flesh-color, with underside of toes yellowish; claws brown. In the dry skins the bills are uniformly plumbeous-black.

"Adult female * * *. Exactly like the male, except that the outer web of the innermost secondary is edged externally with yellowish orange instead of orange-vermilion." (Mearns.)

Genus FRINGILLA Linnæus, 1758.

Bill moderately stout; culmen flat, without a ridge, and straight except at its extreme tip; wings long, extending beyond the toes and nearly to the tip of the slightly forked tail; colors black, white, and orange-buff.

694. FRINGILLA MONTIFRINGILLA Linnæus.

BRAMBLING.

Fringilla montifringilla Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 179; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1888), 12, 178; Oates, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1890), 2, 233, fig. 65 (head); McGregor, Bull. Philippine Mus. (1904), 4, 24; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 103.

Calayan (McGregor). Europe, northern Asia, Kamchatka, northern China; in winter to British Islands, Japan, Liu Kiu and Bonin Islands.

Male in winter.--Head, neck, mantle, and sides of head, of neck, and of throat black with wide fringes of light buff or ochraceous-buff; feathers of neck and mantle with gray bases; lower back and rump white, black along the sides; tail-coverts black, tipped with buff; chin, middle of throat, fore breast, sides, and flanks orange-buff; flanks with a few black spots; lower breast and abdomen white; crissum light buff; feathers of thighs black with buff tips; wing-quills black; primaries and secondaries narrowly edged with pale yellow; outer webs of fourth to seventh primaries with a spot of white at tips of primary-coverts; secondaries with larger white spots nearer their bases; tertials broadly edged with orange-buff on their outer webs; scapulars and lesser coverts orange-buff; median coverts white, some of them washed with buff; greater coverts black with broad buff tips; rectrices black, edged with ashy gray or pale yellow; outermost pair with basal half of outer webs white; axillars canary-yellow; wing-lining and edges of the inner webs of quills white. Iris brown; bill yellow; its tip dusky; legs light brown, soles pale yellow; nails dusky. A male from Calayan Island measures: Length, 165; wing, 94; tail, 65; culmen from base, 13; tarsus, 20.

Female in winter.--Not greatly different from the male. A female from Japan measures: Wing, 85; tail, 58; culmen from base, 13; tarsus, 19.

Male in summer.--"The summer plumage of the male is gradually assumed by the shedding of the sandy-colored edges, and the bluish ashy of the hind neck and mantle remains as a spot behind the head, the feathers of these parts generally showing ashy gray bases throughout the summer plumage.

"Nestling.--Recalls the plumage of the adult female, but more tinged with olive, the nape-patch well developed, and the rump-patch tinged with sulphur-yellow; under surface of body washed with pale sulphur-yellow, tinged with orange on fore neck, chest, and sides of body." (Sharpe.)

The brambling as a Philippine species is known only from three winter specimens collected in Calayan Island.

Genus PASSER Brisson, 1760.

Bill moderately stout, not greatly compressed; culmen straight and with a decided ridge for its basal half; rounded and gently curved for its distal half; wing moderate in length, covering less than half the tail, and its tip not reaching the base of toes. Colors black, dingy white, rusty brown, and liver-brown.

695. PASSER MONTANUS (Linnæus).

MOUNTAIN SPARROW.

Fringilla montana Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 183. Passer montanus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1888), 12, 178; Whitehead, Ibis (1899), 238 (habits); Hume, Oates ed. Nests & Eggs Ind. Bds. (1890), 2, 162; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 104.

Gor-re-ón, Manila.

Cebu (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Luzon (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester, McGregor). Northern Africa and nearly the whole of Europe and Asia.

Adult (sexes similar).--Forehead, crown, and hind neck liver-brown or vinous-chestnut; back, rump, and tail-coverts dull cinnamon-rufous; back with wide black stripes confined to the inner web of each feather; lores, a line under eye, a large patch on ear-coverts, chin, and middle of throat black; remainder of sides of head and sides of throat grayish white; remainder of under parts dirty pale gray, washed with fulvous-brown on sides, flanks, thighs, and tail-coverts; wings and tail brown, most of the wing-feathers edged with dull cinnamon-rufous; lesser coverts dull chestnut; median coverts blackish, tipped with white; greater coverts edged with cinnamon-rufous and tipped with white; the tips of median and greater coverts forming bars; second to fifth primaries with an ocherous-buff band on outer webs near the tip of primary-coverts. A male from Manila measures: Length, 140; wing, 66; tail, 52; culmen from base, 13; tarsus, 17. A female, wing, 68; tail, 54; culmen from base, 14; tarsus, 17.