POCECETES. —COTURNICULUS. 383 
lateral toes nearly equal-to the middle toe without its claw, instead of shorter, and the 
lateral tail-feathers outwardly white. 
P. grammineus is the only species of the genus which is widely distributed through- 
out the United States, and is found in the uplands of Mexico during the winter 
months. 
1. Pocwcetes gramineus. 
Fringilla graminea, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 9227. 
Poecetes gramineus, Baird, Mex. Bound. Surv. ii. p. 157; Scl. P.Z. 8S. 1859, p. 379°; Dresser, 
This, 1865, p. 487*; Dugés, La Nat. i. p. 140°. 
Poecetes gramineus var. confinis, Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B.i. p. 545°; Sennett, Bull. 
U.S. Geol. Surv. iv. p. 177. 
Supra schistaceo-fuscus, pluma singula stria fusco-nigra brunneo limbata medialiter notata, vertice et cervice 
postica sicut dorso striata sed striis angustioribus, loris et ciliis albicantibus ; alis et cauda fusco-nigris 
griseo-fusco limbatis, illis albido indistincte bifasciatis, tectricibus minoribus castaneis, hujus rectricibus 
duabus utrinque externis albis, extima pro majore parte ; rostro corneo, mandibula pallida, pedibus carneis, 
’ Pp J ) 
Long. tota 6:0, ale 3:4, caudex 2°7, tarsi 0-85, dig. med. cum ungue 0°85. (Deser. maris ex Oaxaca 
9 9 >] bf 9 
Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Norta America!, United States generally, Texas47.— Mexico, Tamaulipas 
(Couch?), Boca Grande, Espia (Kennerly?), Guanajuato (Dugés!5), Oaxaca 
(Loucard *), Jalapa (de Oca, Hoge). 
P. gramineus has been divided into an eastern and a western race, and it is the 
latter, P. g. confinis, which we find in Mexico. The difference is very slight between 
the two, and lies in the western bird being of paler greyer plumage and the black 
streaks narrower. 
Though widely distributed in Mexico, this species has been little noticed, and seems 
to have escaped Sumichrast’s observation, though found near Jalapa, within the 
district the birds of which he specially studied. So far as the records on our specimens 
go, it would seem that P. gramineus is a winter visitor to Mexico, and migrates thence 
-northwards on the approach of the breeding-season. 
In the United States P. gramineus is a very well-known bird, frequenting grassy 
country, and is a characteristic bird of the grassy slopes of the Rocky Mountains *%. Its 
song is described as simple, but of sweet tone. It builds on the ground a simply con- 
structed nest of dry grass-stems, with a lining of softer materials of the same description. 
The eggs are greenish white marked with spots of various sizes and lines of various 
shades of reddish and purplish brown °. 
COTURNICULUS. 
Coturniculus, Bonaparte, Comp. List, p. 32 (1838); Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B.i. p. 548 ; 
Coues, Key N. Am. B. ed. 2, p. 365. 
The birds usually associated in this genus are separable into two sections, one of 
which, C. passerinus, is typical, has the tail-feathers narrow with acute tips, the crown 
