430 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



SP. CHAR. Adult male (No. 69,003. U. S. Nat. Mus., Wahsatch Mts.. Utah, May 23, 1868: 



L. E. Rieksecker). Above cinereous-drab, becoming gradually paler and more bluish 



posteriorly, barred, indistinctly, everywhere with a more dusky tint, the shafts of all 



the feathers blackish; anteriorly the darker shade predominates, while posteriorly the 



bluish prevails; on the anterior portions the light bars are much restricted in width, 



and of a more ochraceous tint. Tail plain, very pale, ashy drab, narrowly tipped with 



reddish white, this changing to pale rusty on the middle pair; the concealed portion of 



the feathers outside the shaft show obsolete or faint traces of darker bars, which on the 



middle pair are apparently about eleven in number. On the inner webs the paler bars 



become broader than the darker ones, and incline to ochraeeous in tint, the lateral 



feather being edged externally with this color. Primaries plain ashy drab, with a hoary 



tinge, growing insensibly darker terminally, and with a slightly paler apical margin. 



Head and neck above, dark umber-brown, with conspicuous shaft-streaks of black. 



Lores and broad superciliary stripe (somewhat interrupted above the eyes) white, finely 



and sparsely streaked, the two stripes confluent across the occiput; a broad heavy 



"mustache" from the lores and rictus downward and obliquely backwards, across the 



maxilla, and a wider posterior stripe, like the crown. Beneath continuous white, with 



a faint ochraceous tinge on the abdomen and crissum; abdomen and sides of the breast 



with a few scattered, small, ovate spots of vandyke-brown; sides transversely spotted 



with vandyke-brown, the spots coalesced into a broken patch on the flanks; outside of 



the tibia3 with transverse spots of the same. Axillars plain clear vandyke-brown, with 



a few nearly obsolete rusty specks near their ends; lining of the wing clear white, the 



feathers with central spaces of dusky brown, which toward the edge become aggregated 



into a longitudinal patch; inner webs of the primaries with broad transverse spots of 



white, which reach nearly to the shaft; they are about thirteen in number on the longest 



quill. Feet yellow; base of the bill tinged with the same. Wing, 12.00; tail, 7.50; tarsus, 



1.90; middle toe, 1.70. 



Adult (?) female (No. 18,258, Fort Buchannan.New Mexico: Dr. Irwin): Above contin- 

 uous umber-drab, growing gradually lighter posteriorly, the tail being pale drab; no 

 transverse bars (except a few concealed ones on back and secondaries), but all the 

 feathers faintly bordered with paler rusty brown, these edgings on upper tail-coverts 

 almost white. Tail tipped with creamy white, and with many transverse spots or broad 

 bars of the same on inner webs, outer feather irregularly skirted with the same, and all 

 decidedly paler than the ground color along their edges. Head as in the male, but fore- 

 head white, and superciliary stripe more continuous. Breast and abdomen with longi- 

 tudinal lanceolate or cuneate streaks of dark vandyke-brown; patch of same on flanks, 

 more continuous than in the male; axillars unvariegated clear dark Vandyke brown, 

 longest primary with eleven transverse spots of white ; posterior outer face of tibiae with 

 sagittate spots of dark brown. "Wing, 14.25; tail, 8.00; tarsus, 2.10; middle toe, 2.00. 



Young male (No. 32,207, South Fork of Platte, July 19, 1858: C. S. McCarthy): Above 

 darker umber than the last, each feather distinctly bordered terminally with rusty ochra- 

 ceous. Beneath with a deeper cream-colored tinge, streaks blacker; flank-patch more 

 conspicuous and uniform; axillars unvariegated dusky. Wing, 13.25; tail. 7.25. 



Adult males. A specimen from Gilmer, Wyoming Territory, 

 (No. 60,176, U. S. Nat. Mus. : H. E. Durkee), is very similar 

 to the Wahsatch example described above, but being in more worn 

 plumage the markings are not so well defined. The bars are 

 entirely obsolete on the rump, where, however, the bluish ashy 

 is relieved by very sharp black shaft-streaks; on the exposed sur- 

 face of the closed tail, the tint is very pale brownish ash, and the 

 bars are almost completely obliterated. The tints generally partake 

 of a dull ashy character, with little brown. It measures, wing, 



