NATURAL SCIENCES OP PHILADELPHIA. Ill 



amount of black and ocbraceous, though the former is always 

 greatly in the excess. The latter is not un frequently absent, but 

 a conspicuous spotting and bordering of ochraeeous may be taken 

 as the rule, exemplified by probably 80 or 90 per cent, of the spe- 

 cimens. 



Two specimens from Wisconsin, in the Museum of the Philadel- 

 phia Academy, differ from any in the National collection, though 

 they are as unlike each other as any which I ever compared. One 

 of them (the type of B. bairdii, Hoy) is unusually light-colored 

 underneath, and very continuously blackish on the upper surface. 

 The lower parts are light buff or cream-color, with a few triangu- 

 lar spots and shaft-lines of black on the sides of the breast ; the 

 lining of the wing is entirely immaculate. 



The other specimen (Menonomee Marsh, near Milwaukee, spring 

 of 1851) is just the opposite extreme in plumage, being unusually 

 dark for a young bird. On the upper parts, the continuity of the 

 black is scarcely broken ; while beneath, the black spots are so 

 large as to cover nearly the whole surface. The pileum, and nape 

 and broad " mustache" stripe from the rictus down to the jugulum, 

 with nearly the whole pectoral region, unbroken black, leaving only 

 the gular region and sides of the head pale, but even these places 

 are thickly streaked. The measurements are as follows: Wing, 

 15.00; tail, 8.80; tarsus, 2.35 ; middle toe, 1.50. 



A specimen from Iowa (No. 59,052, L. E. Ricksecker) is like 

 the average western style. A young female from Arizona (Sep- 

 tember 23, Captain Charles Bendire, U. S. A.) in Mr. Aiken's 

 collection differs from the type of U B. bairdii" only in deeper 

 shades of colors as nearly as my memory of the latter justifies 

 comparison. The Massachusetts specimen in the possession of 

 Mr. Brewster I have seen ; it is very dark, closely resembling, ac- 

 cording to my recollection of it, the blank example from Wiscon- 

 sin described above. 



The following detailed descriptions are taken from the best 

 representatives of each stage of plumage in the collection : 



Normal phase. 



Adult = B. swainsoni, Bonaparte. Male (53,105, Truckee River, 

 Nevada, July ; C. King, R. Ridgway) : Head, neck, and upper parts 

 blackish-brown ; scapulars slightly variegated with a rufous mot- 

 tling ; upper tail-coverts white tinged with rufous, and with trans- 



