NATURAL SCIENCES OP PHILADELPHIA. 131 



lighter dusky red than in xsdva : exposed tips of primaries pure slaty umber, , 

 primaries faintly margined terminally with paler, (in the type, this charac- 

 ter is not apparent, owing to the feathers being somewhat worn ; in other 

 specimens, however, it is quite a noticeable feature, although possibly not to 

 be entirely relied on. 



Female. — Above orange olivaceous, beneath more yellowish, purest medially; 

 crissum richer yellow than other lower parts, being in many individuals in- 

 tense indian-yellow, with the inner webs of the tail feathers margined with 

 the same ; quite distinct line of orange yellow over the lores. 



Habitat. — Southern "Middle Province" of U. S, south of 35th parallel, 

 and between 104th and 106th meridians. Pacific slope of Mexico. 



This species, or at least very well marked race, which I dedicate to Dr. 

 J. G. Cooper, so well known for his researches in the Natural History of 

 AVestern North America, appears to be well established, and quite distinct 

 from cestiva, to which it is most nearly related. From this it may readilj-^ be 

 distinguished, however, by larger size, (length 8*60, instead of 7-25 ; wing 4-24 

 instead of 3-81, etc.), the bill especially being much larger, (-84 instead of 

 •70), as well as more swollen ; the wing is more pointed, the primaries ex- 

 tending 1-16 beyond the secondaries, instead of about -84, as in lestiva. The 

 third quill is generally longest, but in some specimens the second and third 

 are equal ; in icsiiva the second is usually longest. 



The most perfect representatives of this species are three specimens ob- 

 tained within the limits of the United States ; these are a pair (Xos. 34344^, 

 and 343459, "-"OS Pinos, New Mexico), collected by Dr. Coues, and an imma- 

 ture male, collected by Dr. Cooper, at Ft. Mohave, on the Colorado River. 

 These specimens have, owing to their peculiar habitat, a faded, or worn 

 plumage, somewhat different from the perfect stage represented in specimens 

 from Western Mexico, but diftering from the typical style only in a bleached 

 or faded appearance, more or less characteristic of all birds of the southern 

 portion of the Great Basin. 



Ptranga saira, Spix. 



Tanagra saira, Spix, Av. Bras. II, pi. 48, f. 1. — Pijranga saira, Sclater, 

 Catal. Am. Birds, 80. — Pyranga mississippiensis, Lafr., and D'Orb. — P. coccinea, 

 Burmeister. 



Sp. ch. Wing 4-12, tail 3-52, culmen -81, tarsus -72 ; 2d and 3d quills 

 longest, 1st intermediate between 3d and 4th. Bill shaped much as in Cooptri; 

 the upper aspect is almost precisely the same in the present bird, being, 

 however, rather broader at the base ; the lateral aspect is, however, quite 

 different in the two ; the present species having the culmen less regularly 

 arched, the terminal curve being 

 more abrupt, the lower mandible is 

 decidedly inferior in depth to the 



upper. There is quite a decided ^^ ^,— -^J\ '^^^^CT ">^SORG'* 



indication of a tooth about the mid- 

 dle of the commissure. In this spe- 

 cies the color of the bill is much 

 darker than in either of the other 

 species of the group, in this respect approaching more nearly the hepatic'^ 

 style ; the upper mandible being dark sepia, the lower much paler and more 

 bluish. 



Above rich dark purplish red, almost exactly as in xsiiva, but becoming 

 bright scarlet on the forehead, this continuing back over the eye in a quite 

 conspicuous superciliary stripe. Lower parts rich fine scarlet, very pure and 

 clear, somewhat tinged with brownish laterally. 



Female. — The graduation of the tints exactly as in the male, the scarlet of 

 which is replaced by gamboge yellow, the dusky red by golden greenish oliva- 

 ceous. The superciliary stripe is in both sexes a conspicuous feature. 



1869.] 



