BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 297 



Nidification. — Nest on ground, in open places, open above, com- 

 posed of dried grass-stems, etc. Eggs (3-5) pale olive, pale buffy, 

 etc., finely (usually densely) speckled with olive-brown (rarely cinna- 

 mon-buff speckled with rusty) . 



Range. — ]\Iore open portions of North America, Europe, Asia, and 

 northern Africa; in America south to southern Mexico, reappearing 

 on highlands of Colombia. (Three or four species, with numerous 

 subspecies.) 



The seasonal and other changes of plumage in the species of this 

 genus are so marked that it is quite necessary they should be clearly 

 understood by any one attempting the identification of any one of 

 them or any of the numerous subspecific forms. In attempting such 

 determination, it is, of course, necessary to compare only specimens 

 of the same sex in the same seasonal or other special plumage; and 

 if one attempts to determine an unidentified form by comparing an 

 example in wmter plumage with another in spring or summer dress, 

 the result will prove unsatisfactory to say the least. These various 

 plumages have been so clearly described by Dr. Jonathan Dwight, jr., 

 in his important paper « on the American forms, that I reproduce his 

 descriptions here in full, rather than give new ones which could 

 scarcely differ but in phraseology: 



Males in breeding -plumage. — Back various shades of brown, the feathers darkest 

 along the shafts and edged with pinkish, reddish, or grayish, corresponding to the 

 tints of the nape, and producing a mottled or broadly streaked appearance; back of 

 head, sides of neck and nape (generally in marked contrast to the back) pinkish, 

 vinaceous, or reddish, extending to the black of the jugulum and along the sides and 

 flanks; shoulders and a band on rump usually redder than the nape; fore part of crown, 

 erectile "horns," a broad loral stripe, extending wider below the eye into the middle 

 ear-coverts and a crescentic patch on the jugulum, curving below from shoulder to 

 shoulder, uniform black; frontal band, a broad superciliary stripe, the middle of the 

 ear-coverts (often interrupted with dusky), chin, throat, and remaining lower parts 

 white, usually tinged about the head with yellow, which is brightest on the chin and 

 sometimes washes the breast; flanks obscurely streaked with dusky; tibitc like sides 

 or duller, sometimes pale yellow; wings similar in color to the back, rather darker, the 

 quills whitish-edged ; tail black, outer web of exterior feathers chiefly white, and color 

 of rump-band shading off into the pale brown of the two central feathers. Bill plum- 

 beous black, lower mandible paling from tip to base. Feet black. 



As but one moult takes place in the year (at the end of the breeding season), the 

 breeding plumage is the direct result of the wearing and fading of the autumn plumage, 

 each individual feather wearing away at the points of least resistance, chiefly the tip. 

 As the feathers of the back are darker at the base they fade least, the yellow ones fade 

 most, while the vinaceous tints of the neck are often deeper in siimnu'r than in spring, 

 when the grayish tips are longer, consequently: 



Adult males in autumn plumage difier hom breeding liirdsonly in softer i)lumage and 

 more blended colors; grayish, yellowish, or brownisli tips oliscure the whole of the 

 upper parts, producing a grayer or darker, more broadly and indistinctly streaked 

 appearance; yellowish tips obscure more or less the black areas; and dusky tips just 



a The Auk, vii, 1890, 138-158, with map. 



