212 BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



to the very decided ])asal detioetioii, the angle usually rounded, but in 

 one species (A. hcn.s/owi) conspicuously toothed. Nostril in lower 

 anterior portion of nasal fossa?, at least partially exposed, more or less 

 pointed anteriorly, and overhung- by membrane; rictal bristles distinct. 

 Wing short, about two and two-thirds to three times as long as tarsus; 

 eighth to sixth, or (in A. marlt/'iiius) seventh to fifth primaries 

 longest, the ninth shorter than third {A. maritiinus)^ or equal to 

 sixth or fifth (other species); primaries decidedly longer than sec- 

 ondaries; tertials not elongated. Tail nearly or (in ^1. leconteli) (juite 

 as long as wing, decidedl}" graduated, the retrices narrow and more or 

 less sharply acuminate. Tarsus equal to or slightly longer than middle 

 toe with claw; lateral claws falling decidedly short of base of middle 

 claw; inner toe slightly longer than outer; hallux not longer than 

 lateral toes. 



CoJorat'ion. — Above varying from nearly uniform olive-grayish or 

 blackish to conspicuoush" spotted with black, brown, or chestnut, and 

 streaked with bufl'y, the median rectrices light brownish or grayish 

 with a median stripe or streak of dusky; beneath whitish or ))ufi* and 

 white, the chest, sides, and fianks more or less streaked with black or 

 grayish; edge of wing usually yellow (white in A. leconteii). 



Range. — Eastern and central temperate North America. 



The four species to which I have, after careful examination and com- 

 parison, concluded to restrict the genus Anuiiodniinu.^ agree fairly 

 well in structural and other characters. Two of them, however, are 

 much less closely related than are the other tw^o, lieing not only quite 

 different from one another in structural details but from the other two 

 as well. These al^errant species are ^1. marithnuH and A. Jienslowii. 

 The former, while agreeing rather closely with the type-species {A. 

 caudacutus) in longer and relativel}' more slender bill, and to a consid- 

 erable degree in coloration, differs in its very much rounded wing-tip, 

 the ninth primary l)eing not longer than the third, instead of being 

 equal to the sixth and fifth, as in all the others. A. Jk^hsIoicu has a 

 very much stouter bill than any of the rest, and the subbasal angle of 

 the mandilnilar tomia is distinctly toothed — a character possessed by 

 none of its congeners; in other respects, however, it comes very close 

 to A. Jeconteii., which is closely related to A. caudacutm., through its 

 smaller and small-billed subspecies, A. caudacvtHS nelson'i. xi. leconteii 

 is the only species having the tail and wing of the same length, all the 

 others having the wing slightly but decidedly the longer. 



KEY TO THE SPECIES AXD SUBSPECIES OF AMMODRAJIUS. 



0. Pileum without a distinct li^lit-oolored niediau stripe; no chestnut or rufous on 



scapulars nor interscapulars; I'eet dusky or horn-colore<l 



/'. Outermost (ninth) primary not longer than fourth (usually shorter) ; larger 



(tarsus averaging more than 21.59). 



