582 BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



ee. Abdomen yellow. 

 /'. Upper parts mainly cobalt l)lue; chest orange-yellow. (Sonthwestern 



Mexico.) Cyanospiza leclancheri, adult male (p. 589; 



ff. Upper parts greenish ; chest olive-yellowisli. 



g. Upper tail-coverts and tail greenisli; under parts duller or paler 



yellow Cyanospiza ciris, adult female (p. 587 ) 



cjg. Upper tail-coverts and tail bluish; under parts purer and brighter 

 yellow Cyanospiza leclancheri, adult female (p. 589) 



CYANOSPIZA CYANEA (Linnaeus). 

 INDIGO BIRD. 



Adult male. — General color plain cerulean blue, changing to blui.sh 

 green (beiyl green) in certain lights, the head more purplish blue 

 (ultramarine or french blue), this extending down the foreneck and, 

 usually, more or less strongly tinging the median under parts of the 

 bod}^; lores and central (mostlj^ concealed) portion of wing-coverts and 

 tertials black; secondaries, primaries, primary coverts, and remiges 

 dusky, edged wnth greenish blue; maxilla black; mandible pale gray- 

 ish blue (in life), with dusky streak on gonys; iris brown; legs and 

 feet dusky (in dried skins)"; length (skins), 116.59-132.33 (124.97); 

 wing, 65.53-71.37 (67.82); tail, 48.51-51:.10 (51.05); exposed culmen, 

 10.16-11.18 (10.41); depth of bill at base, 7.11-7.62 (7.37): tarsus, 

 16.26-18.03 (17.27); middle toe, 11.94-12.95 (12.45).^ 



Adult female. — Above olive-brownish, lighter, and sometimes tinged 

 with greenish gra}" on rumpand upper tail-coverts; beneath dull whitish, 

 more or less washed or tinged with olive-buffy on chest, sides, and 

 flanks, the chest more or less distinctly streaked with dusky grayish 

 brown; wings and tail dusky, the lesser wing-coverts and edges of 

 primaries and rectrices grayish greenish, the tips of middle coverts 

 and edges of greater coverts and tertials (broadly) light cinnamon- 

 brownish; length (skins), 113,28-132.84 (121.67); wing, 62.74-66.55 

 (63.75); tail, 47.24-48.77 (48.26); exposed ctdmen, 9.91-10.92 (10.41); 

 depthof bill at base, 7.11-7.62 (7.37); tarsus, 16.51-18.03(17.53); mid- 

 dle toe, 11.9^12.95 (12.45).' 



^Eighteen spe-eimens. 



■^ Eleven specimens. 



Specimens from the Mississippi Valley average slightly smaller than those from the 

 Atlantic coast district, although the difference is confined to length of wing, tail, and 

 tarsus. I can not detect any constant difference in coloration. The two series meas- 

 ured average as follows: 



