BIRDS OF NORTH AND MIDDLE AMERICA. 



639 



CARDINALIS CARDINALIS CANICAUDUS Chapman. 

 GRAY-TAILEI> CARDINAL. 



Similar to G. o. GardmaZis but averaging wing shorter and bill 

 slightly larger; adult males averaging purer red and with a narrower 

 black frontlet; adult females averaging grayer above and paler beneath, 

 and, usually, with a paler or less distinct capistrum. 



AduU nude.— hQngi\i (skin.s), 193.04-218.44 (211.84); wing, 88.39- 

 96.52 (92.96); tail, 97.79-111.25 (104.65); culmen, from base, 18.03- 

 20.57 (19.56); depth of bill at base, 14.73-17.02 (15.75); width of man- 

 dible at base, 11.43-13.46 (12.45); tarsus, 23.62-26.16 (24.89); middle 

 toe, 15.2^18.29 (17.02).^ 



^(^wZ^/emaZtf.— Length (skins), 177.80-208.28 (197.87); wing, 81.79- 

 93.22 (88.39); tail, 90.93-104.65 (99.57); culmen, from base, 17.78- 

 20.32(19.05); depth of bill at base, 13.21-16.51 (14.99); width of man- 

 dible at base, 10.41-12.95 (11.94); tarsus, 23.62-26.42(24.89); middle 

 toe, 15.24-17.78 (16.51).' 



^ Thirty-eight specimens. 

 ^Thirty-one specimens. 

 Texan and Mexican spei-imens compare in average measurements as follows: 



The expediency of recognizing this as a definal)le subspecies seems to me some- 

 what doubtful. Taking the most extreme examples, the differences from typical 

 C. carrUnalii^ are jierhaps sufficiently marked; l>ut such examples form too small a 

 |)roportion to warrant us in considering the form a very satisfactory one. There is 

 certainly nothing like the same amount nor constancy of differences that exist in the 

 case of the Florida race or between the several INIexican forms. 



As stated under the head of C. <: cardinulis, specimens from the Mississijipi Valley 

 in general are practically intermediate between examples from the Atlantic coast 

 and specimens of C. c. canicaudus from Texas and northeastern Mexico; the males 

 of the Mississippi Valley birds averaging decidedly brighter in color and the 

 females grayer than those from the country east of the Alleghenies. In fact many 

 specimens, of both sexes, from Texas, I am unable to distinguish from other skins 

 from southern Illinois and Indiana, Kentucky, etc. 



Examples from the Mexican States of Nuevo Leon (Monterey and Linares) and 

 San Luis Potosi (Hacienda Angostura) average brighter in color than those from 



