580 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



brownish buff; lower parts entirel}^ dull rusty buff, deeper on breast and chest; no 

 distinct dusky stripe on side of head. Young : Similar to female, but with " obscure 

 transverse terminal dark bars and pale centres to most of the feathers of the upper 

 and under parts." Length about 5.50-6.50, wing 3.75-4.15, tail 2.00-2.55, culmen 

 .47-.52, tarsus .95-1.20. Nest built among rocks, stone walls, etc., composed of 

 grasses, etc., lined with feathers. Eggs 3-6, .85 X -63, plain pale greenish blue. 

 Hah. Northern portion of northern hemisphere, breeding far northward; south, in 

 winter, casually, to Nova Scotia, Maine, Long Island, New York, Canada, and Colo- 

 rado 765. S. cenanthe (Linn.). Wheatear. 



Genus SIALIA S^ainson. (Page 572, pi. CXXIV., fig. 6.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Adult males bright blue above, the back sometimes 

 partly or entirely chestnut ; beneath cinnamon anteriorly and white posteriorly, 

 blue with cinnamon-chestnut patch on breast, or blue fading into white posteriorly. 

 Adult females much duller, with bright blue confined to wings, rump, upper tail- 

 coverts, and tail, the other upper parts dull grayish or brownish ; beneath similar 

 to male, but much paler and duller (dull grayish brown anteriorly in *S^. arctica). 

 Young : Grayish, brownish, or dusky above (except wings and tail), the back, 

 scapulars, and wing-coverts marked with drop-shaped spots or streaks of pale 

 buffy or whitish (these sometimes nearly obsolete in S. arctica^ ; beneath white, 

 the feathers of breast, etc., edged with grayish, brownish, or dusky. Nest in 

 holes, usually in trees or stumps, often about buildings, sometimes among rocks, 

 composed of dried grasses, etc. Eggs 4-7, plain pale greenish blue (very rarely 

 white). 



o}. Breast and sides cinnamon or chestnut. 



6\ Throat cinnamon, like breast ; belly white. 



c^. Breast, etc., deep cinnamon or cinnamon-rufous ; sides of neck and 

 malar region blue. 



Adult male: Above rich cobalt-blue (rarely varying to ultra- 

 marine, more rarely still to cerulean) ; in winter, the blue 

 duller, the cinnamon of breast, etc., deeper and more purplish, 

 and feathers of back, etc., bordered with rusty ; length 5.70- 

 7.00, wing 3.90-4.15 (3.99), tail 2.60-2.90 (2.71), culmen .62-.67 

 (.65), tarsus .75-.80 (.78). Adult female : Above dull grayish, 

 the wings dull blue, the rump, upper tail-coverts, and tail 

 brighter blue ; a whitish orbital ring ; breast, etc., light dull 

 cinnamon, the throat paler, with a dusky streak along each 

 side ; an indistinct whitish malar stripe ; wing 3.80-3.90 (3.85), 

 tail 2.50-2.60 (2.53). Young : Above dark brownish or gray- 

 ish, with conspicuous tear-shaped streaks of whitish over whole 



