BIEBS OF KANSAS. I79 



cept crown), neck, jugulum and breast grayish white, streaked with dusky; ab- 

 domen black; sides, flanks, anal region, crissum and lining of the wing pure 

 white, the sides, flanks and crissum sparsely streaked. Adult and young, in 

 winter: Above, entirely plain ash gray, sometimes with very indistinct dusky 

 shaft streaks; indistinct superciliary stripe and lower parts white, the neck and 

 jugulum indistinctly streaked with grayish, the sides, flanks and crissum some- 

 times sparsely streaked. Young: Back and scapulars black, the feathers broadly 

 bordered with rusty ochraceous, this becoming paler or even white on the ends 

 of some of the feathers; lesser and middle wing coverts bordered with buff; 

 rump plain brownish slate; upper tail coverts darker, tipped with rusty; crown 

 light rusty, streaked with black. Head and neck (except crown and throat) dull 

 dingy buff, indistinctly streaked with dusky; remaining lower parts, including 

 throat, white, the breast and belly with numerous irregularly cordate spots of 

 black, the flanks, crissum and lining of the wing immaculate. Bill and feet 

 black; iris dark brown. 



"There is a considerable amount of individual variation in this species, es- 

 pecially noticeable in the extent and continuity of the black abdominal area, the 

 distinctness of the black markings above, and the depth of the rufous tint; not 

 infrequently the latter is mixed with grayish. In the winter plumage, some ex- 

 amples have the sides and crissum narrowly streaked, while in others these parts 

 are immaculate." 



Stretch of 



Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 8.25 15.00 4.65 2.20 1.05 1.55 



Female... 8.50 15.50 4.75 2.20 1.05 1.55 



I have met with this species at Cape Cod, Florida, Texas, 

 Kansas, California, and at Neah Bay, Washington; at the latter 

 place the birds were in breeding plumage, May 10th to 15th, 

 1882. In all eases they were in small flocks, and not abundant. 



In habits they are not noticeably different from others of the 

 family. The following interesting description of their breeding 

 habits, etc., is taken from JS^elson's "Eeport upon Natural His- 

 tory Collections made in Alaska," 1877 to 1881: 



"In early seasons the first of these birds reach the Yukon 

 mouth and the shores of Norton Sound by the 10th of May. and 

 by the 25th of this month they are in full force. They arrive 

 in full breeding dress, and are generally in small flocks, which 

 soon break up, and the birds scatter in twos and threes over the 

 moss and grass grown 'tundra,' to pair and attend to their sum- 

 mer duties. They nest from the first of June to the first of July, 

 and I secured a set of four fresh eggs on the third of this month, 

 in 1877. 



"The young are mostly on the wing toward the end of July, 



