56 



BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



(128.3); tail, 68-83.5 (77.1); culmen, 25.5-30 (27.6); tarsus, 20-22 

 (21); outer anterior toe, 16.5-18 (17.2).« 



Young male. — Essentially like the adult female, but coloration 

 much duller, the barring of back, etc., less sharply defined, abdomen 

 without red tinge (in first plumage), chest with indistinct shaft- 

 streaks of dusky, and without any distinct red on head, the hindneck 

 faintly tinged with pink, the crown (usually at least) tinged with 

 deeper reddish on a dusky or dingy grayish ground color, the forehead 

 lighter dingy grayish, the nasal tufts still paler grayish or brownish. 



Young female. — Similar to the young male, but pileum darker gray- 

 ish or dusky. 



« Forty specimens. 



Locality. 



MALES. 



Ten adult males from Atlantic States (New York to Virginia). 

 Ten adult males from Illinois (8), Kentucky (1), and Missouri (1) 



One adult male from Oklalioma 



Eiglit adult males from Texas 



One adult male from Louisiana 



One adult male from Mississippi 



Ten adult males from Florida 



FEMALES. 



Ten adult females from Atlantic States 



Ten adult females from Illinois (6), Indiana (1), and Ken- 

 tucky (3) 



One adult female from Oklahoma 



Eight adult females from Texas 



One adult female from Louisiana 



Nine adult females from Florida 



One adult female from ^outh Carolina 



Outer 

 ante- 

 rior toe. 



18 



17.8 



18 



17.9 



18.5 



18.5 



17.8 



17 



17.5 

 17.5 

 17.3 

 17.5 

 16.8 

 17 



The individual variation in this species is very considerable, especially in respect to 

 the amount of red tinge to the under parts and sides of the head in adult males. As a 

 general rule, specimens from the Mississippi Valley and Texas are much more strongly 

 tinged with red than those from east of the Allegheny Mountains; but occasional 

 specimens from the Atlantic coast district are similarly colored, while many of those 

 from the interior are not at all different from eastern examples. Specimens from 

 Florida, Georgia, and lower South Carolina, beside? averaging smaller, are slightly 

 darker in color, especially the under parts, which rarely if ever have the yellowish cast 

 BO often observable in those from other sections. This greater darkness and dullness 

 of the under parts is, however, to a certain extent due to the soiling of the plumage by 

 contact with charred wood. The white bars on the back, too, as a rule, are relatively 

 somewhat narrower than in specimens from northern and western localities, the oppo- 

 site extreme being observable in some of the Texan examples. 



While the differences noted would, if reasonably constant, be quite sufficient for 

 the definition of three geographic forms or subspecies, according to my present views 

 they are not sufficiently correlated with geographic area to justify subdivision of the 

 species. 



