BIRDS FRINOILLIDAE — PASSERCULUS SAVANNA. 443 



Sr. Cii. — Feallicrs of tlio upper parts gcnorally with a contra! streak of blackiHli brown ; llio streaks of the back with a 

 sliglil rufous sulfusiou laterally ; tlio feathers ctlged with (rriiy, which is li(»htest on Iho scnpulars. Crown with a broad median 

 stripe of yellowish gray. A superciliary streak from the bill to the back of the head, eyelids, and cdjfo of the elbow, yellow. 

 A yellowish white maxillary stripe curving behind the car coverts, and margined above and below by brown. The lower 

 margin is a scries of thickly crowded spots on the sidis of the throat, which are aUu found on the sides of the nock, across Iho 

 upper part of Iho breast, and on the sides of body. A few spots on Ihc throat and chin. Rest of under parts white. Outer 

 tail feather ind primary edged with white. Length, 5.5U ; wing, 3.7U ; tail, 3.10. 



llab. — l^isteru North .America to the Missouri plains 



In this species the bill is rather short ; the tarsus and midiUe toe with its claw about equal. 

 The wing is acute ; the first quill longest ; the tertiaries as long as the primaries. The tail is 

 short and somewhat forked ; the feathers narrow and rather acute, but rounded at the tips. 



The spots on the under parts of the body have a rufous suflusion externally, scarcely appre- 

 ciable on the breast in spring specimens. The outside edges of all the wing feathers, excepting 

 the primary quills have a yellowish rufous tinge more conspicuous than elsewhere on the body. 

 Tliere is sometimes a tinge of greenish on the smaller wing coverts. 



With a considerable number of specimens from the western coast at hand I have been much 

 puzzled to decide how many species there are, and upon their relationship to P. savanna. One 

 series from Oregon and Washington Territory is much the largest, considerably exceeding the 

 P. savanna of the east. These agree exactly with a specimen from Sitka, collected by 

 Wosnes.«jensky, the taxidermist of the St. Petersburg Academy, and labelled Zonotrichia 

 chrijsops, Pallas, probably by Brandt. Another series is composed of specimens that are smaller, 

 though varying considerably in size, and the bill is generally slenderer. In one (55.54) the 

 superciliary stripe has only a faint tinge of yellow, and the colors are rather paler than common. 

 The spots on the breast are rather sparser than usual. The bill is rather slenderer than in 

 eastern specimens, but instead of being shorter is actually longer. This agrees with specimens 

 from Northeastern Mexico in Lieutenant Couch's collection. Other specimens have the yellow 

 as bright, that on the axillaries even brighter, than in any eastern ones ; the spots blacker and 

 more numerous, extending over the whole breast. In another, otherwise similar, the bill is 

 unusually long, and the spots on the middle of the breast are aggregated into a larger one. 



Without feeling assured of an actual specific difference I shall follow Bonaparte in referring 

 the large billed series to P. chrysops of Pallas, (sandwickensis ;) that with the gray colors, few 

 pectoral spots, whitish superciliary stripe, and attenuated bill to P. alaudinus ; and that with 

 dark colors, yellow superciliary stripe, and numeroiLS pectoral spots to P. anthinus. 



