486 



U. S. p. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAL REPORT. 



are lighter, the superciliary stripe scarcely appreciable. The under parts are much whiter and 

 without any of the yellowish brown ; the breast tinged with pale ash. The obsolete blotches 

 at the tip of the tail feathers are more distinct. The wing appears a good deal longer. 



A skin from Los Nogales (G327) is still more similar to P. aestivalis, and if of the same 

 species as those first described, is probably considerably older. The back is, however, 

 lighter than in aestivalis, the interscapular blotches narrower and more restricted to the very 

 middle of the back. The under parts are paler. The resemblance is^ however, so close, that if 

 the sjjecimen were from Georgia it would be considered merely as a slight variation from 

 the type. This specimen measures 6.20 inches ; the tail, 3.15 ; the wing, 2.60. It has a 

 certain resemblance to the Zonoirichia botteri of Sclater, Pr. Zool. Soc. 1857, 214, from Orizaba, 

 but is probably sufiiciently distinct. 



List of specimens. 



PEUCAEA RUFICEPS, B a i r d . 



Mimodronms ruficeps, Cassin, Pr. A. N. Sc. VI, Oct. 1852, 184. (California.)— Ib. Illusl. I, v, 1854, 135; pi. xx. 



Sp. Ch. — Above brownish ashy. The crown and nape uniform brownish chestnut. Tlio interscapular region and neck with 

 the feathers of this color, except around the margins. A superciliary ashy stripe, wliiter at the base of the bill. Beneath pale 

 yellowish brown, or brownish yellow, tlarker and more ashy across the breast and on the sides of body ; middle of belly and 

 chin lighter ; the latter with a well marked line of black on each side. Under tail coverts more rufous. Length, 5.50 ; wing, 

 2.35; tail, 2.85. 



Hab. — Coast of California. 



This plainly-colored species has the bill rather slender ; tail rather long, and considerably 

 rounded ; the outer feathers .40 of an inch shorter than the middle ; the feathers soft, and 

 rounded at the tip. The wing is short ; the primaries not much longer than the tertials ; 

 the second, third, fourth, and fifth, nearly equal ; the first scarcely longer than the secondaries. 



There is a blackish tinge on the forehead, separated by a short central line, as in Spizella 

 socialis. The eyelids are whitish, and there is a short black line immediately over the upper 

 lid. There is a faint chestnut streak back of the eye. The chestnut of the nape is somewhat 

 interrupted by pale edgings. The blotches on the back melt almost insensibly into the colors 

 of the margins of the feathers. The outer edges of the secondaries and tertials, and the 

 outer surface of the tail, are yellowish rusty. The middle tail feathers show obsolete narrow 

 transverse dusky bars. 



List of specimens. 



