BIRDS — FRINGILLIDAE — CYANOSPIZA CIRIS. 



503 



CYANOSPIZA VERSICOLOR, B a i r d . 



Spizj rtrsicolor, Bo«. Pr. iCool. Soc. 1837, 120. — Id. Conspectus Av. 1850, 475. — Caii. Mus. Iloiii. 1S5I, 143. 

 Cardutlu lusuosus, Lessus, Kcv. ZuuI. It'3'.l, 41. 



Sr. Cii. — Posterior half of hood, with throat dark brownish red; interscapuliir region, tiimilar jjul ilurkor. Foro piirt of 

 hood, lcsst>r wing coverts, bnckof tlie neck, and riimp, purplish bhic ; the liUtiT puruKt blue ; the bolly ruddisli |)urpl(', in places 

 tinged witli blue, more obscure posteriorly. Feathers of wing and tail dark brown, edged with dull bluish. Loral region and 

 narrow frontal band black. Length, 5.50 ; wing, 3.75 ; tail, 3.38. 



Jlab. — Northeastern Mexico, probably to the Rio Grande. Peru, Bonaparte. 



This beautiful Splza is sufliciently distinct from the other North American species not to 

 reiiuire any comparison between adult males; the female I have never seen. Tlie hill is 

 stouter and more swollen to the end, and the mandible is much more curved than that of 

 C. cyanea, and its perfectly concave commissure, without any shiillow lobe in the middle, 

 and the much more arched ridge, would almost separate the two generically. The wing is 

 shorter and more rounded, the fourth quill longest, then the tliird, second, and fifth. Tiie first 

 is only a little longer than the seventh. The tail is decidedly rounded; rather more so than in 

 C. cyanea. 



List of specimens. 



CYANOSPIZA CIRIS, Baird. 



Noupareil— Painted Bunting. 



Emberiza ciris, Linn. Kong. Sv. Vet. Aknd. Hand. 1750, 278 ; tab. vii, f. 1.— Ib. Syst. Nat. I, 17CG, 313.— Wilson, 



Am. Orn. Ill, 1811, 63; pi. .\xiv, f. 1, 2. 

 Passerina eir'is, Vieillot, Gal. Ois. I, 1824, 81 ; pi. I.xvi. 

 Frii^illa ciris, Ald. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 279 : V. 517 ; pi. 53. 

 Spizaciria, Bos-, List, 1838.— Is. Conspectus, 1850, 47G.— Add. Syn. 1839, 108.— Ib. Birds Amer. Ill, 1841, 93 ; 



pi. 169. 

 Painitd finch, Catesbt, Pennant. 



Sp. Ch. — ■Malt. Head and neck all round ultramarine blue, excepting a narrow stripe from the chin to the breast, which, 

 with the under parts generally, the eyelids, and the rump, (which is tinged with purplisli,) arc vermilion red. Edges of chin, 

 loral region, greater wing coverts, inner tertiary and interscapular region, green ; the middle of the latter glossed with yellow. 

 Tail feathers, lesiser wing coverts, and outer webs of quills, purplish blue. Length, about 5.50 inches ; wing, 2.70. 



FtmaU. — Clear dark green above ; yellow beneath. Young, intermediate. 



Hab. — South Atlantic and Gulf States to the Pecos river, Texas. South into Mexico. 



Tail very slightly emarginate and rounded ; second, third, and fourth quills equal ; first 

 rather shorter than the fifth. 



The female is readily distinguishable from that of O. cijanea by the green instead of dull 

 brown of the back, and the yellow of the under parts. 



Specimens from southern Texas are smaller than those of Georgia. 



