408 5 YS TEMA TIC S YNOPSIS. — PA SSERES — OSCINES. 



P. r. gutta'tus. (Lat. guttutits, spotted ; gutta, a drop.) St. Lucas Sparrow. Bill 

 shaped as in rostratus, relatively as stout, but smaller ; culuien 0.45; depth at base 0.25. Bird 

 smaller : pattern of coloration the same, but tone darker ; streaking of under parts sharper, 

 heavier, and darker. Instead of the light brownish-gray of rostratus the upper parts are here 

 dark, almost olivaceous, brown, so that the dark streaking of crown and interscapulars is less 

 noticeable. The same difference characterizes the under parts. Cape St. Lucas, and some 

 other portions of L. Cala. Passerculus gtUtatiis Lawr. 1867; COUES, all eds. of the Key, 

 1872-90; Ammodramus (P.) rostratus guttatus Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. viii, 1885, 

 p. 355 ; Man. 1887, p. 410 ; A. 0. U. Lists, 1886 and 1895, No. 544 a. 

 P. sancto'rum. (Lat. genitive plural of sanctus, holy, sacred, saintly ; as noun, a saint. 

 There are so many places named in Lower California for persons of such description, that I 

 concluded to dedicate this Sparrow impartially to the whole calendar of them.) All Saints' 

 Sparrow, luike guttatus : larger; wing 2.75 ; bill 0.50, at base 0.30 deep, thus as large as 

 that of rostratus, but regularly conic, with straiglit culmen suddenly deflected at end, and 

 perfectly straight commissure; upper mandible and tip of lower blackish ; rest apparently yel- 

 lowish. Eggs 0.82 X 0.60, flecked and blotched with umber on bluish white ground, as usual 

 in the genus, laid March and later. San Benito Isl., on the Pacific coast of Lower California, 

 lat. 28° 18' N., long. 115° 35' W. (See Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. v, 1882, pub. March 21, 1883, 

 p. 538.) This species, which has stood in the Key since 1884, p. 364, was ignored by the 

 A. 0. U. until confirmed by better specimens than my types in Mus. S. I. See CouES, Auk, 

 Jan. 1897, p. 92. Ammodramus sanctorum, A. 0. U. List, Eighth Suppl. Auk, Jan. 1897, 

 p. 121, No. .544. 1. 



AMMO'DRAMUS. (Gr. a^fjios, ammos, sand; Spafxelv, dramein, to run.) Grasshopper 

 Sparrows and Seaside Sparrows. (Thus including the two genera Coturniculus and 

 Ammodramus of all previous editions of the Key, the former being now reduced to a subgenus 

 of the latter : see under Passerculus for explanation.) Bill in typical Ammodramus remarkably 

 slender and lengthened for this family, with culmen decurved toward end, gonys straight, and 

 sometimes an evident lobation of cutting edge of upper mandible ; in some species of Coturni- 

 culus, bill much shorter and stouter. Wings short and rounded, so that the inner secondaries 

 reach nearly to its tip when closed, without special elongation on tlieir part. Tail variable 

 with the species, in most of them shorter than wings, in some about equal, in C. lecontei longer 

 than wings ; in form rounded or even graduated, with narrow, pointed feathers, quite stifBsh 

 and sharp in some species, in others weak and lanceolate, in C lecontei extremely attenuate 

 and acuminate — in fact, the tails of these Spairows differ more than is usual among species 

 which are allowed to be of the same genus. Feet large and stout, reaching when outstretched 

 nearly or quite to the end of the tail; tarsus about equal to middle toe and claw; lateral toes 

 equal, short, their claws underroaching base of middle claw. Coturniculus contains three 

 remarkably distinct North American species (besides several extralimital (jnes) of queer little 

 •' grasshopper" Sparrows of grass, weeds, and reeds, with greatly variegated plumage and con- 

 spicuous buffy tints on under parts ; they show a greater range of variation in form than our 

 finical modern genera usually allow, and grade through C. lecontei into the Ammodrami. The 

 latter are the true " seaside " Sparrows, embracing several species of small Sparrows of marshes, 

 especially of the seacoast. but not sit exclusively maritime as was long supposed ; tliey are re- 

 markable for slenderncss of liill, sliarp, narrow tail-feathers, and stout feet fitted for grasping 

 slender, swaying reeds ; they have edge of wing yellow, a yellow spot or buff stripe on head, 

 and upper parts olive-gray or quite blackish, streaky. I have several species and subspecies 

 to add to those given in former editions of the Key; they are best analyzed under separate 

 heads of their respective subgenera. 



