426 SrSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — PA SSERES — OSCINES. 



Adult ^ 9 : Crown chestnut, iu perfect condition bright and continuous, blackening on fore- 

 head, where divided by a short whitish line (whole cap thus as in Spizella socialis or Melospiza 

 georgiana) ; crown, however, oftener streaked with olive-ash, especially along a median divid- 

 ing line, thus assimilating more nearly with colors of other upper parts. An obscure olive- 

 ashy superciliary line, wliiteuing over lores. Back streaked with olive-ash and chestnut-brown, 

 latter sometimes distinct, as bold streaking with ashy edging of the feathers, sometimes spread- 

 ing almost to extinction of the ashy ; brown also varying in shade from a purplish-bay to 

 light rusty-brown, apparently according to wear and tear of plumage. Wings and tail dusky, 

 with varying amount of reddish-browu edgings of the feathers. Under parts dull whitish, 

 strongly shaded with olive-gray or olive-brown, paler on belly, quite whitish on throat, which 

 latter is bounded by strong black maxillary stripes. Size of P. cassini, or rather less ; length 

 6.00 or less ; wing 2.20-2.40 ; tail 2.60 ; tarsus 0.77 ; bill 0.48, its depth at base 0.22. Young : 

 Crown like back ; under parts streaked with dusky, especially the breast. California coast 

 region, from about lat. 40° to Cape St. Lucas ; a strongly marked bird, which cannot be mis- 

 taken. The eggs are not pure white as in all the foregoing species of the genus, but of a pale 

 bluish or greenish-white ground color, unmarked, somewhat like those of the Indigo Bird or 

 Bluebird; size about 0.77 X 0.58. Peuccea mficeps of all former eds. of Key, ^'Aimophila" 

 ruficeps A. 0. U. Suppl. List, Auk, Jan. 1899, p. 120. 



H. r. soro'ria. (Lat. sororia, sisterly, like a sister.) Laguna Sparrow. Said to be like 

 ruficeps proper, with chestnut of pileum somewhat lighter, supraloral line whiter, and supra- 

 auricular line grayer; to be smaller than scotti, with back less ashy, chestnut strtaks darker 

 and narrower, and under parts more buffy ; and to differ from all our other forms in thicker and 

 relatively shorter bill. Wing 2.20-2.50; tail 2.40-2.58; culmenO.45; depth of bill at base 

 0.26 ; tarsus 0.80. Mountains of Lower California. Included under Peuccea rnficeps in all 

 former eds. of Key. Ridgw. Auk, July, 1898, p. 226 ; A. 0. U. Suppl. List, Auk, Jan. 1899, 

 p. 120. 



H. r. scot'ti. (To W. E. D. Scott.) Scott's Sparrow. Larger than ruficeps proper ; 

 length over 6.00, sometimes 6.50; wing 2.50-2.75 ; tail 2.75-.3.00; tarsus 0.80; bill 0.55, its 

 depth at base 0.27. Coloration duller and paler than iu rtficeps ; crown less intensely rufous ; 

 upper parts more uniformly brownish, lacking the black shaft-streaks of eremceca. S. Arizona 

 and S. New Mexico, S. in Mexico to Puebla. Nest said to be built on ground, and eggs to be 

 3-4, 0.83 X 0.60, plain white (if this be true, it is a good character, as eggs of ruficeps are 

 tinted). Peuccea ruficeps houcardi, in part, of 2d-4th eds. of Key; my former description, 

 giving black shaft-streaks, etc., being based upon specimens of eremoeca, with Arizona habitat 

 assigned. P. ruficeps houcardi of A. 0. U. Lists, 1886-95, No. 580 a, but not the true hou- 

 cardi ScL. P. r. scottii Sennett, Auk, Jan. 1888, p. 42 ; '■'■ Aimophila " r. scottii A. 0. U. 

 Suppl. List, Auk, Jan. 1899, p. 120, No. 580 a. Peuccea homochlamys Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. 

 Mus. xii, 1888, p. 713, is this bird, and the name probably has priority, as the Introduction is 

 dated Dec. 10, 1887, and the Preface Jan. 6, 1888. 



H. r. eremoe'ca. (Gr. epr/^os, eremas, a desert ; olicia,, oikeo, I inhabit.) Desert SUiMMER 

 Finch. Rock Sparrow. Like scotti (homochlamgs), and quite as large ; length 6.25 ; ex- 

 tent 8.60 ; wing 2.60-2.75 ; tail 2.7.5-3.00 ; tarsus 0.80 ; bill 0.50. General aspect dull gray ; 

 back grayish-ash, the feathers there with brownish centres and black shaft-lines — a good 

 color mark in comparison with scotti. Caj) mixed rufous and gray, with black frontlet divided 

 by a wOiite median line, as in other members of the rificeps group; ear-coverts conspicuously 

 ashy. Below dear gray, whitening on abdomen, tinged witli fulvous on flanks and vent ; 

 maxillary stripes indistinct. Southern and middle Texas ; S. in Mexico to Orizaba. Peuccea 

 ruficeps houcardi, in part, of 2d-4th eds. of Key ; for in describing what I thought was hou- 

 cardi I actually had eremoeca in view, and so could see no difference from the latter! This bird 

 is also P. r. houcardi of Sennett, Auk, Jan. 1888, p. 42, and P. houcardi of Sharpe, Cat. B. 



