FRINGILLID/E: FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS. 



445 



p. i. megarhyn'clia. (Gr. fieyas, megas, great ; pvyxos, hrugchos, in Lat. rhynchus, beak.) 

 Thick-billed Fox Sparrow. Coluratiou as in schistacea. Tail at niaximum length, aver- 

 aging at the extreme of that of schistacea : claws and beak highly developed ; bill very thick, 

 its depth at base 0.40, rather more than its length from nostril to tip; culmen 0.45 ; hind claw 

 hmgcr than its digit. A local race, in mountains of California and Nevada. 

 P. i. ste'phensi. (To F. Stephens.) Stephens' Fox Sparrow. Like the last; rather 

 larger; the bill still larger, its average about at the maximum of that of megarhynclm , its 

 maximum 0.5.5 aU)ng culmen, 0.50 deep at base. This is simply the extreme diiferentiation 

 of the foregoing, in the San Jacinto and San Bernardino Mts. of California. P. i. megarhyncha, 

 in part, of previous eds. of the Key; of Ridgw. Man. 1887, p. 434; and of the A. 0. U. Lists, 

 188G-95, No. 585 6. P. i. stephensi Anthony, Auk, Oct. 1895, p. 348; admitted to full 

 communion with other holy subspecies by the A. 0. U. Committee on Nov. 13, 1896, at the 

 Union's Congress at Cambridge, Mass. A. 0. U. List, Eighth Suppl. Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 122, 

 No. 585 d. 



CALAMOSPI'ZA. (Gr. KuXafioi, kalamos, Lat. calamus, a reed; (nri(a, spiza, a finch.) 

 Lark Buntings. Bill large and stout at base, culmen a little curved, conmiissure well au- 

 gulated ; rictus bristly. Wing long and pointed; tip formed by lst-4th quills, rest rapidly 

 graduated ; inner secondaries enlarged and flowing, one of them about reaching point of wing 

 when closed. Tail shorter than wing, nearly even. Feet stout, adapted to terrestrial habits ; 

 middle toe and claw about as long as tarsus ; lateral toes nearly equal to each other, scarcely 

 reaching base of middle claw; hind claw about as long as its digit, but not straightened. A 

 well-marked genus, with wing-structure reminding one of Antlnis or Alauda ; the turgid 

 strongly-angulated bill resembles that of a Grosbeak. Sexes very dissimilar; ^ black and 

 white, in masses of color. 9 brown and white, streaky. Nest on the ground ; eggs w^hole- 

 colored, as in Spiza, etc. There is a curious analogy if not affinity of this genus to some of 

 tlie Icteridte. 



C nielaiio'corys. (Gr. fiiKas, gen. neXauos, melas, melanos, black, and Kopvs, Jcorus, a lark. 

 Fig. 301.) Lark Bunting. White- winged Blackbird. ^, in summer. Black, witli a 

 large white patch on wings, 

 formed by the median and 

 greater coverts; quills and 

 tail-feathers frequently 

 marked with white ; bill 

 dark horn-blue above, paler 

 below ; feet brown. Length 

 6.00-7.00; extent 10.00- 

 11.00; wing 3.25-3.50 ; tail 

 2.50-2.75; bill 0.50-0.55; 

 tarsus, or middle toe and 

 claw, 0.90-1 .00. Sexes un- 

 like : 9 niore resembling a 

 Spain pw. Above, grayish- 

 brown, streaked with dusky- 

 brown, on the back the edges 



of the dark streaks often <.f ~ ' — ^'"'^'^^^g^^k^^^-^ ^ 



a purer brown than tlie gen- *^^ 



oral ground-C<d()r. Below, Fio. 301. -Lark Buntinp, cf 9- reduced. (Sheppard del. Nichols sc.) 



white, shaded on sides with grayish-brown, thickly streaked with blackish-brown everywhere 

 excepting tliroat and belly, the streaks mostly sharp and distinct, but blended on sides, tending 

 to aggregate on breast. 



id run forward as a maxillary chain. A poorly-defined light sujier- 



