450 SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — FASSERES — OSCINES. 



Illinois, Nebraska, etc., in the interior. Nest in bushes, vines, or other shrubbery, sometimes 

 a low tree, of grasses and rootlets; eggs 3-4, averaging 0.90 X 0.65, palest bluish, normally 

 unspotted : quite like those of the Indigo-bird, but larger. 



G. c. eurhyn'cha. (Gr. ev, well, as intensive prefi.\ ; pvyxos, hnigchos, beak.) Western- 

 Blue Grosbeak. Larger; length 7.00 or more; wing nearly 4.00; tail 3.00 or more; bill 

 notably larger. ^ paler blue, with broader wing-bars, that on the greater coverts paler than 

 the other. 9 f^'^'^l yon^g S grayish-brown. Western U. S., from Neb., Col., Utah, and Sac- 

 ramento Valley, Cal. in summer to Mexico ; winters to Costa Rica. I first described this form 

 in Am. Nat., 1874, p. 563, from Mexican examples; it was not taken up in the Key till 1890, 

 p. 900, through deference to the A. 0. U. Committee, who first recognized it after Ridgw. 

 Man. 1887, p. 446 ; A. O. U. List, 2d ed. 1895, No. 597 a. It was next supposed to be a 

 synonym oi Pitylus lazula Less. Rev. Zool. v, 1842, p. 174, and so given as Guiraca cccrulea 

 lazula in A. 0. U. Suppl. List, Auk, Jan. 1899, p. 121 ; but that remains to be proven. 

 CYANOSPI'ZA. (Gr. Kvavos, kuanos, blue; cririCa, spiza, a finch.) Painted Finches. 

 Bill relatively smaller and weaker than in Guiraca, with less conspicuous angulation; cul- 

 men regularly a little convex, gonys nearly straight. Outer 4 primaries longest; 1st usu- 

 ally between 4th and 5th, latter much shorter. Tail little shorter than wing, about even or 

 emarginate. Feet moderate; tarsus about equal to middle tt>e and claw; lateral toes about 

 equal to each other, their claws falling short of base of middle claw. Embracing several 

 elegant Finches of small size: ^ of very showy hues, especially blue, but also red, purple, 

 yellow, and green, usually in masses ; 9 of simple and tasteful greenish or brownish shades. 

 Nest in bushes and lovv' trees, sometimes close to the ground ; eggs oftenest whole-colored, 

 very pale, sometimes spotted. The name of this genus has been changed back from Pas- 

 serina to Cyanospiza Baird, 1858, as in 1st ed. of Key, 1872, in A. 0. U. Suppl. List, Auk, 

 Jan. 1899, p. 121. (Passerina of 2d-4th eds. of Key ; A. 0. U. Lists, 1st and 2d eds. 1886and 

 1895.) 



Analysis of Spfcies. 



(f rich blue, intense red and golden-green ; 2 greenish and yellow. Southern cirif 



(f purplish-blue, dusky and reddish. 9 brown. Southwestern versicolor and v. pulchra 



{f lazuli-blue and white, the breast brown ; $ brown and whitish. Western amnena 



tf indigo-blue ; $ brown. Eastern cyanea 



C. ci'ris. (Gr. Kflpij, keiris, name of a bird into which Scylla, daughter of Nisus, was trans- 

 formed.) Painted Finch. Painted Bunting. Nonpareil. Pope. Adult J: Crown 

 and hind neck and sides of head and neck rich blue ; back and scapulars beautiful golden-green ; 

 eyelids and entire under parts intense vermilion-red ; rump duller red ; wings dusky, glossed 

 with green and reddish ; tail dusky reddish or purplish-brown. Bill dark horn-color ; feet dark 

 brown. Size of a/wcena; wing 2.70; tail 2.50, a little emarginate. 9= Above, plain yellow- 

 ish-green, or light olive, nearly uniform, this color glossing the dusky wings and tail ; below, 

 yellowish ; bill brownish, pale below : thus quite different from the brown 9 9 of all the fol- 

 lowing species. Young ^ at first like 9 > though rather duller, with some buff"y and grayish- 

 brown shades ; acquiring the red and blue with every possible gradation between the colors of 

 the two sexes. In confinement the ^ is liable to lose its brilliant colors, the scarlet turning to 

 orange, etc. South Atlantic and Gulf States, abundant ; up the coast to Carolina, and in the 

 interior to Illinois and Kansas; winters in Mexico, C. Am., Cuba, etc.; accidental in Mass. 

 An exquisite little creature of matchless hues, well named the " incomparable" ; a fair song- 

 ster, and a favorite cage-bird in Louisiana. Nest in bushes, hedges, and low trees ; eggs 0.7.5 

 X 0.55, pearly white, speckled with reddish and purplish browns, chiefly about the larger end. 

 C. versi'color. (Lat. versicolor, various in color; verto, I turn, color, color.) Purple 

 Painted Finch. Varied Bunting. Western Nonpareil. Prusiano. Adult ^ : 

 Hind head, throat, and fore breast brownish-red or claret-color, the former sometimes scarlet: 



