454 



SYS TEMA TIC S YNOPSIS. — PA SSERES — OSCINES. 



see Palmer, Nidologist, iii, May, 189G, p. 102, and Eidgw. Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 95. P. sinu- 

 ata, A. 0. U. Siippl. List, Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 130, No. 594 (not 594 a). 



P. s. penin'sulae. (Lat. of a peninsula, to wit, that of Lower California.) Peninsula 

 Cardinal. St. Lucas Pvrrhuloxia. Said to be colored like the last, but smaller, with 



larger bill: wing of ^ 3.30-3.60; tail 3.80- 

 4.15 ; depth of bill 0.52-0.55. Lower Cali- 

 fornia. References as above ; A. 0. U. No. 

 594 b. Both of these forms are included under 

 P. sinuata in earlier eds. of the Key. 

 P. s. texa'na. (Lat. Texan.) Common 

 Bullfinch Cardinal. Texas Pvrrhu- 

 loxia. Conspicuously crested, and otherwise 

 like the common Cardinal in form, but bill ex- 

 tremely short and crooked. J' : Ashy brown, 

 paler or whitish below ; crest, face, throat, 

 breast, middle line of belly, wings, and tail, 

 more or less perfectly crimson or carmine red ; 

 bill whitish. Length 8.00-8.50 ; extent 11.00- 

 12.00; wing 3.50-4.00; tail 3.7.5-4.25. 9 

 similar to ^ , more so than 9 Cardinalis : red 

 of crest, wings, and tail much the same; 

 rather brownish -yellow below, usually with 



w 



Fig. 3U9. — Ai 



Pyrrhuloxia. 



traces of red on breast and belly, sometimes witliout. Young ^ like 9 • At an early age, 

 both sexes have the bill obscured. In this species the crest is long, but thin, consisting of a 

 few coronal feathers, without general elongation of head-plumage. The shade of red is very 

 variable in equally adult males. In highest feather it is continuous on under parts from bill to 

 tail along median line ; but it is often broken into patches on throat, belly, and crissura. The 

 tint is always carmine, not vermilion as usual in the common Cardinal. The intense rose- 

 color is well displayed on spreading the wings. A singular bird, inhabiting Texas near the 

 Mexican border ; abundant in the valley of the Lower Eio Grande, sometimes extending thence 

 into Louisiana; S. through much of E. Mexico. The habits, nest, and eggs are substantially 

 the same as those of the common Cardinal : eggs rather smaller, averaging 0.95 X 0.75. (P. 

 sinuata of former eds. of Key ; A. 0. U. Lists, 1886-95, 

 No. 594 ; P. s. texana Eidgw. Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 95 ; 

 A. 0. U. Suppl. List, Auk, Jan. 1897, p. 129, No. 

 594 a.) 



CARDINA'LIS. (Lat. cardinalis, pertaining to cordo, 

 a door-hinge; cardinal, that upon which something 

 hinges or depends ; hence important, principal, cardi- 

 nal point ; cardinal, a chief ecclesiastical official, wear- 

 ing the red hat ; hence cardinal-red, from which color 

 the bird is named. Fig. 310.) Cardinal Gros- 

 beaks. Bill very large and stout, but quite conic ; 

 culmen a little convex ; gonys about straight ; com- 

 missure sinuate, not abruptly angulated ; lower man- 

 dible about as deep as upper; rictus bristled. Wings 

 very short and rounded; usually 4th and 5th quills 

 longest, others rapidly graduated both ways — 5th to 1st, 5th to 9th. Tail longer than wings, 

 rounded, of broad feathers with obliquely oval tips. Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw ; 

 lateral toes subef[ual. Size large. Head crested. Color mostly red, including bill. Sexes 



Fio. 310. — Head of Cardinal Grosbeak, 

 nat. size. (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) 



