258 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES— OSCINES. 



Eastern U. S. and Canada, abundant and familiar, almost domestic; W. often to the Rocky 

 Mts. Migratory, but breeds throughout its range; winters in the Southern States and beyond, 

 whence it comes as one of the early harbingers of spring, or during mild winter weather, 

 bringing its bit of blue sky with cheery, voluble song. Nest in natural or artificial hollows 

 of trees, posts, or bird-boxes, loosely constructed of the most miscellaneous materials; eggs 

 4-6, pale bluish, occasionally whitish, unmarked, 0.80 XO.60; two or three broods in one 

 season. 



28. S. mexica'na. (Lat. m&CTcawcr, of Mexico.) Western Blue-bird. Mexican Blue-bird. 

 (?, adult: Rich azure-blue, including the head and neck all around. A patch of purplish- 

 chestnixt on the middle of the back ; breast and sides rich chestnut ; belly and vent dull blue 

 or bluish-gray. Bill and feet black. Size of the last species. 9 , and ycmg : Changes 

 of plumage coincident with those of the Eastern blue-bird. Immature birds may usually be 

 recognized by some difference in color between the middle of the back and the other upper 

 parts, and between the color of the throat and of the breast ; but birds in the streaky stage 

 could not be determined if the locality were unknown. In some adult males, the dorsal patch 

 is restricted, or broken into two scapular patches with continuous blue between ; the chestnut 

 of the breast sometimes divides, permitting connection of the blue of the throat and belly. 

 Specimens with little trace of the dorsal patch are scarcely distinguished from those of S. sialis 

 in which there is much blue on the throat, — the grayish-blue of the belly, instead of white, 

 being a principal character. U. S. and Mexico, from Eastern foot-hUls of the Rocky Mts. 

 to the Pacific ; N. to Vancouver; E. occasionally to the Mississippi. Abundant in the West ; 

 habits, nest, and eggs identical with those of S. sialis. 



29. S. arc'tica. (Lat. arctica, arctic; arctos, a bear; i. e., near the constellation so-named.) 

 Arctic Blue-bird. Rocky Mountain Blue-bird. ^, in perfect plumage: Above 

 azure-blue, lighter than in the two foregoing, and with a faint greenish hue ; below, paler and 

 more decidedly greenish-blue, fading insensibly into white on the belly and under taU-coverts. 

 Ends of wing-quills dusky; bUl and feet black. Larger; length 7-00 or more; extent 13.00 

 or more ; wdng 4. .50; tail 3.00. 9 '• Nearly uniform rufous-gray, lighter and more decidedly 

 rufous below, brightening into blue on rump, tail, and wings, fading into white on belly and 

 crissum ; a whitish eye-ring. Young : Changes parallel with those of the other species. 

 Birds in the streaky stage may be known by superior size, and greenish shade on the wings 

 and tail. N. America from the Rocky Mts. to the Pacific, chiefly in high open regions, abun- 

 dant ; resident southerly, migratory further North. Habits those of the others ; nesting the 

 same, but eggs larger, about 0.92 x 0.70. 



8. CYANE'CULA. ( A diminutive form of Gr. Kvaveos, Lat. cyaneus, blue ; as we should say, 

 "bluet.") Blue-throats. Bill much shorter than head, slender, compressed throughout, 

 acute at tip, with obsolete notch (quite as in Saxicola, but more compressed and slenderer). 

 Feet, as in Saxicola, long and slender ; tarsus much longer than the middle toe and claw ; 

 lateral toes of unequal lengths, the outer longer, but the tip of its claw stiU falling short of 

 the base of the middle claw ; claws little curved, the hinder fully as long as its digit. Wings 

 long and pointed (less so than in Saxicola), the point formed by the 3d, 4th, and 5th quills ; 

 2d about equal to the 6th ; 1st spurious, about one-third as long as the longest. Tail of mod- 

 erate length, slightly rounded. Tail particolored with chestnut ; throat and breast with azure- 

 blue and chestnut. The species were formerly included in Ruticilla, an Old World genus very 

 closely related to Saxicola; they form the connecting link between Saxicolince proper and 

 SylviincB, placed by some authors in one, by others in the other group. The relationships with 

 Saxicola are certainly very close. 

 31. c. sue'cica. (Lat. smcica, Swedish.) Blue-throated Redstart. Red-spotted Blue- 

 throat. Entire upper parts dark brown with a shade of olive (about the color of a tit- 

 lark, Anthus ludovicianus), the feathers of the crown with darker centres; rump and upper 



