370 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES— OSCINES. 



handle them as 1. fasciata and fallax, witli a, heermnnni; 2. samuelis; 3. rufina, with a, 

 guttata. 4. cinerea. 



Analysis of Species and Varieties. 



Breast streaked, and with a transverse belt of brownish-yellow; tail nearly equal to wings . . lincolni 242 



Breast ashy, unbelted, with few streaks, or none ; tail about equal to wings palustris 243 



Breast white, or brownish-white, with numerous streaks ; tail usually longer than the wings, both rounded. 



Thickly streaked above, on sides, and across breast fasciata and its varieties 244-250 



The streaks distinct, decidedly blackish-centred (in breeding plumage). 



Tone of upper parts grayish-brown or reddish-gray. Streaked from head to tail. Dorsal streaks black, 



rufous, and grayish-white. Wing 2.60; tail under 3.00. Eastern N. A fasciata 244 



Tone of upper parts gray. Streaks obsolete on rump. Dorsal streaks narrowly blackish and grayish- 

 white, with little rufous. Tail about 3.00. Southern Rocky Mt. region fallax 245 



Tone of upper parts ashy-gray. Streaks obsolete on rump. Dorsal streaks broadly black, with little 



rufous and scarcely any grayish-white. Size of the first. California heermanni 248 



Tone of upper parts olive-gray. Streaks on rump and upper tail-coverts. Dorsal streaks as in the 



last. Very small. Wing 2.25; tail 2.50. Coast of California sarmielis 249 



The streaks diffuse, not black-centred nor whitish-edged. Bill slender. Pacific, coastwise. 



Tone of upper parts rufous-brown. Streaks above and below dark rufous. Medium-sized; wing 2.60; 



tail under 3.00. Pacific coast, U. S. and British Columbia guttata 246 



Tone of upper parts olive-brown. Streaks sooty. Larger; wing and tail about 3.00. Pacific coast, 



British Columbia and Alaska rufina 247 



Tone of upper parts dark cinereous. Streaking reddish-brown. Largest; wing and tail 3.25 or more 



cinerea 250 



242. M. lin'colni. (To Robert Lincolu. Fig. 232.) Lincoln's Song Sparrow. ^ , 9 : Below, 

 white, with a broad brownish-yeUow belt across breast, the sides of the body and neck, and the 

 crissuin, washed with the same ; extent and intensity of this buff very variable, often leaving 

 only chin, throat, and belly purely -white, but a pectoral band is always evident. All the buflFy 

 parts sharply and thickly streaked with dusky. Above, grayish-brown, with numerous sharp 

 black-centred, brown-edged streaks. Top of head ashy, with a pair of dark brown black- 

 streaked stripes; or, say, top of head brown, streaked with black, and with median and lateral 

 ashy stripes. Below the superciliary ashy stripe is a narrow dark brown one, running from eye 

 over ear ; auriculars also bounded below by an indistinct dark broM-n stripe, below which and 

 behind the auriculars the parts are suffused with buff. Wings with much rufous-brown edging 

 of all the quills ; inner secondaries and coverts hating quite black central fields, with broad bay 

 edging, becoming whitish toward their ends. Tail brown, the feathers vidth pale edges, and 

 the central pair at least with dusky shaft-stripes. Bill blackish, lighter below ; feet brownish. 

 Length 5.50-6.00; extent 7-75-8.25; wing and taU, each, about 2.50, the latter rather shorter. 

 There is little variation in color, except as above said. Fall specimens are usually most buffy. 

 Very young : Before the fall moult, birds of the year are much browner above, with consider- 

 able brownish-yellow streaking besides the black markings ; top of head quite like back, the 

 ashy stripes not being established ; whole under parts brownish -yellow, merely paler on throat 

 and belly, dusky-streaked throughout. North Am. at large ; a pecuUar species, not so weU 

 known as it might be, less numerous in the Atlantic States than in the interior and west ; and 

 keeping very close in shrubbery. Migratory ; winters in the South ; breeds at least from N. Y. 

 and N. England to Arctic regions, and in the West S. at least to Mts. of Colorado. Nesting 

 like that of the song sparrow, and eggs not distinguishable -with certainty. 



243. M. palus'tris. (Lat. palustris, swampy ; palus, a swamp. Fig. 233.) Swamp Song Spar- 

 row. ^ 9 , perfect plumage : Crown bright chestnut, blackening on forehead, the red cap and 

 black vizor as conspicuous as in a chipping sparrow; but oftener, crown with obscure median 

 ashy line, and streaked with black. An ashy-gray superciliary line ; a dark brown postocular 

 stripe, bordering the auriculars ; sides of head ashy, with grayish-brown auriculars, dusky 

 speckling on cheeks and lores, and slight dusky maxillary spots or streaks. An ashy cervical 

 coUar separating the chestnut crown from the back, sometimes pure, oftener interrupted witli 

 blackish streaks. The general ash of the sides of head and neck spreads all over the breast 



