10. siuKtrs. 345 



Nelson, Cruise U.S. ' Corivin,'' p. 64 (1883) ; Cones, Key N. Amer. 

 B. 2nd ed. p. 309 (1884). 



Adult male. General colour above uniform dark olive-brown, 

 the wing-coverts like the back ; bastard-wing, primary-coverts, 

 and quills uniform dark brown, the latter edged with dark olive- 

 brown, rather more ashy on the primaries, especiall}- the first 

 one ; tail-feathers dark brown, slightly washed with olive-brown 

 on the outer webs ; crown of head like the back, some of the 

 coronal feathers having yellowish-buff bases, forming a concealed 

 patch, the frontal plumes slightly mottled with blackish bases ; a 

 streak of buffy whitish from the base of the nostrils above the eye, 

 purer white above the ear-coverts, where it forms a distinct eye- 

 brow ; ear-coverts dull olive-brown, with a blackish streak along 

 the upper part ; lores also blackish, forming a continuous streak 

 through the eye ; feathers below the eye dull white, mottled with 

 dusky tips to the feathers ; cheeks yellowish white, separated from 

 the throat by a line of dusky blackish, forming a distinct moustache; 

 throat whitish, with tiny spots of black ; remainder of under surface 

 of body dull yellowish, clearer on the abdomen and under tail- 

 coverts, which are unspotted, the latter having concealed dusky 

 bases ; the throat, breast, and sides of body thickly spotted with 

 black, the spots smaller and triangular on the fore neck and 

 breast, longer on the sides of the body, which is also washed with 

 olive-brown ; thighs dusky brown ; asillaries and under wing- 

 coverts brown, those along the margin of the wing being edged 

 with white ; quills dusky below, browner along the edge of the 

 inner web : " bill dark brown, flesh-coloured on the lower mandible, 

 the tip of which is brownish ; feet and claws flesh-coloured ; iris 

 deep brown " {Audubon). Total length 5'2 inches, culmen 0-55, 

 wing 2-95, tail 2-05, tarsus 0-85. 



Adidt female. Only differs from the adult male in being less fully 

 and distinctly streaked on the under surface. Total length 4'9 

 inches, culmen 0-55, wing 2-8, tail 2-05, tarsus 0-85. 



In winter the only change perceptible in the plumage is the 

 greater amount of yellow on the under surface. This no doubt 

 gets extinguished gradually during the breeding-season, and the 

 spots on the throat, always very small, become abraded and are 

 sometimes absent. 



Young. Sooty blackish, each feather of the upper parts with a 

 terminal bar of ochrcous ; the Aving-coverts tipped -nith the same, 

 forming two bars ; the streaks below as in the adult, but broader 

 and not so sharply defined. {Rid fj way.) 



" Tlie sexes do not differ appreciably. The shade of the upper parts 

 varies from a decidedly olivaceous brown to a purer, darker bistre 

 brown, and that of the underparts from sulphur-yellow to nearly 

 white, but it is never of the buffy white of S. motaciUa. The 

 streaking varies in amount and intensity, but always has the sharp 

 distinct character of the species in comparison with S. motacdla, and 

 is rarely, if ever, absent from the throat. I have never seen a bill 

 over half an inch long, and this member lacks the peculiar shape, 

 as well as size, characteristic of »S'. motacilla." {Coues.) 



