27. CHRYSOMITRTS. 



205 



with white bases to the feathers of the lower back and rump ; lesser 

 wing-coverts black ; median and greater coverts blackish, edged 

 with olive-green, the ends of the latter series white ; bastard- wino-, 

 primary-coverts, and quills blackish, edged with olive-green, the 

 inner primaries white at the base and margined with hoary white, 

 the secondaries broadly edged with white, especially the innermost ; 

 upper tail-coverts black, edged with olive-green ; tail-feathers black, 

 edged with whitish, the three outer feathers with a large white 

 patch on the inner web ; crown of head black, forming a cap ; ear- 

 coverts olive-green ; lores and feathers below the eye yellow ; cheeks 

 and under surface of body bright yellow, greenish on the sides of 

 the body and flanks, the latter slightly streaked with dusky ; thighs 

 ashy whitish ; under tail-coverts pale yellow ; under wing-coverts 

 and axillaries white, with dusky bases, the latter edged with yellow ; 

 quills below dusky blackish, white on the inner web and at the base : 

 " bill flesh-coloured, the upper mandible dusky towards the end ; 

 feet and claws reddish brown " (Audubon). Total length 4-2 inches, 

 culmen 0-35, wing 2*65, tail 1-7, tarsus 0-5. 



Adult female. Browner than the male and not so green, the head 

 without any black and resembling the back ; wing-coverts and inner 

 secondaries tipped with dull white, the latter rather broadly mar- 

 gined ; white wing-spot very small, a few of the inner primaries white 

 at the base of the outer web : ear-coverts olive like the head ; cheeks 

 and under surface of body dull yellowish, a little brighter on the 

 throat and abdomen. Total length 4 inches, culmen 0-35, wing 2'5, 

 tail 1*6, tarsus Oo. 



Between C.psaltria, with its olive-green back, and C. mexicana, 

 with its black back, eveiy intermediate form is said to occur, but 

 apparently only in the intermediate habitat of the two species. It 

 seems to me that these intermediate forms must be the result of 

 hybridization ; and I therefore keep the Rocky-Mountain Siskin and 

 the Mexican Siskin distinct. Cf. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway 

 (I. c), and Salvin and Godman (BioJogia Centr.-Amer. I. c). 



Hab. Western United States, from the plains to the Pacific, and from 

 Colorado and Utah southward to Sonora (A. 0. U. Check-list, I. c). 



a. <3 ad. sk. Western North America. Sclater Coll. 



b, c. Imm. sk. California. Purchased. 



d. $ ad. sk. Red Bluff, N. California, U. S. Nat. Museum 



May 15, 1884 (C. H. [P.]. 



Townsend ; Sm. no. 98306). 

 Cohuilla Valley, California, G. Frean Morcom, 



March 4, 1886 (F. Stephens). Esq. [P.]. 

 Havward"s, California, March R. B. Sharpe, Esq. 



27, 1881 (W. O. Emerson). [P.]. 



Pueblo, Cal., July 27, 1874 (C. U. S. Nat. Museum 



E. Aiken ; Sm. no. 69454). [P.]. 



FortTejon, California, Aug. 9, U. S. Nat. Museum 



1875 (H. W. Henshaw; [P.1. 



Sm. do. 72092). 

 Fort Tejon, July 1857 {J. Salvin-Godman Coll. 



Xantus ; Sm. nos. 25640, 



25633.) 



e. $ imm. sk. 

 /. d ad. sk. 

 g. Ad. sk. 

 h. Ad. sk. 



i, k. $ ad. sk. 



