648 



FRING1LLID.E. 



edged with ashy, decidedly clearer and more grey on the margins 

 of the primaries ; upper tail-coverts ashy black ; tail-feathers blackish, 

 edged with ashy, the two outer feathers white, the third one with 

 a wedge-shaped mark of white on the inner web, with the basal part 

 of the outer web also white ; crown of head and hind neck rather 

 blacker than the rest of the back ; lores, sides of face, ear-coverts, 

 cheeks, throat, sides of neck, and fore neck ashy blackish ; remainder 

 of under surface from the chest downwards white ; sides of body, 

 flanks, and thighs ashy blackish ; under tail-coverts white ; under 

 wing-coverts blackish, the long ones tipped with white, forming a 

 wing-bar ; axillaries blackish ; quills below blackish, ashy along the 

 inner edge : " bill white, tinged with red, dark-coloured at tip ; feet 

 and legs flesh-coloured ; iris blackish brown " (Audubon). Total 

 length 6 inches, culmen 0-45, wing 3-15, tail 2*5, tarsus 08. 



Adult female in breeding-plumage. Lighter ashy than the male, 

 tending to ashy blackish on the head and hind neck : the penulti- 

 mate tail-feather with a small brown edging to the end of the outer 

 web, and the white on the third feather reduced to an irregular 

 mark on the inner web. Total length 6 inches, culmen 0*45, 

 wing 3*1, tail 2-35, tarsus 0*75. 



Adult male in winter plumage. More ashy than in summer, and 

 overshaded with brown ; wing-coverts edged at the ends with pale 

 ashy ; secondaries also washed with brown or ashy brown exter- 

 nally ; the white on the outer tail-feathers as in the old female, but 

 a little more developed on the third feather ; axillaries white, with 

 blackish bases : wing-coverts white, excepting a blackish patch near 

 the outer edge of the wing. 



The darkening of the axillaries and under wing-coverts of the 

 male in summer is a curious phenomenon in this species, the white 

 tips either being much reduced in extent or disappearing altogether. 



The adult female in winter plumage is altogether browner than in 

 the summer plumage, the grey colouring being entirely obscured by 

 rusty brown, which is very pronounced on the inner secondaries ; 

 there is also a slight yellowish tinge on the white abdomen. 



Young before the first moult. Entirely streaked or spotted like 

 most very young Sparrows. Upper parts streaked with blackish and 

 rusty brown, the secondaries and wing-coverts conspicuously edged 

 with the latter. Upper parts streaked or speckled with dusky and 

 ochry brown on all the fore part and sides ; the belly and crissum 

 soiled whitish ; bill dusky, paler below. (E. Coues.) 



The young after the first moult resemble the winter plumage of 

 the adult female. 



Hab. North America at large, but chiefly east of the Bocky Moun- 

 tains, breeding from the higher parts of the Alleghanies and northern 

 New York and northern New England northwards. South in 

 winter to the Gulf States. (A. 0. U. Checlc-list, I. c.) 



a. Ad. st. N. America. Purchased. 



h. [ 2 ] ad. sk. N. America. Sclater Coll. 



c, d. Ad sk. Repulse Bay. Dr. Rae [P.]. 





