100 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



tious, and blotclied with white near the base; upper tail-coverts and 

 lower i^art of rump white, relieved by rather spai-se irregularly hastate 

 spots or bars of black, the coverts sometimes nearly immaculate. Tail 

 black ; the iuuer webs of the intenncdiw chiefly white, crossed with a 

 greater or less number of broad black bars, or transverse i-pots, the 

 outer webs with a longitudinal stripe of white on the basal half; outer 

 rectrices broadly barred at the ends with dull white, and with spots of 

 the same indenting the outer web ; next pair of feathers tipped with 

 yellowish white. Adnlt 9 : Similar to the c?, but red of the crown re- 

 placed by deep ash-gray, lighter anteriorly; lower parts tinged with 

 red only on tbe abdomen, and cheeks with little if any red tinge. Young 

 9 : Whole pileum dull brownish gray, transversely mottled with darker; 

 nape dull light fulvous-red ; back and scapulars barred with grayish 

 white and grayish dusky, much less sharply than in the adult ; abdo- 

 men tinged with dull buff, but without red. Adult : Total length (fresh 

 specimens), 9-10 J inches; extent, 15y-17.J; wing (skins), 4.85-5.40; tail, 

 3.50-3.90 ; culmen, 1.00-1.20 ; tarsus, .80-.90. Bill (in life), slate-black, 

 the basal portion of gonys sometimes mixed with light ashy; iris vary- 

 ing from ferruginous to bright scarlet ; naked orbital spaces olivaceous- 

 ashy; legs and feet olivaceous. In the young, iris brown. 



Among adult males of this species, the principal variation is in the 

 amount of red tinge on the lower parts. In most examples from tbe 

 Atlantic States and in many from the Mississippi Valley, the reddish is 

 entirely confined to the middle of the abdomen, while on the head there 

 is a mere tinge of it on the lores and cheeks. Many western specimens, 

 however, have the breast more or less strongly tinged with purx)lislj 

 pink, while two now before me (No. 31317, Kansas City, Mo., May 11, 

 18G1, E. Cones, and one, in my own collection, from Mount Carmel, 111. 

 May 28, 1878), have not only the lores and cheeks, but the whole 

 chin and upper throat also, bright salmon-color, or saffron-pink. In 

 these highly- colored specimens the forehead is a bright saffron-red, 

 while the Kansas City specimen above alluded to has the red on the 

 abdomen very intense, approaching a saffron-scarlet. Floridan speci- 

 mens are slightly smaller than northern ones, have the white bars of the 

 dorsal region narrower, but are on the average less richly colored than 

 examples from the Mississippi Valley, only one of five adult males ap- 

 proaching those described above in the depth and extent of the red 

 tinge to the lower parts, throat, etc. The under surface is usually more 

 dingy than in northern examples, while the forehead appears to be 

 lighter red, more abruptly contrasted with the intense crimson scarlet 

 of the crown. Of six adult females from South Florida, two (Xos. 395, 

 colL H. W. Henshaw, Cedar Keys, December 0, 1871, and 1921, Amelia 

 Island, G. Wurdemann), have the occiput slightly mottled with black. 

 Two examples from Southern Illinois, in my own collection (obtained 

 October 15, 1873, and October 7, 1879), agree in this respect, however, 

 with these Florida examples. They likewise have the black bars of the 



