RIDGWAY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 25 



The following measurments are taken from five specimens of 

 each : 



Chondestes grammacus 

 5 Chicago, H. K. Coale, 

 $ St. Clair Co., 111., H. K. Coale, . 



Independence, Mo., J. G. Cooper, 

 5 Columbus, O,, H. W. Henshaw, . 

 5 Sioux City, Iowa, J. Feilusen, . 



Average, ..... 



Chondestes gratnmaczis sirigatus 

 ^ LaPaz, Cala., L. Belding, . 

 5 Tucson, Ariz., E. W. Nelson, 

 ^ Corpus Christi, Tex., G. F. Morcom, 

 ^ Marysville, Cala., C. H. Townsend, 

 Clear Creek, Col., H. K. Coale, 



Average, 3.52 3.17 .75 .52 



The above measurments, which are given in inches and hun- 

 dredths, show the wing of the western birds to be twenty one- 

 hundredths of an inch longer than that of the eastern, and that the 

 tail is twenty-five one-hundredths of an inch longer. The bills of 

 the western birds are also a trifle longer than those of the eastern, 

 while I have been unable to detect any difference in the length of 

 the tarsi. 



In grammacus the top of the head, back and middle tail feath- 

 ers are very dark. The back is thickly mottled with black. 



Strigatus is washed above with light brown, with narrow 

 blackish-brown streaks. The markings on the head also differ. An 

 Illinois 5 shows a black stripe .37 of an inc'h long back of the eye, 

 which is wanting in ^ from Arizona and California, and is nearly 

 constant in the others. Young birds from Illinois and Utah show 

 the same variation. 



The genus is much more common West than East of the Mis- 

 souri River. This may be partially accounted for by the fact that 

 in Missouri and Southern Illinois, as well as some other localities, 

 the farmers put paris-green on the plants to kill the potato-bugs, 

 which, in this part of the country at least, form a large item of their 

 food. In this way a large number of the birds are annually 

 destroyed. 



