476 



U. S. p. B. E. EXP. AND SURVEYS — ZOOLOGY — GENERAIi REPORT, 



SPIZELL A ATRIGUL ARIS, B a i r d . 



Black-chinned Sparrow. 



Spinites airi^ularis, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. 



Stiulhus atrimenlalis, Couch, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phil. VII, April, 1854, 67. 



Sp. Ch. — Tail elongated, deeply forked and divaricated. General color bluish ash, paler beneath, and turning to white on 

 the middle of the belly. Interscapular region yellowish rusty, streaked with black. Forehead, loral region, and side of head 

 as far as eyes, chin, and upper part of throat black. Quills and tail feathers very dark brown, edged with ashy. Edges of 

 coverts like the back. No white bands on the wings. Bill red. Length, 5.50 ; wing, 2.50 ; tail, 3.00. 



Hab. — Mexico just south of the Rio Grande. 



This species is al/out the size of S. pusilla and socialis, resembling the former most in its still 



longer tail. This is more deeply forked and divaricated with broader feathers than in either. 



The wing is much rounded ; the fourth quill longest ; the first almost the shortest of the 



primaries. . . 



List of specimens. 



MELOSPIZA, Baird. 



Ch. — Body stout. Bill conical, very obsoletely notched, or smooth ; somewhat compressed. Lower mandible not so deep 

 as the upper. Commisure nearly straight. Gonys a little curved. Feet stout, not stretching beyond the tail ; tarsus a little 

 longer than the middle toe ; outer toe a little longer than the inner ; its claw not quite reaching to the base of the middle one. 

 Hind toe appreciably longer than the middle one. Wings quite short and rounded, scarcely reaching beyond the base of the 

 tail ; the tertials considerably longer than the secondaries ; the quills considerably graduated ; the fourth longest ; the first 

 not longer than the tertials, and almost the shortest of the primaries. Tail moderately long, and considerably graduated ; the 

 feathers oval at the tips. Crown and back similar in color and streaked ; beneath thickly streaked. Tail immaculate. 



This genus differs from Zonotriclda in shorter, more graduated tail, rather longer hind toe, 

 much more rounded wingj which is shorter ; the tertiaries longer ; th'C first quill almost the 

 shortest, and not longer than the tertials. The under parts are spotted ; the crown streaked 

 and like the back. 



I have placed in this section, which has the Fringilla melodia as its type, the Fringilla palus- 

 tris of Wilson. This differs in the uniform rufous crown of the male, streaked, however, in the 

 female, and in having only obsolete streaks on the breast. The Fringilla lincolnii is more 

 aberrant ; it is spotted beneath, but the wing and first primary are a little longer. These two 

 might form a separate section, Helospiza, agreeing in the narrower and shorter tail, smaller 

 and more slender bill, more slender toes, &c., with the Fringilla palustris as type. 



Synopsis of species. 



Melospiza, Baird. 



A. Beneath uniform whitish from chin to anus, thickly streaked on the breast and sides. 

 Head streaked. 



Streaks of back and under parts distinctly black in the central portion. Bill stout. 



Prevailing color light reddish gray. Feathers of back edged with gray. Stripes 

 of breast with distinct rufous suffusion externally. Wing 2.68 inches.. meZodta. 



