406 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Genus RHYNCHOPHANES Baiud. (Pago 383, pi. CYIIL, fig. 1.) 



Species. 



Tail-feathers (except middle pair) while, broadly tipped v.'ith black (^uter 

 feathers almost entirely white). Adult male in summer: Middle, and posterior 

 lesser, wing-coverts rufous; crown, rictal stripe, and crescenlic patch on chest 

 iihick ; sides of head grayish; back, etc., graj- or brownish, streaked with duskj' ; 

 lower parts (except chest) white, tinged laterally with grayish. Adult male in ivin- 

 ter : Crown and other upper parts dull brownish buff, streaked with dusky ; black 

 rictal streak obsolete, and black patch on chest hidden bj- light dull buff^' tips to 

 feathers. Adult female : Similar to winter male, but without concealed black on 

 chest or rufous on wing-coverts ; the colors brownish above and dull buffy be- 

 neath in winter, grayer above and whiter beneath in summer. Young : Upper 

 parts dusky, the feathers broadly bordered with pale grayish buff; beneath white, 

 distinctly washed with buff across chest, where sometines indistinctly streaked. 

 Length about 5.12-6.50, wing 3.30-3.80, tail 2.25-2.80. Mst on ground in open 

 places, composed of dried grasses, etc., lined with the same, usually mixed with hair 

 and feathers. Eggs 3-6, .79 X -60, similar to those of Calcarius ornatus, but usually 

 with ground-color more olive. Hab. Great Plains, breeding from western Kansas 

 north to the Saskatchewan, migrating south, in winter, through Texas, New Mex- 

 ico, and Arizona to plateau of Mexico 530. R. mccownii (Lawk.)- 



McCown's Longspur. 



Genus POOCiETES Baird. (Page 384, pi. CVIIL, fig. 2.) 

 Species. 



Adult : Above brownish or brownish gray, everywhere streaked with duskj- ; 

 lesser wing-coverts more or less distinctlj- rusty, sometimes inclining to rufous; 

 outer tail-feathers partly white; lower parts dull white, streaked along sides of 

 throat and across chest with dark grayish brown. Young: Similar to adult, but 

 markings less shai-ply defined. Mst on ground, in open grassy places, comjiosed of 

 dried grasses, etc. Eggs 3-6, pale buffy, pinkish buffy, or dull whitish, stained with 

 rusty brownish and speckled or otherwise marked with a deeper shade of the same, 

 usually mixed witli darker spots or lines. 



«'. Colors lii'owner, with broader streaks ; wing and tail averaging shorter, and bill 

 stouter ; longtli 5.50-6.70, wing 2.95-3.40 (3.17), tail 2.40-2.75 (2.57), exposed 

 cnlmen .38-.45 (.42), depth of bill at base .30-.35 (.32), tarsus .80-.87 (.83). 

 Eggs .81 X -CO. Hab. Eastern United States, north to Nova Scotia and On- 

 tario, west to edge of Great Plains, breeding from Virginia, Kentucky, and 

 Missouri northward 540. P. gramineus (Gmel.). Vesper Sparrow. 



a'. Colors graj-er, with narrower streaks; wing and tail averaging longer, and bill 

 more sfcnder; length about 6.00-6.75, wing 3.00-3.50 (3.27), tail 2.40-2.80 

 (2.65), exposed culmcn .40-.48 (.43), depth of bill at base .25-.28 (.26), tarsus 



