88 U. S P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
along the side of the head to the nape, where those of opposite sides are confluent, (sometimes 
interrupted.) In the male there is a scarlet band on the nape about four-tenths of an inch long, 
formed by tips of this color to the feathers composing the white band. A light stripe starts from 
the commissure under the eye, and passing downwards, inclines and curves round towards the 
back of the neck, where, however, those of opposite sides are separated by an interval half the 
width of the head. A black stripe is encircled between these two white ones, confluent with 
the black of the nape, and another passes back from the lower mandible along the sides of the 
throat and neck, diverging below and confluent with black on the upper part of the back. The 
under parts are smoky brown, with perhaps a lilac tinge. A few feathers on the side of the 
breast anteriorly are streaked with black, as also are the central lines of a few feathers on the 
flanks. There are but few spots visible on the wings, these being only seen on the exposed 
webs of the primary and secondary feathers. The first spurious feather is unspotted; the 
second has one spot at the base of the outer web, not exposed, and two on the inner ; the third 
has three external and three or four internal; the fourth and fifth four external ; the seconda- 
ries have about three external. In all the primaries the terminal half of the inner web is 
unspotted. The three external tail feathers are mostly white, the first entirely so, except at 
the extreme base ; the second black on the basal half; the third with the inner web black, with 
a terminal spot, and the tip whitish. 
In the specimens before me there are apparently two series, one larger, with the white parts 
throughout tinged with smoke brown; the flanks faintly streaked with black; the white spots 
on the wings a little smaller. This is most abundant in Washington and Oregon Territories, 
and is the typical P. harrisit, The other has the white quite pure, the spots on the wing 
larger, the streaks on the feathers less distinct. These are most abundant in southern Cali- 
fornia and in New Mexico. The specimens before me, however, exhibit every gradation 
between the two, and I can find no characters to distinguish the species. The color of the 
white, too, may have something to do with the character of the trees inhabited. 
The smallest specimens I have seen are from Fort Thorn, New Mexico. In some specimens 
the nuchal white and red are more decidedly confluent than in others. 
This species represents the P. villosus in the west, and closely resembles it. It may, however, 
be readily distinguished by the much greater predominance of black above. Thus it is only 
occasionally that a greater wing covert is spotted, instead of having a white spot on every one. 
The tertiaries, too, are uaspotted, and the longest primaries have only four spots externally 
instead of six. There is less white on the third tail feather. Both have the same tendency to 
obsolete streaks on the sides of the belly ; and the markings about the head appear precisely 
the same. 
The young of this species exhibit the same differences from the adult as described under P. 
villosus. The feathers of the crown almost to the base of the bill, apparently in both sexes, are 
tipped with scarlet, with a white spot at the base of the red. In this stage of plumage the bird 
might readily be mistaken for a different species, as has been the case with corresponding stages 
of P. villosus. 
