GRAySQUlT. 469 



graihially intergrading with the dusky ulivaceuus of the upper parts, and beneath with the asliy olivaceous of 

 the abdomen and flanks. Wings and tail, brown tinged with the color of the bick but having a decile I 

 rufesccnt tinge on the wings. There is also a rufcs^eut tinge on the breast. Feithers of ablomen slightly 

 tipped with whitish. Unler tail cjverts. ashy, tip;)e 1 with whitish. Ualer wing c )vcrts. dusky olivaceous. 

 Iris, brown. Bill, black, br)wn on hiss of lower mmiible. Feet, dirk brown. A Inlt fem ile : the darkest 

 plumaged female in my collection is precisely similar t j the male in every way, but th3 average a lult femile 

 is similar to the young male described below. 



Young male, with the throat and breast only, black, anl soma of the feathers are elgel with whitish, 

 remaining lower narts being ashy olivaceous, and the top of the head shows hut very little black. Young of 

 the year, in winter, olivaceous green above, of a lighter shade than in the adult; beneath, pale ashy olivaceous, 

 with a decidedly rufous tinging, especially on the abdomen, while there is an occasional dark feather in the 

 throat, and specimens occur in all stages between this plumage and the one described abjve, and from that 

 to the perfectly adult. Young female, plain olivaceous above with a decidedly ashy tinge : beneath, pale 

 greyish slightly rufescenc on fl auks and milky white on abdomen. Tliere is a tinging of olivaceous across 

 breast. The ne.Yt stage to this shows some dark feathers on the throat, then all stages occur between this 

 and the adult. Young of the year, female, similar to the male of the same age. but lacks the black feathers 

 of that and is somewhat morerufescent. Nestlings, of bith se.xes, dusky olivaceeus abjve, becoming rufous 

 posteriorly; beneath, ashy olivaceous, strongly tinged with rufcscent. especially posteriorly, and on under tail 

 coverts. There is less rufescont abn-e in this stage than in the next, but rather more beneath. Wings and 

 tail, similar to the more mature plumages. 



Dimensions. 



Wing, 2:20; tail, 1.7,~i: bill from base, AO, from nostril, ;ij, length, .2.") ; width, Ifi; tarsus, .5.5. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Out of seventy-three specimens c.xainineil, thirty-four had the ;ld and 4th quills the longest, nineteen 

 the od, twelve the 4th, four the 4th anl .jth. two the 2 1, o 1, 4th an I -jth, one the 2 1. ;! 1 an I 4th, and one the 

 r)th. In twenty-four the 1st quill was equal to the 7th, in si.xteen it was shorter than the 7th, and in six 

 longer ; in twenty the 1st was equal to the Sth, in five shorter; in one the 1st was e\wi[ to the tith, and in 

 one shorter. The graduation from this varies from .10 to .2;i. Variition in color appears to depend wdiolly 

 upon age and partly upon se.x, for although fully adult females are as dark as the males, yet by far the 

 greater portion are plain grey, a]iparcntly assuming the black i>lumage much less readily than the males. I 

 think, however, the males in perfectly adult plumage are at least three years old, for they breed in the mixed 

 dress. Known from all other Bahaman birds by the small size and finch-like hill, and from other species of 

 the same genus by the absence of any yellow on the bend of the wing. 



The bird was descriloed by Linueaus in lOth edition of Syst. Nat., 1750, ISo, as Fingella zena, his descrip- 

 tion being based on Catesby's Passer bicolor bahamensis, and in his 1 2th edition Linneaus changed the 

 specific name to bicolor, a name which ought to stand, as being one of tliose conferred upon the bird by its 

 original discoverer. 



NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed on trees or bushes at height varying from one foot to twenty. Spherical in form, with 

 the entrance in one side, composed of dead grass, wood stalks, bits of cotton, leaves, and other debris wdth 

 which are interwoven a few feathers, lined with fine grasses. The form of a large number of nests, and I 

 have seen in all perhaps a hundred, is spherical, but they are often varied from this, a favorite form being 

 elliptical, with the entrance on one end of the long diameter. Nests found in the environs of Nassau 

 contain feathers, not as a lining, but as a building material. One nest found near Nassau is composed 

 almost wholly of skeletonized leaves. Dimensions of spherical nest, 5.1)0, external diameter, 2.00, internal 

 diameter, 2.(X); entrance, .50 in diameter ; elliptical, 5.00 by 4.00 by o.OO; internal, from entrance to back, 

 -'.50 ; entrance, 1.50. Eggs, one, two, or three in number, oval in form, dull white or faintly bluish, spotted 



