CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 61 



306. Pipilo fuscus mesoleucus (Bd.) Ridg. b 397. c 206. 11 240. 



Brovpn Towhee Bunting ; Caiion Bunting. 



307. Pipilo fuscus albigula (Bd.) Coues. b — . c 206a. r 240a. 



White-throated To^vhee Bunting. 



308. Pipilo fuscus crissalis (Vig.) Coues. B 396. c 2066. R 2406. 



Crissal Towhee Bunting. 



309. Pipilo aberti Bd. b 395. c 207. r 241. 



Abert's Towhee Bunting. 



310. Pipilo chlorurus (Towns.) Bd. B 398. c 208. R 239. 



Green-tailed Tow^hee Bunting. 



311. Embernagra rufovirgata Lawr. b 373. c 209. R 236. 



Green Finch. 



'312. Dolichonyx oryzivorus (L.) Sw. b 399. c 210. r 257. 



Bobolink ; Reed-bird ; Rice-bird. 



306. P. fus'-cus mes-6-leu'-cus. Lat. _/5«c«s, fuscous, dark, dusky, like yurw/s; both allied to 



Gr. 6pcp6s, of same meaning, from opcpvri, night or darkness ? — Gr. fieaos, middle, \evK6s, 

 white ; in allusion to the color of the middle under parts. This word is derived from 

 \fvffcra) or yKavcfffw, I shine ; this from ayKaia, splendor, the name of one of the Muses. 



This is given as P. fuscus in the orig. ed. ; but the bird of Arizona is said to be dis- 

 tinguishable from the Mexican stock species. 



307. P. f. al-bl'-gi5-la. [Not albif/ew'ler.] Lat. alhus, white; (fula, throat. Tliis is one of num- 



berless cases where the termination of the word is in question. Albigula may be taken 

 as a feminine noun, and left in this form, whatever the gender of the word with wliich 

 it is associated ; or it may be considered an adjective in -us, -a, -urn, and made masculine 

 to agree with P. fuscus. There is ample authority and precedent for the latter course, 

 which our taste disinclines us to take. English affords a parallel latitude of construc- 

 tion, as when we say indifferently "yellow-rump warbler" or "yellow-rumped warbler," 

 "Carolina chickadee" or "Carolinian chickadee." A better form than eitlicr ulbii/ulus 

 or albigula would be alblgularis. 

 303. P. f. cris-sa'-lis. Late Lat. crissalis, pertaining to the crissum, or under-tail coverts, which 

 in this bird are highly colored. There are no such classic words, they having been in- 

 vented by Illiger in 1811 ; but there is a verb crisso, expressing a certain action of the parts. 



309. P. a'-b6rt-I. To Lieutenant J. W. Abert, of the U. S. Army, who discovered it. 



310. P. chlo-rij'-rus. Gr. x^t^pi^s, green, from x^<^«. green grass ; oSpo, tail. 



311. Em-ber-na'-gra ru-fo-vir-ga'-ta. Embernagra is a villanous word, concocted by Lesson 



out of Emberiza and Tanagra. Emberiza, a bunting, is a word tlie derivation of which 

 is not classic. It is said, doubtless correctly, to be Latinized from tlie 0. H. G. Embritz ; 

 "Charleton (1068) has Embri/za" (Wharton's MS.) ; and we may add that there were 

 various other forms of the word before it settled into the present one. — Tliere are Latin 

 words Tanager and Tanagra : but these are geographical proper names, having nothing 

 to do with the present case. Tangara or Tanagra is a South American vernacular 

 word. —Lat. rufus, rufous, reddish, and virgatus, literally, made of twigs; from virga, a 

 rod, switch, the application being the stripes with wliich the bird is marked. Commonly 

 written rnfivirgata : see Lopliophanes, No. 42. 



312. D61-ich'-6-nyx fi-ry-zI'-vS-rus. Gr. ^o\ix6s, long, and oi/u|, a nail, claw, talon. The gender 



is in question ; but tlie Greek uwi,, Lat. onyx, is masculine, though Latin words in -yx are 

 usually feminine. The usual pronunciation is doUcho'ni/x : but see Pipilo, No. 305. Gr. 

 Spv^a, or Lat. oryza, rice, and vara, I devour. 



