° 
ICTERIDH, AMERICAN STARLINGS. —GEN. 86. 153 
Var. crissAtis. Similar to the first; crown like the back; rather darker above, 
decidedly so below, the middle of the belly scarcely or not whitening, the gular 
fulvous strong and, with its dusky streaks, definitely restricted to the throat; the 
flanks and crissum chestnut or deep cinnamon brown. Upwards of 9 inches long ; 
wing 4; tail 5; 9 rather less. Coast region of California (and northward?), 
abundant. This is the dark coast form, bearing the same relation to fwscus 
(mesoleucus) that the coast Harporhynchus redivivus bears to the paler H. lecontii of 
the interior. Itis the P. fwscus of Cass., Ll. 124, pl. 17; Bpo., 517; Coop., 245, 
but not the true fuscus of Swarnson; and its earliest name appears to be Fringilla 
crissalis Vicors, Zool. Voy. Blossom, 1839, 19. 
Abert’s Towhee. Somewhat similar to the foregoing species of this sec- 
tion; no decided markings anywhere. Dull brown, paler and more fulvous 
below, the face dusky; otherwise nearly uniform. Very large, 9; wing 4 
or less; tail5 or more. New Mexico and Arizona; abundant in the Colorado 
Valley ; Covss, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 90. Bp., 516; Coor., 244. aperrit. 
*** Colors greenish ; sexes alike. 
Green-tailed, or Blanding’s Finch. Above dull olive-green, brighter on 
the wings and tail, crown chestnut, forehead blackish, edge of wing yellow ; 
chin and throat pure white, bounded by dusky maxillary stripes, and con- 
trasting with the dark ash of the breast and sides of head and neck (very 
much as in the white-throated sparrow); this ash fades to white on the 
belly; the flanks and crissum are washed with dull brownish; bill dark 
horn, feet brown; about 74 long; wing 3}; tail rather more. In the young 
the markings, especially of the head and throat, may be obscure, but the 
species is unmistakable. Rocky Mountain region, U. S. and southward, 
northeast to Kansas; abundant. Aup., Orn. Biog. v, 339; Cass., IIl., 70, 
emt sabi 20)l Ils. COOP, 20 0sera Geren re. es, Saabs; CHLORURUS- 
86. Genus EMBERNAGRA Lesson. 
Green Finch. “Above uniform olivaceous green; sides of the hood and 
a stripe behind eye, dull brownish rufous, not very conspicuous; an ashy 
superciliary stripe, rather yellowish anteriorly ; under parts brownish-white, 
tinged with yellowish anteriorly, and with olivaceous on the sides, white in 
the middle of the belly ; edge of wing, under coverts and axillaries, bright 
yellow. Length 53; wing 23; tail 2?. Valley of the Rio Grande, and 
probably of the Gila, and southward.” Bp., 487. . . . RUFIVIRGATA. 
Family ICTERIDA. American Starlings. 
A family of moderate extent, confined to America, where it represents the 
Sturnide, or Starlings, of the Old World. It is nominally composed of a hundred 
and fifty species, half of which may prove valid, distributed among fifty genera or 
subgenera, of which one-fourth may be considered worthy of retention. The 
relationships are very close with the /ringillide on the one hand; on the other, 
they grade toward the crows (Corvide). They share with the fringilline birds the 
characters of angulated commissure and nine developed primaries, and this distin- 
KEY TO N. A. BIRDS. 20 
