I46 Brewster on Three New Forms of North American Birds. [April 



Measurements : Eight specimens from Larimer County, Colorado, and 

 two from Moody County, Dakota; all adults taken in May or June; aver- 

 age: Wing. 8.11; tail, 329; tarsus, 2.66; culmen from feathers, 2.46. 

 The same birds give the following extremes: Wing. 7.88-8.26; tail, 3.10- 

 3. qo; tarsus, 2.45-2.95; culmen from feathers, 2.2S-2.70.* 



Types, No. 13.529, J ad., Larimer County, Colorado, May 14, 18S6; 

 No. 13,530, $ ad., Larimer County, Colorado, May 5, 1885; both in my 

 collection. 



Habitat. Interior of North America between the Mississippi and the 

 Rocky Mountains, wintering along the coasts of the Gulf and Southern 

 Atlantic States (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina). 



S. scmipahnata typica is brownish-olive, above confusedly 

 and densely barred, streaked, or spotted with blackish, this giv- 

 ing the prevailing tone to the plumage. The bars beneath are 

 usually coarse, dark, regular, and seldom bordered with pinkish 

 or salmon. The central tail-feathers are almost invariably crossed 

 by three or four distinct and continuous blackish bars. The two 

 birds do not seem to differ in respect to the white on the wings 

 or upper tail-coverts. 



Among the breeding (May and June) specimens before me the 

 differences just pointed out are nearly constant, and so pronounced 

 that they maybe seen at a glance. They are less striking in some 

 examples taken in early spring (March and April) in South 

 Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, several of which seem to be fair 

 intermediates, although they may be eastern birds which have 

 not perfected the nuptial plumage. I have a few specimens 

 (winter and early spring) from Georgia and the Carolinas which 

 are apparently true inornata. 



In the plain gray and white winter dress the two forms ap- 

 pear to be distinguishable only by size. Unfortunately, this dif- 

 ference is not absolutely reliable as the above measurements 

 show. Rather curiously, the young, from whatever locality, 

 seem to be larger than the old birds. 



Touching briefly on synonymy it appears : 



(1) That the Scolopax scmipalmata of Gmelin (Sys. Nat., I, 

 17SS, 659) was based on the eastern bird. 



(2) That Totcifius crassirostris Vieillot (Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. 

 Nat., 1S16, 406) was founded on a specimen (from Louisiana) 



* An equal number of adult eastern birds, four from Georgia, five from Northamp- 

 ton County, Virginia, and one from Warwick, Rhode Island, average: Wing, 7.36; 

 tail, 2.91; tarsus, 2.29; culmen from feathers, 2.19. Extremes: Wing, 7.06-7.75 ; tail, 

 2.71-3.30; tarsus, 2.08-2.42; culmen from feathers, 2.02-2.31. 



