FRINGILLIDJE THE FINCHES. 279 



their migration. Professor Forbes informs me of such an instance 

 which came under his own observation, as follows : 



"While on a recent trip to southern Illinois, I astonished myself 

 by shooting, June 9, one mile from the Ohio river, near Elizabeth- 

 town, in Hardin county, an adult specimen of the Common Snow- 

 bird (Junco hy emails). I killed the bird from a tree in the edge of 

 a wood. I neither heard nor saw another of the species there." 

 (See "Nuttall Bulletin," July, 1881, p. 180.) 



Junco hyemalis oregonus (Towns.) 



OBEGON JUNCO. 



Popular synonyms. Black-headed Snowbird; Oregon Snowbird. 



Fringil/a oregona TOWNS. Jour. Phil. Ac. vii,1837, 188. AUD. Orn. Biog. v, 1839, 68, pi. 398. 

 Mphcea oregona AUD. Synop. 1839,107; B. Am. iii.1841, 91, pi. 168. 



Junco oregonus Sci,. 1857. BAIBD. B. N. Am. 1858, 466; Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 352. 

 COUES, Key. 1872, 141; Check List,1873, No. 175; 2d ed. 1882, No. 263; B.N. W. 1874. 142. 

 B. B. & B. Hist. N. Am. B. i, 1874, 584. pi. 26. flg. 2. RIDGW. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881, 

 No. 218. 



HAB. Pacific coast of North America, breeding from higher mountains of southern 

 California north to Sitka; in winter throughout the western United States, and even 

 straggling to the Atlantic States (Kansas^Illinois, etc.) 



In its habits and notes this bird is so completely a counterpart 

 of the common eastern Snowbird (J. hyemalis} that the writer is 

 unable to discover, from the accounts of writers or from his own 

 experience, any peculiarities whatsoever. It is, however, very differ- 

 ent in its plumage, as may be seen from the description given 

 above, and the comparative diagnoses on page 277. 



GENUS PETJC2EA AUDUBON. 



Peuccea AUD. Synop. 1839,112. Type Fringilla bachmanii AUD. 



"GEN. CHAE. Bill moderate. Upper outline and commissure decidedly curved. Legs 

 and feet, with the claws, small; the tarsus about equal to the middle toe; the lateral toes 

 equal, their claws falling considerably short of the middle one; the hind toe reaching 

 about to the middle of the latter. The outstretched feet reach rather beyond the middle 

 of the tail. The wing is very short, reaching only to the base of the tail; the longest ter- 

 tials do not exceed the secondaries, while both are not much short of the primaries; the 

 outer three or four quills are graduated. The tail is considerably longer than the wings; 

 it is much graduated laterally; the feathers, though long, are peculiarly narrow, linear, 

 and elliptically rounded at the ends. 



"Color beneath plain whitish or brownish, with a more or less distinct dusky line 

 each side of the chin. Above with broad obsolete brown streaks or blotches. Crown 

 uniform, or the feathers edged with lighter." (Hist. N. Am. B.) 



