522 



NORTH AMKIIICAX IMIIDS. 



As already stated, tlii.'^ l>ird is very similar to /*. ornafcs. It appears to 

 be a very little larger, or, at any rat ', witli considerably longer wini^s. 

 The bill, however, is shorter and stouter; the hind claw tlecidedly longer. 

 The chestnut of the back of the neck is darker. The white on tlie <juter 

 web of the tertiaries and secondaries is much ]»urer and wider. The 

 rufous marj^ius of the ])ectoral i'eatheis we have never seen in /*. (niiatus. 

 The most strikinj^ j)eculiarity, however, is in having the shoulders black, 

 instead of brown like tlie rest of the wing-feathers, edged witli paler. r»<»th 

 have the white posterior row of lesser wing-coverts. 



An immature male ((),!".• Ij has the black of the head mi.xed with brown, 

 and a ma.xillary series of spots on each side of the throat. A temale has a 

 similar series of sj)ots ; the under parts generally being brownish-white, the 

 shafts across the breast and along the sides .streaked with brown, the con- 

 cealed portions of the feathers ligiit brown, fading out to the whitish exterior. 

 There is no black on the shoulder, nor die. nut on the na])e. 



Fully mature .s])ecimens of this bird and of (tnmft/s are .so rare in collec- 

 tions as to render it ditticult to decide })ositively as to their true relationshij). 

 It is by no means im])ossible that they merely represi*nt ditl'erent conditions 

 of plumage of one species, but for the present, at least, we prefer to con- 

 sider them as distinct. The /*. me/auounfs is resident on the taljle-lands of 

 Mexico. 



II.M5ITS. Of the habits and general history of this species, very little 

 is known. Its close resemblance to J\ ormitiiH is suggestive of its probably 

 e<iually close similarity in nesting, eggs, and manner of feeding. Specimens 

 ha'.'j been received from Mexico, from Fort Thorn, from New Mexico, I'ole 

 Creek, and the Black Hills. Fnan the last-named places they were obtair I 

 in August and Septenibcr. 



Dr. Heermann, in his b'eport on tin* birds observed in Lieutenant PjM'ko's 

 route near the o2d i>arallel, mentions having met with these birds, Avhich 

 he calls t':. Hlack-shouldered Longs]>ur, at a large i)rairie-dog village some 

 miles west of Puerto del Dado. Thev were in Hocks, and were associated 

 with r. iiKuroiCHi From that i»oint to the Kio (Jrande he found bot?. of 

 these species abundant wherever they struck isolated water-holes, these being 

 the only places for miles around where drink can be ])r<K-ured. Wiien shot 

 at, they rise as if to go away, but are fin-ced to return, after describing a few 

 curves, to the only spot where they can procure their necessary drink. They 

 may thus be killed in great nund>ers. Dr. Heermann states that he has seen 

 from a hundred to a hundred and fifty thus brought down in four or five 

 discharges of a gun. 



Mr. Dresser states that on the 4th of A})ril a small flock of what was 

 at first supposed to Ix^ the P. ornatus was noticed near the town of San 

 Antonio. They were pursued, and found on the banks of the San Pedro. 

 They were not very shy, and specimens were ])rocured whiidi ])roved to be 

 of this s])ecies. Tliis is the only time that they have been observed in 



