76 Merkill on Winter- Plumage of Gray-crowned Finch. 



The average measurements (in inches and hundredths) of the 

 series now before me are as follows : — 



In tephrocotis the sexes are usually distinguishable by the much 

 paler plumage of the females. In these the deep chocolate of the 

 breast of the males, not at all or but slightly tipped with whitish, 

 is replaced by a dingy brownish-chestnut, the feathers broadly 

 tipped ; the pinkish tinge of the abdomen is much paler than in the 

 males, and the white more extended ; the pink tips of the feathers 

 on the rump are about as broad and bright as in the male, and in 

 obvious contrast with the paler tint of the abdomen ; in the male, 

 if a contrast exists at all, the rump is of a lighter pink than the 

 abdomen. The black frontal patch in the females is not so well 

 defined behind as in the other sex ; in several specimens it con- 

 tinues as a dusky band to the back, thus changing the gray hood 

 into a lateral stripe on each side, an effect not seen in any of the 

 males. In both sexes there is considerable variation in the shade 

 of the gray crown, but as a rule it is clearer in the male. The 

 yellowish-white edgings of the feathers of the wings and back are 

 too variable to be of value as a distinctive character. As a gen- 

 eral but not invariable rule, the longest under tail-coverts of the 

 male are tipped with pinkish, those of the female with yellowish or 

 brownish-white. Comparing the brightest-colored female with the 

 palest male, the principal points of difference are the backward 

 extension of the black frontal patch in the female, the paler 

 abdomen, and the contrast in shade between the rump and abdo- 

 men, as indicated above ; these, with the faded appearance of the 

 females, are, I think, the most characteristic points of difference 

 between the sexes. 



