FRIXGILLID.E — THE FLNCIIES. 



ni 



This <;enus is well cliaractc'rizeil l>y the large swollen bill, with its curved 

 culiiieu ; tiie huge strung feet and claws; the long wings, a little huiger 

 than the tail, and with the ter- 

 tiids as long as tlie primaries ; 

 the first tour«|uills aliout eijual, 

 and aliriii)tly longest; the tail 

 short and graduated. 



The only grou]) of North 

 American Spizcllina-, with the 

 tertials ei^ual to the i)rimaries in 

 tlie closed wing, is Passe re alas. 

 Til is, however, has a dift'erently 

 formed bill, weaker feet, the caiamosp,za buoior. 



inner i)rimaries longer and UKU-e regularly graduated, the tail-feathers more 

 acute and shorter, and the plumage streaked brownish and white instead of 

 black. 



Calamospiza bicolor, Bonap. 



LABK BUNTIHO; WHITE-WINGED BLACKBIBO. 



FrhujiUa bicolor, T(.\vnseni», J. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, 1837, 189. — Ir. Narrative, 1839, 346. 



— Aui). Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 19, \\. icf.xe. Cdhmtoapiza bicolor, lJt>NAP. List, 1838. 



— In. Con.sj)eetus, 18.50, 47.5. — Baiud, Binls N. Am. 1858, 49i>. — Hep:um. X, o, 1.5. 

 tU>r)idnUna bicolor, All). Synopsis, 1839, 130. — In. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 195, pi. cci. 



— Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 347. — Coopek, Orn. Cal. I, 225. Dolkhonyz bicolor, 

 NUTTALL, Manual, I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 203. 



Sp. CifAR. Male entirt'iy black; a Inroad band on the wing (covorinc^ the whole of the 

 greater covert'?), with the outer edges of the quills and tail-fcatliers, white. Length, about 

 G.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 3.20; tarsus, 1.00; bill al>ove, .60. 



Female pale brown, streaked with darker above; l)cneath white, spotted and streaked 

 rather sparsely with black on the breast and sides. Throat nearly innnaculate. A 

 maxillary stripe of black, bordered above by white. Region around the eye, a faint 

 stripe above it. and an obsciu'e crescent back of the ear-coverts, whitish. A broad fulvous 

 white band across the ends of the greater wing-cov«Tts; i.'<\iio of wing white. Tail- 

 feathers with a white sj)ot at the end of the inner web. 



Youtig. Similar to the female; a faint bull' tinge prevalent beneath, where the streaks 

 are narrower; dark streaks al)ove broader, the featluMs liurdi'red with bully-white. 



Had. High Central Plains to the Kocky Mountains; southwesterly to Valley of 

 Mimbres and Sonora: San Antonio, Texas, winter (Dkksskr, II>is, ISO"), 4!>0). Fort 

 Whipple, Arizona (Corns, P. A. N. S. ISGG, 84). Parley's Park, Utah (Uidgway). 



Habits. Tliis peculiar s])eeies, known by some writers as the Lark P>unt- 

 ing:, and by others as the White-win^^ed lilackbird, was first described by 

 Townsend in 18:^7. He met with it wlien, in com]>any witli Mr. Nuttall, he 

 made his western tour across the continent, on tlie 24th of ^lay, soon after 

 crossing the north branch of the Platte River. The latter writer rcijarded it 



