FRINGILLID.E — TIIK FINCHES. 103 



permit but little of its ^oiind to be seen. The eggs vary greatly in .size, 

 r.mging Ironi 1.10 inches to .1)8 of an inch in length, and fn^ni .80 to .78 

 in breadth. 



Cardinalls virginianus, var. igneus, Baird. 



CAPE CABDIHAL. 



Cardinal is igncusy Baird, I'r. Ac Sc. Phila, 1859. 305 (Capt- St. Lucas). — Elli(»t, Illust. 

 N. Am. lUrds, I, xvi. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 238. Cardiiuilis vinjinianus, Fixscn, 

 Abh. Nat. Biem. 1870, 339. 



Sp. Char. Resemblinjr vinjiniauKs, havinp:, like it, the distinct <rrayish c(\f:o?i. to feathers 

 of the (loisal retrion. Red lighter, however, and the top of head, iiiehiding crest, nearly 

 pure vennilion. instead of brownish-red. Bhick of the lores not passing across the fore- 

 head, reaching -only to the nostril. Wing, 4.00: tail, o.OO; culmen, .83; depth of bill, 

 .GO; breadth of upper mandible, .38. (Xo. 49,7.j7 ^. Camp Grant, GO miles east of 

 Tucson, Arizona). 



Feinah distiniruishable from that of virnininnus onlv bv more swollen bill, and more 

 restricted dusky around base of bill. Young : bill deep black. 



Hab. Cape St. Lucas; Camp Grant, Arizona; Tres Marias Islands (off coast of Mex- 

 ico, latitude between 21° and 22° north). Probably ^Vestern Mexico, from Sonora south 

 to latitude of about 20°. 



In the features pointed out above, all specimens from Arizona and Tres 

 Marias, and of an exceedingly large series collected at Cape St. Lucas, dill'er 

 from those of other regions. 



Xo s})ecimens are in the collection from "Western ^Mexico as far south as 

 Colima, but birds from this region will, without doubt, be found referrible 

 to the present race. 



Habits. There appears to be nothing in the habits of this form of Cardi- 

 nal, as far as known, to distinguish it from the A'irginia bird ; the nest and 

 eiTirs, too, beinix almost identical. The latter average a])out one inch in length, 

 and .80 in breadth. Their ground-color is white, with a bluish tint. Tlieir 

 markings are larger, and more of a rusty than an ashy brown, and the purple 

 spots are fewer and less marked than in C. virginiauHS. 



The memoranda of Mr. John Xantus show that in one instance a nest of 

 this bird, containiiiir two egss, was found in a mimosa bush four feet from 

 the ground ; another nest, with one g^^^, in a like situation ; a third, con- 

 taining tliree eggs, w^as about tln^ee feet from the ground ; a fourth, with 

 two eggs, was also found in a mimosa, but only a few inches above the 

 ground. 



