142 ^'UliTll AMEUICAX BIRDS. 



tlie former not aflnrdinj^ characters to distinjjfuisli it as even a vari«,'ty. To 

 a/jhstris may also lu' relernHl tlie form known as " occidintuJia, McCall," those 

 specimens from the interior rei^ions which are destitute of any yeUow tinge 

 on the throat. Were this feature a constant one in specimens from the 

 region which it characterizes, it wouhl be, of course, right to retain tlie name 

 in the form of aJpestrin var. occidnitalin. As it is, however, tjuite a large 

 percentage of the specimens from every locality where occidmfff/U is found 

 have more or less yellow throatS, but it is j)ossible that this mixture of the two 

 niav be the result of irregular niiu:rations, those yellow-throated individuals 

 being stragglers from their breeding habitat, — more to the eastward and 

 northward. In its white instead of straw-yellow^ throat, and more lilaceous 

 than viiiaceous u])]>er parts, this form bears a close resemblance to a race of 

 the deserts of Western (and rentral ?) Asia, — the " /vci " ^ ; the latter, 

 however, has these features moie exaggerated than in the one of the central 

 plains of North America. Breeding throughout the table-lands of ^lexico, 

 and in tlie Western Province of the United States, north to about the 4()tli 

 parallel, is a more strongly lUiM-ked race, maintaining also more constancy 

 in its peculiar features ; this race is the U. chriiaolaina, Wagl., of which 

 name rvfn. And., and minor, Giraud, are synonymes. This race, which we 

 propose to call E. alpistris var. rh rjisolaino , differs from both the northern 

 styles in smaller size and longer bill, and in coloration is the oj^posite ex- 

 treme from ore iihnt alia, having the vinaceous tints deeper and browner, 

 instead of paler and less brown, than in cornuta (i. e. typical a/jMsfris). 

 The black markings are also more extended, in jnoportion to the other colors, 

 reducing the white on the forehead to a very narrow band, instead of a ^ ad 

 spot ecpialling, or exceeding, the black in width. Specimens from Ijogota 

 — ab(>nt tlie southern limit of the genus on this contiii' re, ]terha}>s, 



referrible to rhn/so/aina, or at least not very different from it, tL »ugli described 

 by Sclater as distinct, under the name 7>r?r//>'/»?^s\2 



In fewer words, the variations, with the region, are about as folhnvs. 

 Starting wiili Xortli America, nortii of the United States, we beuin with a stvle 

 absolutely undistinguishable from that of ilurope ; this, to which the name 

 cornuta Ijehuigs, visits the Eastern States only in winter, but breeds over tlie 

 prairie region of Wisconsin, Illinois, and westward. West of the L'ocky 

 Mountains, especially south of about 40°, si>eciiiiens referrible to this style 

 are most numen^us in winter, and in a large series a Lireat percentaLie of the 

 specimens entirely lack any yellow on the throat, while the i)inkisli-l)rown 

 tints are ligliterand less reddish ; this style rei»reseiits, in these peculiar fea- 

 tures, the " var. hei " of Western Asia (Astrachan), and has l)een distinguished 

 by the name ovcidcntolis, ^IcCall, though it is doubtful whether ^IcUall's 

 description is of a specimen of this style or of one of chrysolaina, being 



1 Tlu' name in nianusciiitt on the lain-! of a sjieeinien in the Sehliiter collection, froni Astrachan. 

 ' OfiH'oi't/.'i jii rrgriaa, Sclater, V. Z. S. 1855, llU, pi. cii. ErcmoithUa j^r. 8ci-. Cat. Am. 

 Birtls, 18G2, 127. - , > 



