riClDJ-: - TlIK \V( M )I)PE('KKUS. 





ban(l«'(l with the same. Top of the head spotted, streaked, or sutVnsed with white; the 

 erowii of the male with a vfll^w putcli. Nasal liiistles black, mixed with .u'niy. Female 

 with the whole lo\) ot' ln-ad u^Mallv spotted with while. vef\ rafely eiitiidy Ithu-k. 



IIab. Afetic reirioiis of Xoitii America; southward in the Uoi ky MountaiiK to Fort 

 Ijiichaiian : northern border (if the Eastern rnitrd States, m wintt-r (Maxarhii-ftls, 

 Mavna!:ii). 



Tills .s])ecies varies coiKsiderably in its inarkinus, especially in the amount 

 of white ahove. The head is sometimes more coarsely s])otte(l with white 

 than in the average ; very rarely are the white spots wantini^-, hniving merely 

 the broad mahir and interrajiteil po.st-ocular stripe. The rictal black stripe 

 is sometimes much obscured l)y white. In typical specimens from the Hud- 

 son r>ay and Labrador Provinces, which seem to be darkest, the feathers of 

 the centre of tlie Imck have three transverse bars of white Tone of them 

 terminal), rather narrower than the inteimetliate bhxck bars; the basal white 

 ones disai»pearin^ both antcnorly and posteriorly, leaviuLj but two. In 

 specimens from the Mackenzie Piver district there is a ujreater development 

 of white ; the whitt? bantls l»eino broader than the black, and sometimes 

 extending alono- the shafts so as to reduce the black bars to i»air> of spots. 

 The iK'xt step is the disa])])earance of these s])ots on one side or the other, or 

 on both, leaviui,^ the end of the feathers entirely white, esjtecially anteriorly, 

 where the Itack may have a h)no;itudinal stri]»e of white, as in Pi'iis rif/o.^tis. 

 Usually, however, in this extreme, the upper tail-coverts remain banded 

 transversely. In all tlie specimens from tla; Pocky Mountains of the Ignited 

 States, es])ecially Laramie Peak, this white back, unbarred exce[>t on the 

 rumjt, is a constant character, and added to it we have a broad nuchal patch 

 of white runnino; into that of the back and ci^nnectod with the white post- 

 ocular stri[)e. The bands, too, on the sides of the body, are less distinct. It 

 was to this state of plumage that the name of J\ i/or.'iffli.^ was ap]»lied, in 

 IS^'S, and althouoh in view of the connect iuLi links it may not be entitled to 

 coiisider.iii(jn as a distinct race, this tendi'ncy to a permanence of the lono'i- 

 tudinal direction of the white markings above .>eems to be es]>ecially c'i '• 

 teristic of the Pocky Mountain region, a})pearing only in winter ]>• )m 



elsewhere. This same character j»revails in all the IJocky ^lor .a sjteci- 

 niens from more nortliern regions, including those from F«.r lard, and in 

 only one not found in that region, namely, No. 49,90.3, collec . at Xidato by 

 Mr. Dall. Here the middle of the back is very white, al lOugh the nuchal 

 band is less distinct, (^ther sjiecimens from that loca 'v and the Yukon 

 Kiver generally, as also from Kodiak, distinctly show the tr.nsverse bars. 



In one spei'imen (2lM2r>) from the Mackenzie River, all the ui»]>er tail- 

 coverts are banded decidedly with white, an»l the wing-coverts s])otted with 

 the same. Even the central tail-feathers show white scallops. The back is, 

 however, banded transversely very distinctly, not longitudinally. 



P. (nmrirtniHs in all stages of color is distinguished from <rr<f'n'ii>< by the 

 white along the middle of the back, the absence of distinct frontal white 



