654 HISTORY OF THE 



Sr. CHAR. Adult male, in summer: Head deep black, with the lower e3 - elid, 

 part of the upper eyelid, and a supraloral streak, pure white; chiu pure white, 

 the throat streaked with the same. Upper parts grayish slate color, the scapn. 

 lars and interscapulars showing darker centers, these usually most conspicuous 

 anteriorly; wing coverts also darker centrally, but this mostly concealed; pri- 

 maries, primary coverts and alula black, narrowly but distinctly edged with 

 ash gray. Tail uniform slate black, the two outer feathers with inner webs 

 distinctly tipped with white. Jugulum, breast, entire sides, upper part of ab. 

 domen, axillars and lining of the wing, uniform deep rufous or reddish ochra- 

 ceous (varying in shade in different individuals); posterior part of abdomen and 

 femoral region pure white; anal region and crissum white, mixed with plumbe- 

 ous, this mostly beneath the surface. Adult female, in summer: Usually a 

 little paler and duller in color than the male, but not always distinguishable. 

 Bill less purely yellow; dimensions about the same. Adult, in icinter: Upper 

 parts decidedly tinged with olive; rufous feathers of the lower parts distinctly 

 bordered with white, producing a scaly appearance. Bill mostly blackish, the 

 yellow confined chiefly to the lower mandible. Young, in first winter: Differ- 

 ing from the autumnal or winter adult in much paler colors; head grayish, the 

 pileum scarcely or not at all darker than the back, the upper parts being uni- 

 form dull gray; breast, etc., reddish ochraceous, much mixed with white poste- 

 riorly; the jugulum tinged with ashy. A more or less distinct supra-auricular 

 streak of white. Young, in first plumage: Pileum and side of head dull black- 

 ish, with an indistinct dull whitish superciliary streak between; the lower 

 eyelid also whitish. Upper parts dull brownish gray, the scapulars and inter- 

 scapulars variegated with blackish terminal bars and whitish shaft streaks; 

 lesser and middle wing coverts also marked with pale shaft streaks. A whitish 

 malar stripe, bordered below by a blackish stripe along each side of throat; 

 chin and throat white, immaculate, or with only very faint scattered specks. 

 Breast and sides of abdomen pale rufous or ochraceous, thickly spotted with 

 black; lining of wings uniform ochraceous or pale rufous; posterior lower parts 

 chiefly whitish. (Rtdgway.) 



Stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 10.50 16.20 5.25 4.30 1.35 .87 



Female... 9.85 15.95 5.15 4.15 1.33 .85 



In a few specimens the females were fully as large as the 

 males. 



Iris brown; bill bright yellow, tipped with dusky (the bill of 

 the female somewhat paler; in young birds the upper mandible, 

 with the exception of the edges, dark brown); legs brown; feet 

 dark brown; claws blackish. 



These familiar birds of the orchard and garden brave the 

 coldest weather, and their distribution in winter depends largely 

 upon the food supply. In the winter of 1880, I found a few 

 wintering on Brier Island, Novia Scotia. They sought shelter 



