HAXICOLID.K — TlIK 8AX1CUI,AS. 67 



Sialia arctica, sw.vins. 



KOCKT MOUNTAIN BLUEBIBD. 



Eriilhriii-a (Slulin) (iirllfn, Swains. F. R. A. II, 1831, 2ft0, ]il. xxxix. Sitiliii, nirtkn, 

 XriTAi.L, Mail. II, IMCJ, .")7;!. — Haiku, Birds X. Am. 18.5,s, i-H ; |{cv. ti4. — Sci.aikh, 

 Catal. 18(il, 11, no. ()7. — DuKssKii, Iliis, ISti;"), 478. (Texas, winter, very alimnlant.) 

 — Coiii'Ki!, Uiiils Cal. I, •£>. Siidia macropkni, ISaikii, Stansbiuy's liejit. 1852, 314 

 (larger race with Innj^er wiiif^s). 



^\\ CiiAH. GreL'iii.sJi aziin'-bliii- aliovc anil liclow, hrjirlilcst above; tlio liclly and under 

 tail-coverts wiiite; the latter tinij'ed wilii bhie at the (Muls. Fonialo showinif blue only on 

 the rnnip, \vini;Sj and tail; a white rin^ round the eye; the lores and sometimes a narrow 

 front whitish; elsowhore re|ilaccd by brown. Lenf^lh, (i.li.") ; wing, 4.3U ; tail, 3.00. 

 (ISVo.) 



Yonnij. Male birds arc streaked with white, as in S. siidin, on tho characteristic ijrountl 

 of till! adult. 



IIah. Central tabh^-lamls of North Anicrii'a, oast to mouth of Yellowstone. Oni; 

 individual colh'cted at Fort FranUlin, (ircat Hoar Lake. Not common on the Paciliu 

 .slope; the only siiccimcns rci'cived coniing from Simiahnioo, Fort Crook, and San Diojfo. 

 Not recorded as fouml in Mexico, 'V. Arizona, Colks. 



A.s already stated, the blue of this s])ocics is <.;reeuer, liioro smalt-like 

 than ill xlidis. The females are distiiigiiislied from those of the other 

 species by the greener Idtie, entire absence of nd'oiis, and longer wings. 



In autumn and winter the blue of the male is much .soiled by amber- 

 brown edges to tiie feathers, tiiis most conspicuous on the breast, where 

 the blue is sometimes almost concealed ; the plumage of the female, too, at 

 this season is different from that of spring, the anterior lower jtarts being 

 soft isabella-color, much less grayish than in s])riiig. 



1I.\I!ITS. This JJbudiird belongs chieily to the Central fauna, and occujties 

 a jilace in the Eastern only by its apitearance on its borders. It was iirst 

 procured by Sir .lohii Ikichardson, at Fort Franklin, in July, 182,"). It is 

 abundant throughout the central taiile-hinds of North America, between 

 the racific and tho mouth of the Yellowstone, from (ireat Uear Lake to 

 the lower portions of California. In t'.ie latter State it is not common. 



Mr. Xultall met with this sjtecies in the early \)\\\t of June, nortliwest of 

 Laramie Vmk. Tlie female uttered a low complaint wlii'ii her nest was 

 approached. Tliis was coiislniclcd in a hole in a clay cliff. Another was 

 found in the trunk of a decayed cedar. In one of these the young were 

 already hatched. The nest was composed of dried gra.s.ses, but in very insig- 

 nilicant cpiantity. Mr. Nuttall found them much uunv shy than the com- 

 mon sju'cies, and describes tiieiii as feeding in very nearly the same manner. 

 Ho afterwards found a nest of the same species in a clill' of the Sandy 

 Uivor, a branch of the Colorado. Both parents were feeding their brood. 

 The female was very uneasy at Iiis approach, chirping, ami at intervals 

 uttering a plaintive cry. He states that the male bird has a more plaintive 



