522 NORTH AMKRTOAX lUUDS. 



As already stated, this bird is very similar to /'. oruafus. It appears to 

 be a very little larj^er, or, at any rati', witii considerably lonjior wings. 

 The bill, however, is shorter and stouter; the hind claw (U'.eidcdly longer. 

 The chestnut of the back of the neck is darker. Tiie white on tlie outer 

 web of the tertiaries and secondaries is nnich ])urer and widi'r. The 

 rufous margins of tiie pectoral feathers we have never seen in /'. onmtiDi. 

 The most striking j)eculiarity, however, is in having the shoidders black, 

 instead of brown like the rest of the wing-ieatliers, edged with paler. JJoth 

 have tiie white posterior row of lesser wing-coverts. 



An in mature male (O.liill) has the black of the head mixed with brown, 

 and a maxillary series of spots on each side of tl-' throat. A female has a 

 similar series of spots ; the under parts generally being brownish-white, the 

 shafts across the breast and along the sides streaked with brown, the con- 

 cealed portions of the feathers light l)rown, fading out to the whitish e.xterior. 

 Then; is no black on the shoidder, nor chestnut on the na])e. 



P^iUy mature s])ecimens of this bird and of orimfns are .so rare in collec- 

 tions as to render it dillicnlt to decide positively as to their true relationship. 

 It is by no means impossible that they merely represent different conditions 

 of piuniage of one species, but for the presi?nt, at least, we prefer to con- 

 sider them as distinct. Tlie J\ me/anoitiKs is resident on the tal)le-lands of 

 Mexico. 



Hauit.s. Of the habits and general histoiy of this species, very little 

 is known. Its clo.se resenililanc(^ to J', onutfiis is suggestive of its probaltly 

 etpially close similarity in nesting, eggs, and manner of feeding. Spe(umens 

 have been received from Mexico, from Fort Tiiorn, from Xew Mexico, I'ole 

 Creek, and tiie Ulack Hills. From the last-named jjlaees they were obtained 

 in Augn.st and September. 



Dr. lieerniann, in his h'eport on the liirds ob.served in Lieutenant Parke's 

 routf near the 'A2i\ parallel, mentions having met witii tliese birds, which 

 1.0 calls the lUack-shouldercd Longspiir, at a large ])rairie-dog vilhige some 

 miles west of Tiuirto del Dado. They were in flocks, and were associated 

 with J'. niKcivicni. From that jioint to the ifio (irande he found both of 

 tliese species abundant wherever tiiey struck isolated water-holes, these being 

 the only places fca- niih's around w here drink can be ])rocuri'd. When shot 

 at, they ri.se as if to go away, liut are forced to return, afti'r descriliing a few 

 curves, to the only spot wher" they can ])r(MMire tiieir necessary drink. Tiiey 

 may thus be killed in great niiinbers. Dr. Heermann states that he has seen 

 from a liundred to a hundred and fifty thus brought down in four or five 

 discharges of a gun. 



Mr. Dresser states that on the 4t]i of April a small flock <if what was 

 at first supposed to be the J\ onintus was noticed near the town of San 

 Antonio. They were ]nirsiicd, and found on the banks of the San Pedro. 

 They were not very shy, and siiocimens were jn'oiaired whiitii pnvcd to \)v 

 of this species. Tiiis is the (Uily time that tliey have been observed in 



