KIllNGlIiLID.K — TIIH l-'INCIIKS. 



27 



Tlio iil)i)Vi! (U!S(U'iptiou is of ii spcciiiion in worn suiiuiun' pluiiiui^c, when 

 the iiiiiikiiij,'s Imvc not the shiirp ck'tinitiou seen in tlic iiutnmiiiil i)lnniaj,'c. 

 Thi' iuittininul iihiniiij^o is us loHows: (i round-color iil)ovo j,nayish-olive, 

 outer siutaee of winj;;?, with tiie crown, more rufous ; crown witii narrow, 

 anil dorsal region with broad, strii)es of l)lack, the latter witii scarcely a 

 perceptiiile rufous .sulfusion; crown with a distinct median stripe of ashy. 

 Streaks on jugulum, etc., broader than in tlu; type, and with a sligiit rufous 

 sull'usiou. Wing, 2.20 ; tail, 2.'M'> ; bill from nostril .31, its depth .22 ; 

 tarsus .74 ; middle toe without claw, .(iO. 



The type of Mehmpizii (/ouhli resembles the last, and dill'ers only in having 

 a more distinct rufous sulfusion to the lilaek markings; the nuiasurements 

 are as follows : Wing, 2.2t); tail, 2.35 ; bill, .33 by .23 ; tarsus, .73; middle 

 toe without claw, .oK. 



This is proltalily a dwarfed race of the common .species, the very small 

 size lieiug its chief di.stinctive cliaracter. The colors are moat- nearly like 

 those of hcr.nnaimi, liut are considerably darker, caused by an exitansiou of 

 the black and contraction of the rufous markings. The pattern of colora- 

 tion is precisely the same as in the other nices. The present bird appears 

 to lie ])eculiar to the coast region of California, the only specimens in the 

 collection lieing from the neighborhooil of San Francisco. 



IIabit.s. (.)f tlu! history, distribution, and general habits of this .species, 

 nothing is known. It was found at I'etaluma, Cal., hy Emanuel Samuels, 

 and described in the I'roceedings of the I>oston Society of Natural History in 

 1858. The following description of the nest and eggs of this bird, in the 

 Smithsonian collection, has been kindly furnished me by Mr. liidgway. 



Nests elaborate and .symmetrical, cup-shai>ed, composed of thin grass- 

 stems, but externally chielly of grass-blades and strips of thin inner bark. 

 Diameter about 3.50 inches; internal diameter 2.00, and internal depth 1.5U; 

 external, 2.00. Egg measures .78 by .02 ; regularly ovate in shape ; ground- 

 color, greenish-white ; this is thickly sprinkled with purplish and livid ashy- 

 brown, the s]iecks larger, and somewhat coal(;sccnt, around the larger circum- 

 ference. (3553, San Francisco, Cal., J. Hepburn.) 



Melospiza melodia, var. guttata, Baikd. 



OBEGOK SOHO SFABBOW. 



PringUla cincrcn, (Om.) Aud. Oin. Biog. V, 1839, 22, pi. cccxe. — Id. Syn. 1839, 119.— 

 111. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, U.l, pi. clxxxvii. Pusmrcllii, cincmi, I5i>. List, 1839. — In. 

 Coiis))ectus, 1850, 477. Frinf/illa {Pnsm'rcHit) {luffata, NUTTAIX, Man. I, (2(1 cd.,) 1840, 

 581. Zonotrichia guttata, Oamdix, J. A. N. So. I, Dee. 1847, 50. Melospiza rujim, 

 Bauus Birds N. Am. 1858, 480. — Cdovkr & SrcKi.KY, 204. — Dall & Ban.sisteii, 

 Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1859, 285. — CoopKlt, Oni. Cal. I, 214. 



Sr. Char. TJill .oloiulor. Similar in pfoncral apponranoc to ^f. melodia, but darker and 

 much more rufous, and without any blaekisli-brown stnMik.^, or grayish edges of tlio 



