142 NOKTll AMEUICAN BIllUS. 



the former not affording cliixractcrs to distingiiisli it as evcMi a variety. To 

 iil2h:siris may also lie referred the form knctwn as " oixkhnlKUs, ^IcCall," those 

 specimens from the interior regions which are destitute of any yellow tinge 

 on the tlii'oat. Were this feature a constant one in specimens from the 

 region which it characterizes, it would be, of course, right to retain the name 

 in the form of n/pcutria var. omdcntidw. As it is, however, ijuite a Lirge 

 ])ercentage of the specimens from every locality where oiriiimfn/is is found 

 have more or less yellow throats, but it is jtossible that this mixture of the two 

 luay be the result of irregular migrations, those yellow-throated individuals 

 being stragglers from their breeding habitat, — more to the eastward and 

 northward. In its white i" "tead of straw-yellow throat, and more lilaceous 

 than viuaceous njiper parts, this form bears a close resemblance to a race of 

 the deserts of Western (and Central ?) Asia, — the " hci " ^ ; the latter, 

 however, has these features more exaggerated than in the one of the central 

 plains of North America. Breeding throughout the table-lands of Mexico, 

 and in the Western Province of the United States, north to al)0ut the 40th 

 parallel, is a more strongly ni;irked race, maintaining taLso more constancy 

 in its jieculiar features ; this race is the H. rhvi/sola-iita, Wagl., of which 

 name rii/ii, And., and minor, CJiraud, are synonymes. This race, which we 

 propose to call E. alpcstris var. c/in/fiola'tna, differs from both the northern 

 styles in smaller size and longer bill, and in coloration is the opposite ex- 

 treme from onidtnto/iii, iiavin„ the vinaceous tints deeper and browner, 

 ins* id of paler and less brown, than in coniufit (i. e. typical (i/^nstris). 

 The black markings are also more extended, in juoportion to the other colors, 

 reducing the white on the forehead to a very narrow band, instead of a broad 

 spot ei[ualling, or exceeding, the black in width. Specimens from Bogota 

 — about the .southern limit of the genus on this continent — are, ]ierhaps, 

 referrible to cJiri/no/a'ma, or at least not very different from it, though described 

 by Sdater as distinct, under the name pcrei/rinu.t'^ 



111 fewer words, the variations, with the region, are about as follows. 

 Starling with North America, north of the United States, we begin with a style 

 absolutely undistinguishable from that of Kurope ; this, to which the name 

 cornnfK belongs, visits the Eastern States only in winter, but breeds over the 

 ])riiirie region of Wisconsin, Illinois, and westward. West of the h'ocky 

 Mouiitiiiiis, especially .south of about 4(1°, specimens referrible to this style 

 are most numerous in winter, and in a large series a great percentage of tin; 

 specimens entirely lack any yellow on the throat, while the piiikisli-brown 

 tints are lighter and less voddish ; this style rejtresents, in these ])eculiar fea- 

 tures, the " var. bci " of Western Asia (A.strachan), and has been distinguished 

 by tlie name occidcntcdU, jMcCall, though it is doubtful whether McCall's 

 description is of a ,s])ecimen of this style or of one of chri/solania, being 



' The iiaiiii' ill iiiaimsoii]it on tlic lalpcl of a s|>irim('ii in tlic SchliUor colkH'tioii, I'nim Astiiu'lmn. 

 - Oliii-tirits /ii rrfjriiKi, tsCLATEH, V. Z. S. 1855, lit), jil. cii. Evcmophihi ^icr. !Sci,. Cat. Am. 

 liirils, 1802, 127. 



