I'ICIDJ-; — THK WOODl'ErKEIJS. 533 



banilod with the siitnL'. Tup nf the lieuil spotlcil, stn':il<<'il. <<r sull'iisi'd with wliitr; the 

 (Town of tlio iiiiile witli a vi'llnxv patcli. \;is:il luisllcs l)hii;l\. iiiixi'd with j,'ray. I'ciiialc 

 with tho wh(jlc' tol) of head ii-Mally spottuil with while, vcrv raivly eiiliicly lilai-lc. 



IIar. Ai'ctit; ruirioii.-; of Xoilh Aiiifi-iea ; soiiiliwaiil in the Kocky .MniiiilaiiK to l''<iit 

 IJiichanaii : iiorllii'i'ii IxirdiT nf llu' EasliM'ii I'liitrd Slates, in winter (Massariiu>etts, 



N[AVX.Miti). 



Tlii.s s])ecios vtiries considerably in its niiirkinus, I'sjicciiilly in tlic iiinoiint 

 of white iiliDvc. The head is .sdiiietiines luoie coarsely s])oU('d wiih white 

 than in the avi'itiLie ; very rtirely are the white spots wantinu, leaving merely 

 the broad mala.' and interrniited posf-ocular strijie. The rictal lilack stripe 

 is sometimes niiicli obscured by white. In ty]iic;d s])ecimens IVoni the Hud- 

 son Iiiiy and Labrador I'rovinces, which seem to be darkest, the leathers of 

 the centre of the liack have three tninsverse bars of white (one of them 

 terminal), rather UiU'iower than tlie intermediate black bars ; the basal white 

 ones disa|ppearino lioth tinteriorly lunl posteriorly, leaving but two. In 

 siiecimens from the Mackenzie itivcr ilistrict there is ti Ljreater development 

 of white ; tlie white l)ands bein^ liroader tlian the black, tind sometimes 

 extending along the shafts so as to reduce the black Itars to ]pairs of spots. 

 The next step is the disappearance of these s])(jts on one side or the other, or 

 on lioth, leiiving the end of the feathers tnitjrely white, esjiccially anteriorly, 

 where the liack may liave a longitudinal strijie of white, as in J'iins ri/lnsiis. 

 Usually, however, in this extreme, the upper tail-coverts rcimiin banded 

 transversely. In till tht! s|)ecimens from the h'ocky Mountains td' the I'nited 

 States, especially Laramie I'eak, tins white back, unbarred exccjit on tlie 

 rump, is ti constant 'ditiracter, and added to it we htive a broad nucliitl ])atcli 

 of white running into that of the liack and connected with the white post- 

 ocular stripe. The bands, too, on the sides of the liody, tire less distinct. It 

 was to this state of ])lumage that the name of /'. ilorsuli-'^ was applied, in 

 ISoS, and altiiough in view of the connecting links it may not be entitled to 

 consideration its a di.stinct race, this tendency to ii itermaiicnce td' the longi- 

 ttulintil direction of tlie white miiikings aliove seems to be especially charac- 

 teristic of the Iiocky Mountain region, a])])earing only in winter birds from 

 elsewliere. This same character |ireviiils in all the Kocly ^lountain s]ieci- 

 meiis from more northern regions, iiicltiding those from i'ort Liiird, and in 

 oidy one not found in that region, namely, No. 4U,t)()."), collected at Xuliito iiy 

 Mr. Dall. Here the middle of the liack is very white, although the nuchal 

 band is less distinct. (Ither s|iecimeiis from that locality and the Yukon 

 liiver generally, as also from Kodiak, distinctly show the transverse bars. 



In one specimen (L".l,l2(i) from the Mackenzie liiver, all the uii]ier tail- 

 coverts are banded decidedly with white, and the wing-coverts s]iotted with 

 the same. Kven the central tail-feathers show wliittt .scallojis. The back is, 

 however, liaiidcd transver.sely very distinctly, not longitudinally. 



J', mill rim ims in all stages of color is distinguished from nrr/ii'ns by the' 

 white along the miihlle of the back, the absence of distinct fronttil white 



