BIRDS. 



213 



by the syllables '■'■ pisU'e-tce," ntteved in a hissing tone. From this it receives its Finnish name, and 

 the superstitious among the Finns regard it as a bird of bad omen, and predict a bootless errand 

 for the bear or squirrel hunter who chances to meet one of these busy little pistM tainen, as he starts 

 for the forest. The Alaskan and East Siberian form is closely related to P. hudsonieus, but the 

 following characters will serve to distinguish the two: 



P. HUD.SOXICUS. 



Crowu dark smoky browu. 



Backbrownish, much lighter than crown, and of a 

 more fulvous tint. 



Lores and cheek-patch white. 



Sides of neck ashy-gray, .and an indistinct shade 

 of the same across the nuchal region separat- 

 ing the crown from the back. 



Wings and tail brown, edged with a pale ashy- 

 gray. 



Cheeks and throat-patch smoky-black. 



Breast and abdomen dingy-white, and a largo 

 flank-patch of dull vinaceous-brown. 



The average dimensions of a series of these birds, 

 numbering fourteen are : length of wing 2.57 ; 

 tail, 2.7o : tarsus, .65 ; cnlmen. .:i6. 



P. CIXCTUS. 



Crown ashy-brown, rather dark. 



Back a lighter shade of the same, washed with very 



pale fnlvous. 

 Lores, cheeks, and side of neck white, the white 



sometimes forming a very slight uuchal collar. 

 Wings and tail brownish-gray, edged with pale 



silvery gray or white. 

 Cheek and throat black. 

 Breast and abdomen white, washed with a slight 



shade of pale brown, which covers the flanks. 

 The feet and claws of this bird appear to average 



stouteraud heavier than in /mdsoKiCiiS, although 



there is a considerable amount of individual 



variation in this respect in both species. 

 A series of nine specimens average : length of wing, 



2.05; tail, 2.81; tarsus, .62; culmeu, .30. 



The East Siberian form is distinguished from its European and West Siberian relative mainly 

 by its longer tail and wings and shorter tarsus. lu the Ibis for 1879, Seebohm states that his Lake 

 Baikal specimens show less rusty-brown on the tlanks than do the European birds, and ought to 

 be referred to the v uriety f/ricescens of Sharp and Dresser. By a direct comparison of my Alaskan 

 series with two specimens from Lapland, in the National Museum collection, I find that the smoky- 

 brown of the crowu, iu the latter specimens, is very similar in shade to the crown of P. hudson- 

 ieus of Alaska ; but the contrast between the crown and back is considerably more marked in 

 cinctus than in hudsonieus, and much more marked in cinctus than in obtecfus. The whole back 

 and rump of cinctus are rusty or reddish-brown, and a little paler than the rusty-brown of the 

 flanks, which latter color is a little paler than the brown on the flanks of hudsonieus. In ohtechis 

 the flank-wash is frequently no heavier than in examples of P. septentrionalis, and in the darkest 

 si>ecimeus is but little darker than in cinctus proper, while the flanks are invariablj- strikingly 

 paler. The color of this flank-wash is faintly traceable on the back and rump of some Alaskan 

 specimens, and absent in others, but an almost uniform tint of crowu and back is generally char- 

 acteristic of obtectus. The throat-patch is dark smoky-brown, with a wash of reddish-brown iu 

 cinctus, and smoky-black with a brownish wash in obtectus. The latter is also distinguishable by 

 the clear silver ashy-gray of tlie wing and tail feathers with the whitish edging of the former,, 

 whereas the wings and tail of cinctus are of a dull ashy-gray with a smoky shade of brownish. 

 The comparative measurements of two Lapland and two Alaskan birds are as follows : 



Name. 



Parus cinctus 



P. cinctna obtectvis . 



Locality. 



Sex. 



Lapland . 



Xalato, Alaska.. 5 



? 

 ? 



Outside of certain differences iu proportions, as shown in the measurements given, obtectus maj' 

 be said toditter from typical cinctus very much as septentrionalis varies from typical atricapillus. 



Parus hudsonicus Forst. Hudsouian Chickadee. 



This bird has been found throughout the wooded portion of Alaska, from its southern coast- 

 line at Fort Kenai, north through the Kuskoquim and Yukon River regions to the northern tree- 

 limit, well within the Arctic Circle. In the southern portion of its range its habitat overlaps that 



