378 



BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SUEVEY. 



[Yol V. 



8. AuRiPAiiLTs FLAVICEPS (SuncT.) Baird. — Telloic -headed Titmouse. 



Since the announcement of the discovery, in Mexico, of tliis diminu- 

 tive bii'd, by SundevaU* in 1850, followed closely by the record of its 

 discovery within our limits, by Lawrence in 1851, enterprising natural- 

 ists ha'^ e seen it sparingly in different localities, both within our borders 

 and in Northern Mexico. Mr. Xantus gives the only account of landing 

 it in any numbers, and that at Cape St. Lucas, where he obtained 

 numbers of nests and over one hundred eggs. Nowhere, however, can 

 I learn of any large series of skins having been preserved. On my former 

 trip I only reached its most eastern limit, Hidalgo, where I obtained but 

 two specimens. On this trip, although my field for collecting was but 

 a few miles further up the river, I was more successful, bringing home 

 fourteen skins, besides many sets of eggs and nests. 



Although Dr. Coues has given very full descriptions of the species in 

 his "Birds of the Colorado Valley," yet my series of skins from Lomita 

 vary so much in color, that I have thought best to give their specific 

 characteristics. 



Ad. — Above cinereous, primaries and rectrices edged witli lioary-wbite, coverts 

 edged and tipjied with ash. Head all around golden-yellow with a slight olive cast 

 on the crown. In mature birds, the central part of the feathers of the upper forehead 

 are colored blood-orange, which shows back of the yellow feathers overlying them. 

 In the mature ^ , the yellow of the head extends around the whole neck and itpon the 

 jugulum, and also tinges the central parts of the feathers of the belly and rump. Lesser 

 wing-coverts deep rich chestnut-red. Wings and tail brown. Under parts light ash. 

 The bases of the feathers of whole bird dark plumbeous. Bill .35, black, conical, acute, 

 and slightly decurved. Feet plumbeous. Tarsus .58, longer than the middle toe and 

 claw. Length about 4.50. Wing 2 to 2^. Tail 2 or under. 



Jtiw — Above, color of adult. Wings and tail darker brown. Head showing tinge 

 of olive-yellow on crown and auriculars. Under parts light ash, nearly white. Edges 



[*The great Swedish ornithologist first described this species in such an unexi>ected 

 and out-of-the-way connection, that few, probably, have seen the original notice. The 

 name and description api)ear in a footnote in an article giving an account of a lot of 

 birds from Africa, under the following title: 



"Foglar fran Nordostra Afrika." < O/veis. af Kongl. VetensTc.-Alcad. Forhandl. for ar 

 1850, vii, pp. 125-133. — (Beskrifuingpa 21 Axter tillhorande af Hedenborg hemskickade 

 Samlingar. Aegithaliis flaviccps, p. 129.) 



Mr. G. N. Lawrence having very shortly afterward redescribed the species from 

 Texas under the name of Conirostrum ornatum (Ann. Lye. N. Y. for 1851, y, p. 112, pi. 

 5, f. 1), Mr. P. L. Sclater took exception to this generic assignment, and referred the bird 

 to the genus Fsaltna, in a special paper as follows: 



"Note on Psaltria liaviceps, a third American Species of the Parine Genus Psaltria.*" 

 <P. Z. S., 1856, pp. 37, 38.— Also: Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 2d ser., xix, 1857, pp. 92, 93. 



A nearly complete index to the literature of the species is on p. 129 of my Birds 

 of the Colorado Valley. — E. C] 



