144 



and breast thickly covered with elongated triangular spots and 

 streaks of dark reddish-brown ; sides streaked with rufous brown ; 

 middle of abdomen with a few small triangular spots of dark brown ; 

 under tail coverts brownish white, with a few small spots of bright 

 rufous ; tibise dark brown. The auriculars are tinged with reddish- 

 brown. Bristles at the base of the biU numerous, extending over the 

 nostrils. Tail rather long, broad and nearly even. Third quill 

 longest; second and fourth equal, and but slightly shorter; first 

 intermediate between the fifth and sixth, and one-fourth of an inch 

 shorter than the third. 



COMPARATIVE MEASUREMENTS. 



p. OBSCOEA. P. ILIACA. 



No. 620. No. 775. No. 310. 



Length 6.75 6.60 715 



Extent of wings 10.75 10.50 11.00 



Wing 3.35 8.38 3.45 



Tail 3.12 3.20 3.20 



Bill to end of toe 6.75 6.55 7.25 



Bill to end of wing 7.50 7.20 7.65 



Leg from knee 3.08 3.10 3.20 



Tarsus 1.00 .97 .95 



Middle toe 90 .95 .95 



Its nail alone 21 .28 .32 



Hind toe 68 .68 .70 



Its nail alone 33 .32 .40 



Outer toe 73 .75 .75 



Its nail 23 .24 .30 



Bill above 40 .48 .53 



Along gape 51 .57 .60 



Depth 31 .32 .38 



Lower jaw 95 .95 .98 



The three specimens measured are in alcohol, and were collected 

 about the same time, and preserved together. 



No. 620 was collected the first of July, near the eastern end of 

 Anticosti; No. 775 the 8th of August, at Salt Lake. 



There is but little difference in color between the two specimens of 

 P. obscura, but the brown of the back, and the spots on the breast, 

 are a shade darker in No. 620 than in the other. 



This species differs greatly in color from P. iliaca. It is darker in 

 all parts ; the feathers of the back are rufous brown, centred with 

 darker, instead of ash centred with brownish red ; the two white 

 bands on the wing are wanting ; the breast and throat is thickly 

 streaked with elongated spots of dark reddish-brown, while in P. 

 iliaca the spots are less numerous, shorter and broader, and bright 

 rufous, and the central part of the throat is nearly free from spots ; 

 the under tail coverts are brownish white, with rufous spots, instead 



