98 



cast, the shafts of the feathers black. Pileniu phimbeous-black, the oc- 

 cipital feathers snow-white beneath the surface; i:)rimaries plain brown- 

 ish-slate, their shafts clear brown. Tail narrowl^^ tipped with white, and 

 crossed by four very regular, but sometimes not sharply-defined, 

 bands of dusky, narrower than the slaty ones, the last broadest, 

 the first nearly obsolete, and concealed by the coverts, which are some- 

 times narrowly tipped with white. Lower parts white and rufous, in 

 transverse bars, the shafts of the feathers black, and the rufous bars 

 usually connected along the middle portion of the feathers ; tibiae more 

 deeply colored, the rufous usually predominating; crissum immaculate 

 white. Lining of the wing white, irregularly spotted with deep rufous ; 

 inner webs of the primaries with transverse bands of dusky and white an- 

 terior to their emargination and silvery-gray terminally, the dusky bands 

 about seven in number on the longest quill, the two colors nearly equal in 

 width. Male ;- — Slate of the upper parts of a fine bluish cast ; nape and 

 sides of the head bluish-ashy, the sides of the breast usually tinged with 

 the same. Wing, 8.85-9.40 '; tail, 7.80-8.30; culmen, 0.60-0.68; tarsus, 

 2.30-2.60; middle toe, 1.45-1.55. (Eight specimens.) Female: — Slate of 

 the upper jiarts of a brownish cast ; nape and sides of the head dull rusty- 

 rufous, the sides of the breast without ashy tinge. Wing, 10.10-10.80 ; 

 tail, 9.00-9.40; culmen, 0.70-0.80; tarsus, '2.65-2.85; middle toe, 1.60- 

 1.85. (Five specimens.) 



[Colors in life: — Terminal half of bill deep black, basal half pale blue ; 

 cere greenish-yellow ; iris deep orange-red ; tarsi and toes deep lemon- 

 yeilow.] 



Young: — Above, grayish-brown, the feathers more or less bordered 

 with rusty ; the scapulars and upper tail-coverts with concealed white 

 spots ; the occiput blackish, with the bases of the feathers white, and 

 the pileum and nape streaked with rusty. Tail grayish-brown, tipped 

 with whitish, and crossed by four bands of brownish-black or dusky. 

 Lower parts white, longitudinally striped with clear dusky brown ; the 

 shafts black. 



[Colors in life: — Iris varying from greenish-white to chrome-yellow ; 

 bill blackish terminally, pale blue basally; tarsi and toes varying from 

 very pale greenish-yellow to lemon-yellow ; claws slate-black.] 



Variations. — The extent of individual variation in this species, though 

 very considerable, is limited by the terms of the above diagnosis. 

 Adult males vary as follows : — 



No. 10,086, Washington, D. C (type of description of N. cooijeri^ adult 

 male^ in Baird, Brewer, and Eidgway's History North American Birds, 

 vol. iii, p. 230) : — Forehead, crown, and occiput blackish-plumbeous, the 

 latter snowy- white beneath the surface ; rest of upper parts slaty- 

 plumbeous, the nape abruptly lighter than the occiput ; feathers of the 

 nape, back, scapulars, and rump with darker shaft-lines; scapulars 

 with concealed cordate and circular spots of white ; upper tail- coverts 

 sharply tipped with white. Tail more brownish than the rump, sharply 

 tipped with pure white, and crossed with three broad, sharply-defined 

 bands of black, the first of which is concealed, the last much broadest; 

 that portion of the shaft between the two exposed black bands white. 

 Lores grayish ; cheeks and throat white, with fine, hair-like shaft- 

 streaks of blackish ; ear-coverts and sides of neck more ashy and more 

 faintly streaked. Ground-color beneath pure white, but broken by 

 detached transverse bars of rich vinaceous-rufous, on the jugulum, 

 breast, sides, flanks, abdomen, andtibite; the white bar's everywhere 

 (except on sides of the breast) rather exceeding the rufous in width j 

 all the feathers (except tibial plumes) with distinct black shaft-lines ; 



