58 BLACK-THROATED GREY WARBLER. 



tip acute. Gape-line slightly arched ; nostrils basal, oval, opereulate, 

 partially concealed by the feathers. 



Head of ordinary size, ovato-oblong ; neck short; body slender. 

 Feet of ordinary length, slender ; tarsus rather long, compressed, ante- 

 riorly covered w^ith seven long scutella, of which the upper are blended 

 behind with two long plates, meeting so as to form a sharp edge ; 

 toes short, slender, free, the outer united as far as the second joint ; 

 the hind toe proportionally large, the inner toe shorter than the outer ; 

 claws arched, of moderate length, much compressed, laterally grooved, 

 very acute, that of the hind toe much stouter. 



Plumage soft, blended, without gloss. "Wings of moderate length, 

 little convex, pointed ; the outer three quills nearly equal, the second 

 longest, the fourth little shorter than the third, the outer primaries ra- 

 pidly graduated ; secondaries narrow, the outer rounded and slightly 

 emarginate, the inner not elongated. Tail rather long, slightly 

 rounded and emarginate, of twelve rather narrow and weak feathers. 



Bill and feet black. Iris brown. The general colour of the upper 

 parts is bluish-grey, streaked with black, of the lower white, the sides 

 marked with narrow black streaks ; the upper part of the head and 

 nape, the loral space and cheeks, and the fore part of the neck, with a 

 small portion of the breast, black ; a band from near the nostrils to 

 near the eye yellow ; a band of white over the eye, and another from 

 the lower mandible along the side of the neck, white. The wings, 

 and tail are blackish-brown, the feathers edged with bluish-grey ; two 

 bands of white on the wing, formed by the tips of the first row of pri- 

 mary coverts, and the outer edges of the secondary coverts ; the outer 

 margin of the first quill is also white ; as are those of the outer two 

 feathers of the tail, with the greater part of the inner web of the outer 

 three. 



Length to end of tail 5 ; bill along the ridge 1*2 ; wing from 

 flexure 2f^ ; tail 2 ; tarsus 1% ; hind toe ||, its claw {^ ; middle toe 

 II, its claw 1%. 



The above description is taken from a male shot by Dr Townsend, 

 on the 16th June 1835, on the Columbia River. A male shot by him 

 on the 28th October of the same year, differs only in being of a more 

 uniform bluish-grey above, the black spots being concealed by the 

 elongated filaments, and there being more grey than black on the head. 



