BIRDS. 



213 



by the syllables ^^ pist4S-t6e," uttered in a hissing tone. Prom 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 pi8tS4 tainen, as he starts 

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

 following characters will serve to distinguish the two : 



P. HUDSONICCS. 



Crown dark smoky brown. 



Back brownish, mnch lighter than crown, and of a 

 more fiilvous 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 large 

 flank-patch of dull vinaceous-brown. 



The average dimensions of a series of these birds, 

 numbering fourteen are : length of wing 2.57 ; 

 tail, 2.73 ; tarsus, .65 ; culmen, .36. 



P. CINCTCS. 



» 



Crown ashy-brown, rather dark. 

 Back a lighter shade of the same, washed with very 



pale fulvous. 

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



sometimes forming a very slight nuchal 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 



stouter and heavier than in hudsonicus, although 



there is a considerable amount of individual 



variation in this respect in both species. 

 A series of nine specimens average : length of wing^ 



2.65; tail, 2.81; tarsus, .62; cnlmen, .30. 



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

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

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

 be referred to the variety grieescens 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 crown, in the latter specimens, is very similar in shade to the crown of P. hudson- 

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

 cinctus than in hudsonicus, and much more marked in ductus than in obteetus. 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 hudsonicus. In obteetus 

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

 specimens is but little darker than in cinctus proper, while the flanks are invariably 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 crown and back is generally char- 

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

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

 the clear silver ashy-gray of the 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 : 



Outside of certain differences in proportions, as shown in the measurements given, obteetus may 

 be said to differ from typical cinctus very much as septentrionalis varies from typical atrieapillus. 



Pabus hudsonicus Foest. Hudsonian 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 Eiver regions to the northern tree- 

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



