356 



SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — PA SSERES — OSCINES. 



72. 





FiG. 222. — Blexican 

 (After Audubon.) 



Goldfincb, reduced. 



tinuously-black, and the black of the crown extending below the eyes, enclosing the olive 

 under eyelid. Mexican border and southward. This bird looks quite unlike typical 2^saltria, 

 but the gradation through var. arizotim is perfect; and mexkcma, n]()reo\-er, leads directly into 

 var. colitmhiana, a Central American form in which 

 the tail-spots are very small or wanting. The 

 females of these several varieties cannot be distin- 

 guished with certainty. 

 218. A. nota'tus. (Lat. notatus, noted in any way.) 

 Hlack-heaiiei) Goldfinch. ^, adult: Bright 

 yellow, (jbscured on the back, head all around glossy 

 black, extending on fjre-breast ; wings black, with 

 large basal area on all the quills yellow, firming a 

 conspicuous patch ; tail black, basal half or more of 

 aU the feathers but the middle pair yellow. Wing 

 2.70 ; tail 1.80 ; bill extremely acute, much as in 

 Carduelis or Chrtjsomitris proper. South and Cen- 

 tral Am. and Me.\-ic(i, a straggler in U. S. (? "Kentucky," Andiibon.) 



PLECTRO'PHANES. (Gr. TrXrjKTpov, plectron, a certain instrument ; (palva, I appear ; 

 alluding to the hind claw.) Bill very suiall and truly conic, well exhibiting "cmberizine" or 

 "bunting" characters; i. e., strong angulation of commissure; iniiected cutting edges; a 

 palatal knob. Culmen slightly curved ; gonys perfectly straight, and very short., less in length 

 than width of bill ; lower mandible heavier than upper. A dense nasal ruff. Wings very long 

 and pointed ; 1st or 1st and 2d quills bjngest, rest rapidly graduated. Tail 4 shorter than 

 wings, nearly square. Tarsus longer than middle toe Avithout claw; lateral toes of subequal 

 lengths, and much shorter than the middle one. Claws slender and compressed, with deeji 

 lateral grooves at base ; hind claw lengthened and less curved than the rest, but not straight. 

 Gullet very distensible. Sexes alike. Colors very different with season ; in summer g 

 entirely black and white. One species, circumpolar. Terrestrial, gregarious. 

 319. P. niva'lis. (Lat. nivalis, snowy ; nix, nivis, snow. Fig. 223.) Snow^ Bunting. Snow- 

 flake. (J, in full dress: Pure white; the bill, feet, middle of back, scapulars, primaries 

 except at base, most inner secondaries, bastai'd quills, and several tail-feathers, black. Length 

 aliout 7.00 : extent 1 2..50-1.3.00 ; wing 4.00-i.2.5 ; tail 2.50-2.75. In less perfect summer dress, 



black of the back, inner secondaries and tail- 

 feathers varied with white. 9 ; in breeding 

 plumage: The black impure or brownish, and 

 most or all of the upper parts brownish-black, 

 varied with white. Rather smaller. Dimen- 

 sions of many specimens of both sexes : length 

 n. 50-7.00; extent 12.00-13.00; wing 4.00- 

 4.25; tail 2.50-2.75; bill 0.10; tarsus 0.80; 

 middle toe and claw 0.90 ; hind toe and claw 

 0.67-0.75; claw alone 0.33-0.1-4. Adults, in 

 winter, as generally seen in the IT. S. (where 



black-and-white birds are rarely if ever 



Fig 22.3. — Snow Bunting, In summer, reduced, found) : Upper parts overcast with rich warm 

 (Slieppard del, Nichols so.) chestnut-brown and grayish -brown, mixed 



with the black of the back, and clouding the other upper parts which are white in suinmer. 

 becoming dusky or even blackish on the head ; this brown also usually forming a patch on the 

 ears, a collar on the breast, edging of the inner wing- and tail-feathers, and a wash on tl.c 

 flanks ; but specimens vary internduably ; other parts white or black as in summer ; 1 'M 



