386 



SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — PA SSEBES — OSCINES. 



284. 



385. 



87. 



Fri. -45 — ^o\SI'^Ilo^\ reiluLcd (biiniii u i del 

 P. i. schista'cea. (Lat. schistacea, slaty 



obsolete, — thus giving a utiiform and continuous ruddy-olive tone, becoming more foxy-red on 

 the rump, vi'iugs, and tail. Wing-bars obsolete. Beneath, white, thickly marked, excepting 

 on the middle of the belly, with triangular spots of about the same dark color as the back, — 

 aggregated on the breast, and the entire sides of the neck and body almost like the back iu 

 uuifcjrmity of the coLir, but still showing ill-defined confluent dark reddish-brown streaks on a 



more olive-brown ground. Choelcs 

 and auriculars with some whitish 

 speckling. No obvious mark- 

 ings on wings. Bill dusky ab(jve, 

 apparently reddish or yellowish 

 below ; feet reddish-brown. Size 

 of iliaca, but very diflerent-locdc- 

 ing in color, and somewhat differ- 

 ently proportioned ; wing aver- 

 aging 8.25, and tail scarcely or 

 not shorter; bill about 0.50; 

 hind claw the same, and as long 

 as its digit. A curious form, re- 

 lated to iliaca much as Melospisa 

 rufina is to the Eastern song spar- 

 row. Pacific coast region, from 

 Alaska to California, breeding in 

 mountains and northward. (P. 

 townsendi And. Auct.) 

 Gr. o-;^icrTof, scliistos, fissile or cleft, as slate-stone 

 is; the allusion, however, is to the color.) Slate-colored Fox Sparrow. S>9- General 

 color above uniform slate with a slight olive tinge, becoming dull foxy-red on the wings and 

 tail; the streaking of the back obsolete, but whitish wing bars sometimes indicated. Below, 

 white, shaded along the sides with the color of the back, but not so as to obscure the decided 

 markings of the parts ; the under parts at large spotted and streaked with dusky-brown, usually 

 aggregated into a blotch on the breast. This is the connecting link between iliaca and una- 

 lascensis; the upper parts are nearly of the slaty-ash that forms the ground color of iliaca, 

 only the foxy streaks of the back are obsolete. The spotting below is correspondingly darker. 

 The form has, however, some peculiarities : tail decidedly longer iu comparison with the M'ings. 

 Length about 7.00; wing 3.00-3.25; tail 3.35-3.60; bill 0.45; tarsus 0.90. Rocky Mt. 

 region, chiefly, but noted from Kansas to California. 



P. i. megarhyn'cha. (Gr. iiiyas, megas, great ; pvyxot, rhugchos, rliynchus, beak.) Large- 

 billed Fox Sparrow. Coloration as in P. schistacea. Tail at maximuur length, averaging 

 at the extreme of that of schistacea; claws and beak very highly developed ; bill very thick, its 

 depth at base 0.50, rather more than its length from nostril to tip; hind claw longer than its 

 dii;it. A local race of the last, in the mountains of California and Nevada. 

 CALAMOSPI'ZA. (Gr. xaXafiof, kalamos, Lat. calamus, a reed ; crm^a, spiza, a finch.) Lark 

 Buntings. Bill large and stout ax base, the culmen a little curved, the commissure well 

 angulated ; rictus bristly. Wing long and pointed : tip formed by the lst-4th quills, rest 

 rapidly graduated ; inner secondaries enlarged and flowing, one of them about reaching the 

 point of the wing when closed. Tail shorter than wing, nearly even. Feet stout, adapted to 

 teiTeatrial habits; tarsus about as long as middle toe and claw ; lateral toes nearly equal to each 

 other, scarcely reaching the base of the middle claw; hind claw about as long as its digit, but not 

 straightened. A well-marked genus, with wing-structure reminding one of Anthus or Alauda; 

 the turgid strongly-angulated biU resembles that of a grosbeak. Sexes very dissimilar; ^ 

 black and white. 



