FRINGILLID^, FINCHES, ETC. GEN. 63. 



133 



Var. MEXiCANA, with the upper parts continuously black, and the black of the 

 crown extending below the eyes, enclosing the olive under eye-lid. Mexican 

 border and southward. Bd., 423 ; Coop., 

 1G9. This bird looks quite unlike typical 

 psaltria, but the gradation through var. 

 arizonoi is perfect ; and mexwana, more- 

 over, leads directly into var. colambiana, a 

 Central American form in which the tail- 

 spots are very small or wanting. The 

 females of these several varieties cannot be 

 distinguished with certainty. 



Obs. Chrysomitrts magellanica, a South 

 American species with the whole head black, 

 is said by Audubon to have been taken in 



Kentuckjr, where probably' it will not be found again. CIrrysomitris stardeyi and 

 C. yarrellii, of Audubou, were apparentljr cage-birds, improperly attributed to 

 North America. 



. 80. Jlexic:;!! Uoldfiach. 



Fio. 81. Foot iu Ceiitroph.ines. 



63. Genus PLECTROPHANES Meyer. 



/ - ^ Bill small, truly conic, rutted at base ; hind claw dccidedlj^ curved. 



j\-o' Snow Bunting. Snoiofialie. In breeding plumage, pure white, the liack, 



wings and tail variegated with black ; hill and feet black. As generally seen 

 in the United States, the white is clouded with clear, 'svarni brown, and the 

 bill is brownish. Length aljout 7 ; wing 4J ; tail 2f . Arctic America, 

 irregularly southward, iu flocks, in the winter, to about 35° ; but its move- 

 ments depend much on the weather. Wils., iii, 

 86, pi. 21 ; NuTT., i, 458 ; Add., iii, 55, pi. 155 ; 



Bd , 432 NIVALIS. 



* * Bill moderate, unrutfed, but with a little tuft of 

 feathers at the base of the rictus ; hind claw straight- 

 ish, with its digit longer than the middle toe and claw. 

 Sexes dissimilar ; $ with a cervical collar, and oblique white area on the outer tail 

 feathers ; 9 resembling some of the streaked sparrows. {Centroplinnes.) 



/ 2 ' Lcq)Jand Longspur. Adult $ : whole head and throat jet l)lack bordered 

 with butty or Avhitish which forms a postocular. line separating the black of 

 the crown from that of the sides of the head ; a broad chestnut cervical 

 collar ; upper parts in general blackish streaked with Ijuify or whitish that 

 edges all the feathers; below, whitish, the breast and sides black-streaked ; 

 wings dusky, the greater coverts and inner secondaries edged with dull bay ; 

 tail dusky with white areas as above mentioned ; bill 3'ellowish tipped with 

 hXadk, legs and feet blade. 6-6J ; wing 3|-3i ; tail2J-2f. Winter males 

 show less black on the head, and the cervical chestnut duller; the 9 and 

 young have no continuous black on the head, and the crown is streaked like 

 the back; but there are traces of the cervical collar, whilst the generic char- 

 acters will prevent confusion with any of the ordinary streaked s])arrows. 

 Arctic America, irregularly southward into the United States in winter, fre- 



