n 



FEINGILLIDiE, FINCHES, ETC. GEN. 72. 141 



streaks. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Cass., 111. 150, pi. 



23; Bd.,470; Coop., 203 bilineata. 



^ BelVs FincJi. No definite black about head, and edge of wing slightly 

 yellowish. Forehead, line over eye and edges of eyelids, inconspicuously 

 white. Below white, more or less tinged with pale brownish, the sides with 

 slight sparse streaks that anteriorly become aggregated into rather vague 

 maxillary stripes cutting oil' from the white throat a whitish line that runs 

 from the corner of the bill ; lores and circumocular region dusky. Aliove 

 grayish-brown, ashier on head, the crown and Ijack with small sparse sharp 

 black streaks ; wing coverts aud inner quills with much fulvous edging ; tail 

 black with slight pale edgings, the outer web of the outer feather simply 

 whitish. About 6 long; Aving and tail 3. Utah, New Mexico, Arizona aud 

 California. Bd.,470; Elliot, pi. 14; Coop., 204 bellii. 



72. Genus JUNCO Wagler. 



*jj.* Unspotted, unstreaked, tlie colors in large definite areas ; 2-3 outer tail 

 feathers ■while ; bill flesh-colored. Length, 6-7 ; wing and tail about 3. 

 \'\1 !'"'■ Snou-bird. Blackish-ash, below abruptly pure Avhite from the breast. In r 

 the 9 , and in fact in most fall and winter specimens, the upper parts have a 

 more grayish, or even a decidedly brownish cast, aud the inner quills arc 

 edged with pale bay. One of our most abundant and familiar sparrows, in 

 flocks, from October to April ; retires to high latitudes and UKjuntains, to 

 breed. Chiefly Eastern; but also found in Alaska (X'fl//), Washington 

 Territory [Sucldei/) aud Arizona (^Coues). A western variety has the mid- 

 dle and greater wing coverts tipped with white, forming two conspicuous 

 crossbars. Wils., ii, 129, pi. 16, f. 6; Nutt., i, 491; Aud., iii, 88, 



pi. 187; Bd., 468 hyemalis. 



, f, ,',' Oregon iSnoiobird. Head and neck all round, and breast, black; middle 

 ' ' of back dull reddish-brown, and wings much ed<>'ed with the same ; below^ 

 from the breast abruptly wdiite, tinged on the sides with pale reddish-brown. 

 In the 9 aud young the black is obscured by bro\vuish, Ijut the species may 

 always be distinguished by an evident contrast in color between the inter- 

 scapulars and head, and the fulvous wash on the sides. Kocky Mountains 

 to the Pacific; as abundant there as hijemcdis is with us. Aud., iii. 91, 



pi. 168; Bd., 466; Coop., 199 oregonus. 



"< " ■ i„ Qinereous Snowbird. Clear grayish-ash, fading rather gradually into 

 white on belly ; interscapulars abruptly, definitely, chestnut or rusty-brown ; 

 lores blackish ; no fulvous wash on sides ; no chestnut on wings. Rocky 

 Mountains, U. S., and southward. Bd., 467, 468; Coop., 201; Coues, 

 Proc. Phila. Acad. 1866, 50. cinereus var. caniceps. 



Obs. The true cinereus, a Mexican bird, has the wing coverts edged with rustjr 

 like the back, the bill blaclc and yellow. Junco dorsalis Hexi;y, Proc. Phila. Acad. 

 1858, 117, is (xmicei^is approaching cinereus — perhaps a hj'brid. J. annectens Bd., in 

 Coop., 564, based on specimens I procured in Arizona, is intermediate between 

 oregonus and caniceps — in all probability a hybrid. See Coues, Proc. Acad. 



