CHAEA.CTERS OF HAEPORHYNCHUS CINEREUS 



69 



THE history of this bird is short, if not also in keeping 

 with the rest of the familiar quotation. That it should 

 have been overlooked by all the earlier explorers in Arizona 

 is probably a result of its extremely local distribution ; in 

 fact, it is only known to inhabit a very restricted krea in South- 

 ern Arizona, in the vicinity of Tucson. It was discovered in 

 1872 by the zealous collector whose name it bears in recogni- 

 tion of the services he has rendered in developing the orni- 

 thology of the Southwest. In the spring of 1873, while at Port 

 Randall, Dakota, I received specimens from Lieutenant Beii- 



rather purer and darker brown, the former crossed with two white bars 

 formed by the tip3 of the coverts, the latter tipped* with white. Below, dull 

 white, often tinged with rusty, especially behind, and thickly marked with 

 small, sharp, triangular spots of dark brown or blackish. These spots are 

 all perfectly distinct, and cover the lower parts excepting the throat, lower 

 belly, and crisanm. Becoming smaller anteriorly, they run up each side of 

 the throat in a maxillary series bounding the immaculate area. The sides of 

 the head are finely speckled, and the anriculars streaked. The bill is black, 

 lightening at the base below, and little if any longer than that of H. rafus, 

 though decidedly curved. Length of g about 10 inches ; wing, 4 ; tail, 4 J ; 

 bill, li ; tarsns, 1 J ; middle toe and claw, IJ. 2 averaging rather smaller. 



Pio. 11.— Head of Saint Lucas Thrasher, nat. size. 



Young : In a newly-fledged specimen, the upper parts are strongly tinged 

 with rnsty-brown, and this color also edges the wings and tips the tail. 



The striking resemblance of this species to the Mountaiu Mockingbird, 

 (Oroscoptes montatms) has been noted. The species is immediately distin- 

 guished from any others of the United States by the sharpness of the spot- 

 ting underneath, which equals that of H. rufus itself, the small and strictly 

 triangular character of the spots, together with the grayish-brown of the 

 upper parts, and inferior dimensions. The bill is shaped much as in curvi- 

 rostris and palmeri. S. ocellaius of Mexico is even more boldly marked 

 below, but the spots are large, rounded, and black. 



