MiMrs. 49 



The upper parts are ashy, with a tinge of brown, the color purest on top of 

 head. The lores are dusky. The under parts are white, purest on throat 

 and middle of belly ; a tinge of ashy across the breast, of yellowish-bro^n 

 or faint fulvous on flanks and orissum. There are some obscure shaft streaks 

 of brown on the flanks, mostly concealed under the wings. There is a slight 

 indication of a dusky stripe on each side of the chin, caused by a range of short 

 black bristles, the feathers themselves not appearing to be colored. 



The wings and tail are dark brown, not black ; the large feathers edged 

 externally with ashy. There are two bands of white on the wing on the tips 

 of the greater and middle coverts ; the ends of the secondaries are also edged 

 with white. In addition to this the basal portion of all the primaries is 

 white, restricted to the extreme base in the outer ones, and encroaching suc- 

 cessively in the rest until in the three innermost ones it occupies the basal 

 two-thirds of the feather, or more, extending farthest forward on the inner 

 web, the shafts remaining black. Tlie small coverts overlying the bases of 

 the primaries are also white, with a brown streak near the ends ; this forms 

 a conspicuous white patch on the outer surface of the wing. 



The outer tail feather is white, slightly mottled in one or two places with 

 brown, especially along tlie shaft neai^he end, and towards the base of the 

 inner web. The next feather is white at the extreme base, and for about the 

 terminal third of the inner web, and the end of the outer web. The third 

 has a similar but much smaller patch of white along the middle of the inner 

 web near the end ; the fourth has no white. The bill and legs are black. 



The markings of the wings are as described in most specimens, although 

 in some the amount of white is less. There is, however, considerable diff'er- 

 ence in the white of the tail feathers. In a small proportion only of the 

 whole number examined from eastern North America, is the outer feather 

 pure white, and again sometimes the faint mottling on the inner web near the 

 middle web becomes a conspicuous dusky patch. In several specimens the 

 whole inner web of the second feather is white, with slight mottling along a 

 portion of the Inner edge (32,162). In 12,445 the white spot in the end of 

 the 3d feather extends along the inner side of the shaft into a patch at the 

 base. In this specimen the outer feather is entirely white ; the whole inner 

 web and the basal portion of the outer web of the second. ,In all the speci- 

 mens before me the outer web of the second tail feather is black, except at 

 the extreme base and tip. In none is there any white on the fourth feather. ' 



No. 12,511. Length, 9.00; wing, 4.10; tail, 4.90, its graduation, .70; 1st 

 primary, 1.50; 2d primary, 2.70; bill from above, .63, from nostril, .50; 

 tarsus, 1.25 ; middle toe and claw, 1.00; claw, .30. 



' Since writing the preceding description, I have met with one specimen 

 (19,089, male, from Arkansas) which differs very considerably from any other 

 I have seen in an unusual amount of white, which extends farther along 

 the primaries so as to be very conspicuous. Tlie two outer tail feathers are 

 entirely white, except a slight edging at the end of the second ; the third is 

 white on the shaft and along the greater part of the inner web. The fourth 

 has a small white patch on the end. The dimensions are : Length, 10.00 ; 

 wing, 4.70 ; tail, 5.00. 



4 July, 1864. 



