sarrows golden eye. 183 



of head and back of neck. A narrow white collar at base of 

 neck. Upper parts, brownish black; feathers of back, margined 

 with light gray. White patch on wing, crossed by a black bar. 

 Lesser wing coverts, tipped with white. Upper part of breast, 

 sides, and flanks, blue gray; feathers, edged with grayish white. 

 Rest of under parts, white. Bill, horn color, paler in some speci- 

 mens than in others, at times almost verging into yellow, with a 

 spot on the culmen, and the edge of maxilla, and the nail, black 

 or brownish black. Legs and feet, pale orange; webs, dusky. 

 Wing, 8 j% inches; culmen, 6^; height of bill at base, y'^; width at 

 base, -}^; width of nail, ^; tarsus, i^. As a rule the bill of the 

 female of this species is much shorter and higher at the base for its 

 relative length, as well as narrower when viewed from above, than 

 is that of the female of the Golden Eye. Mr. Ridgway distin- 

 guishes the two species by the height of the maxilla as compared 

 with the distance from the feathered edge at the base of the bill to 

 the farthest or anterior edge of the nostril. In this species these 

 measurements would be equal. Whether this character would 

 hold good in a large series of specimens, I am unable to say, for 

 there is a great variation in the size of the bills, but generally, I 

 believe that this method of separating the females of these 

 species can be relied on. 



Downy Young. — Top and sides of head, chocolate brown, 

 darkest on head. Neck, chest, and flanks, pale brown. Throat 

 and under parts, white. 



