218. 
72. 
219. 
356 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES — OSCINES. 
tinuously-black, and the black of the crown extending below the eyes, enclosing the olive 
under eyelid. Mexican border and southward. This bird looks quite unlike typical psaltria, 
but the gradation through var. arizone is perfect; and mexicana, moreover, leads directly into 
var. columbiana, a Central American form in which 
the tail-spots are very small or wanting. The 
females of these several varieties cannot be distin- 
guished with certainty. ° 
A. nota/‘tus. (Lat. notatus, noted in any way.) 
BLACK-HEADED GoLprFincy. 4, adult: Bright 
yellow, obscured on the back, head all around glossy 
black, extending on fore-breast ; wings black, with 
large basal area on all the quills yeilow, forming a 
conspicuous patch ; tail black, basal half or more of 
all the feathers but the middle pair yellow. Wing y 
2.70; tail 1.80; bill extremely acute, much as in Fic. 222,— Mexican Goldfinch, reduced. 
Carduelis or Chrysomitris proper. South and Cen- (After Audubon.) 
tral Am. and Mexico, a straggler in.U. 8. (2 ‘‘ Kentucky,” Audubon.) 
PLECTRO/PHANES. (Gr. aAnkrpov, plectron, a certain instrument; gaivw, I appear; 
alluding to the hind claw.) Bill very small and truly conic, well exhibiting ‘‘ emberizine” or 
“bunting” characters; i. e., strong angulation of commissure; inflected cutting edges; a 
palatal knob. Culmen slightly curved; gonys perfectly straight, and very short, less in length 
than width of bill; lower mandible heavier than upper. A dense nasal ruff. Wings very long 
and pointed; Ist or lst and 2d quills longest, rest rapidly graduated. Tail’ 4 shorter than 
wings, nearly square. Tarsus longer than middle toe without claw; lateral toes of subequal 
lengths, and much shorter than the middle one. Claws slender and compressed, with deep 
lateral grooves at base ; hind claw lengthened and less curved than the rest, but not straight. 
Gullet very distensible. Sexes alike. Colors very different with season; in summer ¢ 
entirely black and white. One species, circeumpolar. Terrestrial, gregarious. 
P, niva/lis. (Lat. nivalis, snowy ; nix, nivis, snow. Fig. 223.) Snow Buntinc. SNow- 
FLAKE. , in full dress: Pure white; the bill, feet, middle of back, scapulars, primaries 
except at base, most inner secondaries, bastard quills, and several tail-feathers, black. Length 
about 7.00 ; extent 12.50-13.00; wing 4.00-4.25 ; tail 2.50-2.75. In less perfect summer dress, 
black of the back, inner secondaries and tail- 
feathers varied with white. 9, in breeding 
plumage: The black impure or brownish, and 
most or all of the upper parts brownish-black, 
varied with white. Rather smaller. Dimen- 
sions of many specimens of both sexes: length 
6.50-7.00; extent 12.00-13.00; wing 4.00- 
4.25; tail 2.50-2.75; bill 0.40; tarsus 0.80; 
middle toe and claw 0.90; “hind toe and claw 
0.67-0.75; claw alone 0.33-0.44. Adults, in 
winter, as generally seen in the U. S. (where 
a =a black-and-white birds are rarely if even 
Fig. 223.— Snow Bunting, in summer, reduced. found): Upper parts overcast with rich warm 
(Sheppard del. Nichols sc.) chestnut-brown and grayish-brown, mixed 
with the black of the back, and clouding the other upper parts which are white in summer, 
becoming dusky or even blackish on the head; this brown also usually forming a patch on the' 
ears, a collar on the breast, edging of the inner wing- and tail-feathers, and a wash on the 
flanks; but specimens vary interminably; other parts white or black as in summer; bill 
