LEUCOSTICTE. 393 



often more yellowish, beneath ; wings and tail as in male, hut duller black. 

 Young : Pale olivaceous, more dingy whitish, tinged with yellowish, be- 

 neath, everywhere streaked with dusky ; wings and tail much as in adults. 

 Length 6.00-6.50, wing 3.50, tail 2.60. Sab. Northern North America, 

 breeding from northern New England and higher northern Eocky Moun- 

 tains northward; south, in winter, to or beyond lat. 40°. 



522. L. leucoptera Gmel. White-winged Crossbill. 



Genus LEUCOSTICTE Swainson. (Page 383, pi. CVL, figs. 4, 5.) 



Species. 



Common Characters. — Adult : Plumage uniform brownish, above and below, 

 (sometimes slightly broken by whitish or reddish tips to the feathers) ; tail-coverts 

 dusky, broadly tipped with rose-pink, or else pale hoary gray or silvery white, 

 with darker shaft-streaks. In summer, bill entirely deep black, feathers of anterior 

 lower parts without paler tips or margins, and red tints brighter. In winter, bill 

 yellow, tipped with blackish, feathers of anterior lower parts tipped or margined 

 terminally with whitish, the red tints of a pinkish hue. Young : Plain brownish, 

 without black or gray on head or rosy tips to tail-coverts, etc. Nest built among 

 rocks, ■bulky, composed of grasses, etc., lined with soft feathers. Eggs pure white, 

 without markings. 



a 1 . Sides of lower mandible with a distinct oblique ridge near base ; tail-feathers, 

 primaries, secondaries, greater wing-coverts, and primary coverts dusky, 

 edged with paler ; tail-coverts dusky, broadly tipped with rose-pink in adults. 

 (Subgenus Leucosticte.) 

 b 1 . Nasal tufts white. 



c 1 . Head of adult partly ash-gray. 



d 1 . Tarsus .85, or more, culmen .50, or more ; wing usually more than 

 4.30, tail usually more than 3.30. 



Adult : Forehead and fore-part of crown black; throat dusky; 

 rest of head uniform ash-gray ; general color of plumage 

 dark chocolate-brown, with a chestnut cast on breast, the 

 feathers of posterior portions tipped with rose-pink. 

 Young: Uniform grayish brown, more or less washed 

 with a more umber tint ; wings and tail dusky slate, the 

 feathers bordered with paler; edges of greater wing-coverts 

 and tertials dull buffy; no trace of pink on tail-coverts, 

 etc., or of gray or black on head. Length about 7.50-8.50, 

 wing 4.20-4.85 (4.49), tail 3.15-3.90 (3.49), culmen .50-.62 

 (.57), tarsus .85-1.00 (.95). Eggs .95 X -67. Sab. Aleutian 

 and Prybilof Islands, Alaska ; west to Commander Islands, 

 Kamtschatka, east to Kadiak. 



523. L. griseonucha (Brandt). Aleutian Leucosticte. 

 50 



