30 BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



d. Maxilla conspicuously shallower than mandible; gonys not longer than 

 mandibular rami; claws distinctly arched; secondaries mostly white. 



Passerina^ (p. 146) 



dd. Maxilla not conspicuously shallower than mandible; gonys longer than 



mandibular rami; claws small (especially the anterior ones), slightly 



curved or nearly straight; secondaries without any white, or with merely 



the inner webs edged with this color. 



e. Bill comparatively small and slender (depth at base decidedly less than 



distance from nostril to tip of maxilla); gonys shorter than hallux 



(without claw), its base about midway between base of mandibular 



rami and point of mandible; tail more than two-thirds as long as wing. 



Calcarius (p. 154) 

 ee. Bill large and stout (depth at base nearly or quite equal to distance from 

 nostril to tip of maxilla) ; gonys decidedly longer than hallux (without 

 claw), its base nearer to base of mandibular rami than to point of man- 

 dible; tail much less than two-thirds as long as wing. 



Shynchopli^nes (p. 164) 

 ce. Hallux distinctly larger or stouter than inner toe, its claw distinctly arched, 

 usually shorter than the digit, or if not shorter, stout; scutellaof toes rela- 

 tively longer, less prominent, and pads on under surface narrower, less 

 corrugated;/' claws of anterior toes normally large and curved; nasal fossse 

 not wholly, if at all, covered by antrorse latero-f rental plumules; wing-tip 

 less than one-third the total length of wing. 

 d. Conspicuously crested.' [Cardinalesi.) 

 e. Culmen etrongly curved; maxilla conspicuously shallower than mandible, 

 its tomium deeply incised in middle portion; distinctly toothed angle 

 of mandibular tomium but little if any posterior to middle portion; dis- 

 tance from nostril to tip of maxilla less than basal width of mandible. 



Pyrrhuloxia ''p. 624) 

 ee. Culmen slightly or moderately curved; maxilla not distinctly, if at all, 

 shallower than mandible, its tomium not deeply, if at all, incised (if 

 incised the incision decidedly posterior to middle portion); slightly 

 toothed angle of mandibular tomium decidedly posterior to middle 

 portion; distance from nostril to tip of maxilla equal to or greater than 



basal width of mandible Cardinalia (p. 629) 



dd. Not conspicuously, if at all, crested. 

 e. Wing-tip equal to or longer than tarsus; wing more than 76.20 mm. 



'In all external structural characters except the bill, Passerina is very closely 

 similar to Leucostide, while in its style of plumage it greatly retembles the genus 

 Monti fringilla, a very near ally of Leucostide. Whether these very close resem- 

 blances to two unquestionable true finches (Fringillse) indicate real affinity or merely 

 adaptation to similar habits (all three inhabiting, during summer, cliffs and other 

 rocky places), I am unable to say. I believe, -however, that Passerina is really 

 a "finch," and not, as commonly supposed, a "bunting." Whether Calcarius and 

 Rhynchophanes (which are meadow birds) are really closely related to Passerina, I am 

 somewhat doubtful. 



'' See footnote on page 29. 



3 From here on the arrangement is mainly artificial, easy identification of the genera 

 being the chief aim. The genera are kept in what appear to be natural groups as far 

 as this has been found practicable, but I am compelled to acknowledge my inability to 

 clearly define all the groups that appear to be natural ones, and no effort is made to 

 arrange the genera or groups of genera in the sequence that seems to be most appro- 

 priate, and which is followed in the body of the work. (See footnote on page 28. ) 



