98 



BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



blackish; middle and greater wing-coverts tipped with whitish and 

 tertials more or less edged with same; basal portion of remiges (espe- 

 cially secondaries) and rectrices pale yellow, mostly (often entirely) 

 concealed; under parts dull white, everywhere (except on abdomen 

 and anal region) streaked, more or less distinctly (usually conspicuously, 

 sometimes very broadly, rarely indistinctly), with dusky. 



Youn;/. — Similar to adults but wing-coverts tipped with buffy; 

 under parts often (but not always) tinged with sulphur yellow. 



Adult w«/^.— Length (skins), 106.68-123.19 (115.57); wing, 69.09- 

 Y6.20 (73.15); tail, 39.88-16.48 (43.69); exposed culmen, 9.65-11.18 

 (10.67); depth of bill at base, 5.84-7.11 (6.35); tarsus, 12.70-14.99 

 (14. 22); "middle toe, 10.67-12.19 (11.18).^ 



Adult female.— L,ength (skins), 107.44-130.81 (116.59); wing, 66.80- 

 75.44 (71.63); tail, 40.64-45.97 (43.18); exposed culmen, 9.91-11.94 

 (10.67); depth of bill at base (two specimens), 6.35-6.60; tarsus, 12.95- 

 15.24 (14.22); middle toe, 10.67-12.45 (11.43).' 



Northern coniferous forest districts of North America, breeding 

 south to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, parts of New England, lower 

 Hudson Valley (Sing Sing, Cornwall on Hudson, etc.), mountains of 

 Pennsylvania, and southward to high mountains of North Carolina, 

 Minnesota, etc. , and on the high western ranges quite to the southern 

 boundary of the United States; in winter, south to the Gulf coast 

 (including Florida and Texas), valleys of California, etc., and into 

 Mexico; casual or accidental in Cuba. 



' Twenty-two specimens. 

 '' Twenty-one speoLmens. 



Specimens from the Atlantic, Rocky Mountain, and Pacific coast districts compare 

 in average measurements as follows: 



Although specimens from the Rocky Mountain district appear to have the tail 

 decidedly shorter and the bill smaller than those from the Atlantic and Pacific dis- 

 tricts (which are practically identical in measurements), it is possible that a larger 

 series would show differently. I am unable to discover any color differences. The 

 individual variation in the latter respect is very great, but I have failed to make out 

 any correlation between these variations of coloration and geographic areas, both 

 the darkest and the palest, the brownest and the grayest, or those with heaviest 

 streaks on under parts, and those with these streaks almost obsolete, often occurring 

 in the same locality. 



