BIRDS 



345 



Geospiza conirostris conirostris Rothschild and Hartert, Novit. Zool., 

 VI, p. 158, 1899 (Hood Island). 



Range. — Hood and Gardner near Hood. 



The collection contains sixteen adult males mostly in pure black 

 plumage. One bird, however, has the primaries almost reddish-brown, 

 contrasting strongly with the rest of the plumage including the ter- 

 tiaries. This bird is moulting and besides the brown wing feathers it 

 has a few brown feathers scattered about over the back. One male 

 having a black bill is in a plumage intcKmediate between Stages IV 

 and V of G. fuliginosa. 



Adult Females. — The adult female differs greatly from the fe- 

 males of other species in being as black as males of other species 

 in Stage V. Upper parts blackish or blackish-brown, feathers 

 of the middle of the back with grayish or light brown edgings. 

 Primaries and secondaries brown, edged with rusty, in strong contrast 

 with the black of the dorsum. Tertiaries black, edged with buffy 

 gray. Rectrices sooty brown, sometimes edged with rusty. Sides 

 and lower part of head, throat and breast black or blackish-brown. 

 Feathers of lower breast, abdomen, sides and crissum with sooty 

 brown central areas and wide buffy gray margins, giving a strongly 

 streaked appearance to these parts. Bill blackish-brown above^ jialer 

 brown below, blackish at tip and base. Feet blackish-brown. 



There are four immature males and three immature females in the 

 collection. The bills are black above, but are almost entirely pale 

 below, the lower mandible having black only about the base and at 

 the tip. These birds are evidently, judging from the condition of 

 the bill and the general appearance of the feathers, but recently 

 from the nest, i. e., they correspond in age with Stage I of G. fulig- 

 inosa and G. fortis. They are in a plumage, however, very sim- 

 ilar to that of the adult female except that they have certain char- 

 acteristic marks of the young. The head all around, back, throat and 

 breast are black or blackish-brown, the feathers of the back are edged 

 more or less with buff. The wings are sooty brown. The middle 

 and greater wing coverts are widely edged with rusty buff, a character 

 belonging only to Stage I of other species. The abdomen, sides and 

 under tail coverts are heavily streaked with blackish or sooty brown 

 on the central parts of the feathers, the marginal parts of the feathers 

 being buffy white. 



This species was abundant on Hood in May. Their song was 

 considerably different from that of other species of Geospiza and in 

 itself presented a large amount of variation. One bird was heard sing- 



