HEDTMELES.— CAEDINALIS. 339 



Territory. Its habits are described as resembling those of its congener, H. ludovicianus ; 

 it is also said to have a song, of which many writers speak in high praise, of similar 

 quality. The eggs of this species are of a bluish-green ground, blotched and splashed 

 with markings of a rusty brown, more numerous at the larger end. The nest consists of 

 a few sticks and weeds loosely put together and lined with grass and roots ^^. 



The most southern record we have of H. melanocephalus is Oaxaca ^. Our specimen 

 from there is a male of the typical form. 



Of the synonyms of this species Fringilla xanthomaschalis, Wagler ^^, is simply a sub- 

 stitute for Swainson's older title. F. ejpopcea, Lichtenstein ^^, was proposed apparently 

 in ignorance of the bird being already described. Pitylus guttatus, Lesson i^, is in the 

 same category and is based on a male in Abeille's collection. 



CAEDINALIS. 



Cardinalis, Bonaparte, Saggio di una Distr. Met. An. "Vert. p. 53 (1831) ; Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. 

 N. Am. B. 11. p. 98. 



The bright-red plumage of the males of the species of this genus renders it easily recog- 

 nized, in addition to which the form of the wings, tail, &c. all points to its complete 

 isolation, except from the next genus, which has peculiarities of its own. Cardinalis 

 contains two well-defined species, C. mrginianus and G. phceniceus, the latter coming from 

 Venezuela, and not found within our borders. C. mrginianus, again, has been subdivided 

 into several races, two of which we, somewhat reluctantly, here admit under separate 

 headings, at least until their status is more definitely fixed. Of these races one seems to 

 be the true C. virginianus of the Eastern States, visiting Eastern Mexico ia its winter 

 migration. In Western Mexico we find two forms, one apparently the same as that 

 found in Lower California and other parts of the western territory. This has been called 

 by Prof. Baird C. igneus. Whether the birds found at Mazatlan belong to this race is 

 not absolutely certain ; and there seems to be a still further divergence in the bird of 

 the Tres Marias Islands, especially in the development of its bill. At Acapulco and 

 its immediate neighbourhood another race is found, distinguishable with much more 

 certainty by its pure red back and long stiff crest. This was long ago described by 

 Lesson as C. carneus. 



C. phceniceus of Venezuela, though similarly coloured to C. virginianus, can at once 

 be distinguished by its bill being dark slate-colour instead of red, and by the restriction 

 of the black of the throat. This bird was described as coming from countries south of 

 the Bay of Honduras, but it has no place in our fauna. 



The bill in Cardinalis virginiamus is large, the culmen but slightly curved, and the 

 commissure sinuated. The mandible is about the same height as the maxilla, but 

 broader. The tarsi are moderately long, longer than the middle toe, which with the rest 

 of the toes is short ; the claws are slender and curved. The wing is rounded, the third, 

 fourth, fifth, and sixth quills being the longest, the first being about equal to the 



43* 



