HAPLOSPIZA.— AMPHISPIZA. 367 



of the description. It was contained in a collection transmitted to this country by 

 Sefior E. Montes de Oca. 



It is allied to the Brazilian H. mdcolor, from which it differs in being larger, with 

 a larger bill and longer wings and stronger feet. The general colour, too, is rather 

 <iarker. 



AMPHISPIZA. 



AmpMspisa, CoueSj Birds N. W. p. 234 (1874). 



Dr. Coues proposed this name for the two North American species previously known 

 as Poospiza hilineata and P. belli, Mr. Sclater having placed them in Poospiza in 

 1857. The type of the latter genus is P. nigro-mfa, a South American species, with 

 which are associated some ten or eleven others, all of them (with the exception of 

 P. honwpartii of Western Peru) from districts lying to the south of the basin of the 

 Amazons, the metropolis of the genus being the upper La Plata region and the 

 adjoining parts of Bolivia. 



From Poospiza, Amphispiza may be distinguished by the bill being somewhat stouter 

 and the culrnen towards the base more tumid and less sharp ; the sides of the maxilla 

 are also rather more tumid, but the differences are not so great as might be expected 

 from the wide difference of habitat. 



In this genus Mr. Ridgway has placed Zonotrichia quinquestriata, and we think 

 rightly so, but we 'do not follow him in associating Zonotrichia mystacalis in the sa e 

 genus, this bird being best placed in Hoemophila together with H. humeralis to which 

 it is evidently closely allied. Their very short rounded wings and long tails suggest 

 this position for them. 



The bill of A. bilineata is of moderate dimensions, rather acute, the tomia of the 

 maxilla is angular, the outer portion slightly concave ; the nostrils are exposed. 

 The wings are rounded, the 2nd,' 3rd, 4th, and 5th quills nearly equal and longest; 

 tail slightly rounded, nearly equal to the wings ; legs rather stout, the tarsus longer 

 than the middle toe and claw. 



A. quinguestriata conforms to these characters, but is a rather larger bird with a 

 more elongated bill. 



1. Amphispiza bilineata. 



Emberiza bilineata, Cassin, Pr. Ac. Phil. 1850, p. 104, t. 3 '. 



Poospiza bilineata, Scl. P.Z. S. 1857, p. 7"; Baird, U. S. Bound. Surv. ii. Birds, p. 15'; Baird, 



Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. i. p. 590'. 

 Amphispiza bilineata, Coues, Birds N. W. p. 334 ' ; Key N. Am. B. ed. 3, p. 375 " ; Semiett, Bull. 



U. S. Geo]. Surv. iv. p. 18 '; Belding, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. vi. p. 343 \ 



-Supra murinus fere unicolor, alis fusco-nigricantibus dorsi colore limbatis, cauda nigricante, rectricibus duabus 

 utrinque extemis albo terminatis, extima quoque in pogonio externo alba ; superciliia elongatis, ciHis 

 (pro parte), stria riotali pectoris, lateribus et abdomine toto albis ; genis griseis, loris et gutture toto nigris, 



