JUNCO. 373 



nostril is below a membrane which covers the upper part of the nasal fossa. The tarsus 

 and the middle toe, with its claw, are subequal ; the lateral toes subequal. The wings 

 are long, the second and third quills forming the point ; the first equals the fourth, and 

 the secondaries are short, the inner ones decreasing in length, and all of them shorter than 

 the shorter primaries. The tail is about the same length as the wings, and somewhat 

 rounded. The plumage of the adult is destitute of spots both above and below, and the 

 outer tail-feathers are more or less white on both webs. The young are thickly spotted 

 everywhere. 



1. Jnnco ciuereus. 



Fringilla cinerea, Sw. Phil. Mag. new ser. i. p. 435 \ 



Junco cinereus, Bp. Consp. Av. i. p. 486 " ; Cab. Mus, Hein. i. p. 134 ' ; Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, p. 306 * ; 



1858, p. 304 ^ 1859, p. 365 ^ 1864, p. 174 '; Sumichrast, Mem. Bost. Soc. N. H. i. 



p. 551 '; Dugfes, La Nat. i. p. 140'; Salv. Cat. Strickl. Coll. p. 2321° ; Eidgw. Auk, 1885, 



p. 363 ". 

 Junco phaonotus, Wagl. Isis, 1831, p. 526 '^ 

 Niphcea rufidorsis, LicM. Nomencl. p. 43 ". 



Supra cinereus, interscapulis, seeundariis extus et tectricibus alarum majoribus lagte rufis, alis et cauda nigri- 

 cantibus illis extus cinereo Hmbatis, hujus rectricibus utrinque tribus externis albo decrescente terminatis, 

 externa utrinque fere omnino alba, loris et capitis lateribus nigricantibus ; subtus paUide griseus ; rostri 

 maxilla nigricante cornea, mandibula flavicante, pedibus pallide corylinis. Long, tota 5'75, alae 3"1, caudae 

 2*8, rostri a rictu 0*5, tarsi 0-85. (Descr. exempl. ex Jalapa, Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 



Av. juv. undique nigricante maculato. 



Hob. Mexico {Mann'^"), Temiscaltepec {Bullock'^), Guanajuato (Bug^s^), valley of 

 Mexico ( White ^), Alpine region of Vera Cruz {Sumichrast ^), El Jacale (Salle), 

 Jalapa (de Oca ^), La Parada [Boucard ^), Popocatepetl {de Saussure). 



Junco cinereus was described by Swainson from Bullock's specimens in 1827, and 

 since then the bird has been met with by most collectors who have worked in the high- 

 lands of Mexico. Sumichrast speaks of it as one of the most characteristic species of 

 the alpine region, being found in the mountains as high as 11,500 feet above the sea, 

 but not descending below 6500 feet. Its common name, he adds, " Echa-lumbre," sig- 

 nifies lightning-bird, because the popular belief is that its eyes are phosphorescent in 

 the dark ^. 



Mr. Ridgway, in a recently-published paper i^, divides J. cinereus into three races : 

 the present bird, /. c. dorsalis of New Mexico and Arizona, and J. c. palliatus from 

 Mount Graham, Arizona. The latter bird only differs from J. cinereus in the shade of 

 the grey of the upper parts of the head and neck and the intensity of the black of the 

 lores. In J. c. dorsalis the outer surface of the wing is ashy grey instead of rufous. 

 In his remarks Mr. Eidgway says that intermediate examples between /. dorsalis and 

 /. palliatus occur, but that the connecting links between these forms and the true 



