POQECETES.— COTUENICULTJS. 383 



lateral toes nearly equal to the middle toe without its claw, instead of shorter, and the 

 lateral tail-feathers outwardly white. 



P. grammineus is the only species of the genus which is widely distributed through- 

 out the United States, and is found in the uplands of Mexico during the winter 

 months. 



1. Pocecetes gramineus. 



Fringilla graminea, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 933 '. 



Pocecetes gramineus, Baird, Mex. Bound. Surv. ii. p. 15 'j Scl. P. Z. S. 1859, p. 379'; Dresser, 



Ibis, 1865, p. 487'; Duges, La Nat. i. p. 140=. 

 Pooecetes gramineus var. confinis, Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. i. p. 545°; Sennett, Bull. 



U. S. Geol. Surv. iv. p. 17'. 



Supra soHstaoeo-fuseus, pluma singula stria fusoo-nigra brunneo limbata medialiter notata, vertice et cervice 

 postica sicut dorso striata sed striis angustioribus, loris et oiliis albicantibus ; alis et Cauda fusco-nigi-is 

 griseo-fusco limbatis, illis albido indistincte bifaseiatis, tectrieibus minoribus caataneis, bujus rectricibus 

 duabus utrinque externis albis, extima pro majore parte ; rostro corneo, mandibula pallida, pedibus cameis. 

 Long, tota 6-0, alse 3"4, caudse 2-7, tarsi 0-85, dig. med. cum ungue 0-85. (Descr. maris ex Oaxaca, 

 Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 



Hah. NoBTH AmeeicaI, United States generally, Texas 4''^. — Mexico, Tamaulipas 

 (Couch^), Boca Grande, Espia {Kennerly ^), Guanajuato (Duges ^^), Oaxaca 

 [Boucard ^), Jalapa {de Oca, Edge). 



P. gramineus has been divided into an eastern and a western race, and it is the 

 latter, P. g. confinis, which we find in Mexico. The difference is very slight between 

 the two, and lies in the western bird being of paler greyer plumage and the black 

 streaks narrower. 



Though widely distributed in Mexico, this species has been little noticed, and seems 

 to have escaped Sumichrast's observation, though found near Jalapa, Avithin the 

 district the birds of which he specially studied. So far as the records on our specimens 

 go, it would seem that P. gramineus is a winter visitor to Mexico, and migrates thence 

 northwards on the approach of the breeding-season. 



In the United States P. gramineus is a very well-known bird, frequenting grassy 

 country, and is a characteristic bird of the grassy slopes of the Eocky Mountains ^. Its 

 song is described as simple, but of sweet tone. It builds on the ground a simply con- 

 structed nest of dry grass-stems, with a lining of softer materials of the same description. 

 The eggs are greenish white marked with spots of various sizes and lines of various 

 shades of reddish and purplish brown ^. 



COTUENICULUS. 



Co^MmfcMto,. Bonaparte, Comp. List, p. 32 (1838) ; Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B. i. p. 548 ; 

 Coues, Key N. Am. B. ed. 3, p. 365. 

 The birds usually associated in this genus are separable into two sections, one of 

 which, C. passerims, is typical, has the tail-feathers narrow with acute tips, the crown 



