392 FRINGTLLIDiE. 



Peuceea ruficeps eremmca, N. C. Brown^ Bull. Nutt. Orn, Club, vii. pp. 26, 38 °. 

 Ammodromus ?, Scl. P. Z. S. 1857, p. 214 '. 



Snpra cinerea, plumis medialiter brunneis cinereo late marginatis ; pileo fere omnino rufa cinereo intermixto, 

 vitta verticali indistincta, linea superciliari ante ooulos et oculorum ambitu albis, genis efc cervicis 

 lateribus pure eineriis ; remigibus et rectricibus intus nigricantibus extus brunnescente-cinereo marginatis, 

 secundariis brunnescentioribus et latins marginatis, teotricibus extus dorso fere concoloribus ; subtus 

 albicante-cinerea, gntture toto albo striga utrinque nigra ; ventre medio lactescente albo, utrinque cum 

 crisso fulvescente tincto j rostri maxilla nigra, mandibula cum ped.ibus paUidis, Long, tota 6*4, alae 2'7, 

 caudse 3-0, tarsi 0-8. (Descr. exempl. ex Puebla, Mexico. Mus. nostr.) 



Hob. NoETH America, Texas ^, Arizona. — Mexico, temperate region of Vera Cruz ^, 

 Puente Colorado^ (Sumichrast), Orizaba [Botten'^'^), Puebla^, Oaxaca^ [Boucard). 



Mr. Sclater based his description of this species upon a specimen from Puebla and 

 three from Orizaba, and though one of the latter seems to have been correctly 

 described in 'The History of North-American Birds,' the name P. boucardi has latterly 

 been associated by American authors with a bird from Arizona which is so slightly 

 separated from the Californian P. ruficeps that we doubt its being a definite race ; the 

 crown is of a slightly paler chestnut, and the dorsal feathers have less defined edges, 

 giving the back a more uniform tint. The true P. boucardi seems to be distinct from 

 either of these birds ; not only is the crown darker, but the central feathers have pale 

 edges, so that there is a faint median stripe on the crown ; the dorsal feathers have 

 well-defined rufous-brown centres and are broadly edged with dark grey, giving the 

 back a more definitely striped appearance than is the case in P. ruficeps, and still less 

 in the Arizona form of it. P. boucardi, however, does occur in Arizona; a male 

 obtained by Mr. G. B. Sennett at Catalina Mill, 1st October, 1883, now in the British 

 Museum, agrees accurately with the Mexican type ; and it also occurs in Texas, for we 

 have no doubt that the bird described by Mr. Brown as Peuceea ruficeps eremceca is the 

 true P. boucardi, and this opinion is made certain in that Mr. Brown states that his 

 specimens agree with an example from Orizaba typical of P. boucardi ! 



The difficulties connected with the tangled synonymy of this species are to some 

 extent dissipated if we admit, as seems undoubtedly to be the case, that P. ruficeps 

 does not occur at all in Mexico, unless the pale Arizona form of it crosses the Sonoran 

 frontier, which is extremely probable. On the other hand P, boucardi spreads over the 

 whole country and passes into Texas, and also into Arizona, where it is found in contact 

 with the Arizona P. ruficeps. 



As unfortunately is so frequently the case, nothing of the habits of P. boucardi have 

 reached us from Mexico, but Mr. Brown tells us that it ^s not uncommon, and appa- 

 rently resident at Bcerne in South-western Texas, in rocky localities usually near the 

 creek, but is also found in barren places a mile or more from water. The bird is of shy 

 skulking habits, rarely taking wing, but hiding from danger in bushes and weeds. The 

 song of the male is a pretty warble, but not of so fine a quality as that of P. aestivalis. 



