748 ZOOLOGY. 
Is not this a fair case of protective mimicry?—G. Brown 
- Goovr, Museum, Wesleyan University. 
Norice or a Rare Brrp.— LeConte’s bunting (Coturniculus 
LeContei) long remained among our special desiderata. It was one 
of several species discovered by Audubon in 1848, on his memo- 
rable trip to the upper Missouri, the chief results of which were 
published in the appendix to the seventh volume of the ‘‘ Birds 
of America.” His type specimen, presented to Prof. Baird many 
years ago, having been lost or mislaid, as stated in Prof. Baird’s 
work, the species rested upon the figure and description alone, 
until recently, when a specimen was received at the Smithsonian 
Institution from Texas, through Mr. G. E. Lincecum. This one 
was noticed in my late work (Key N. Am. Birds, p. 137). During 
the past summer I found the bird to be not uncommon at a certain 
point on the 49th parallel, between Turtle mountain and Mouse 
river, Dakota, where several specimens were secured. These 
represent the old and young of both sexes, and are particularly 
interesting on account of their showing that we have hitherto 
misapprehended the characters of the species. For Audubon’s 
account, with which the Texas specimen agrees, indicates the ex- 
tensively buffy, diffusely marked, soft plumage of the young, from 
which the adult differs materially. Some points of the case may 
be here presented. In form, the species differs notably from its 
congeners in the shape and greater relative length of the tail. 
This member is rather over two inches long, decidedly exceeding 
the wings, reaching considerably beyond the outstretched feet, and 
remarkably graduated, the lateral feathers being from } to} an 
inch shorter than the central pair. The tail feathers are all ex- 
tremely narrow and acuminate— even more so than those of the 
sharp-tailed finch, Ammodromus caudacutus. The wings are very 
short and much rounded ; when closed the primaries hardly exceed 
the longest secondary by } inch, althoagh the secondaries are not 
at all elongated. The bill is not so turgid as in C. passerinus; 
the younger birds have it smaller than it is in that species, as 
noted in the “Key ;” the difference is not so great in the adults. 
Specimens measure from 4-90 to 5:10 in length, by 6-90 to 7°10 in 
extent ; the wing 1-90 to 2-00, the tail 2-00 to 2-25. The general 
a varies greatly in intensity and extent with age and wear 
. of the plumage ; it is greatest in birds of the year; an old male, 
