356 
SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — PA SSEBES — OSCINES. 
218. 
72. 
319. 
tinuously-black, and the black of the crown extending below the eyes, enclosing the olive 
under eyelid. Mexican border and southward. This bird looks quite unlike typical pscdtriay 
but the gradation through var. arizonce is perfect ; and mexicana, moreover, leads directly into 
var. Columbiana, a Central American form in which 
the tail- spots are very small or wanting. The 
females of these several varieties cannot be distin- 
guished with certainty. 
A. nota'tus. (Lat. notatus, noted in any way.) 
Black-headed Goldfinch. ^, adult: Bright 
Fig. 222. — Mexican 
(After Audubon.) 
Goldfinch, reduced. 
yellow, obscured on the back, head all around glossy 
black, extending on fore-breast ; wings black, with 
large basal area on all the quills yellow, forming a 
conspicuous patch ; tail black, basal half or more of 
all the feathers but the middle pair yellow. Wing 
2.70; tail 1.80; bill extremely acute, much as in 
Carduelis or Clirysomitris proper. South and Cen- 
tral Am. and Mexico, a straggler in U. S. (? Kentucky," Audubon.) 
PLECTRO'PHANES. (Gr. irXrjKTpov, plectron, a certain instrument ; (palvco, I appear ; 
alluding to the hind claw.) Bill very small and truly conic, well exhibiting emberizine" or 
bunting" characters; i. e., strong angulation of commissure; inflected cutting edges; a 
palatal knob. Culmen slightly curved ; gonys perfectly straight, and very short, less in length 
than width of bill ; lower mandible heavier than upper. A dense nasal ruff. Wings very long 
and pointed; 1st or 1st and 2d quills longest, rest rapidly graduated. Tail i shorter than 
wings, nearly square. Tarsus longer than middle toe without claw ; lateral toes of subequal 
lengths, and much shorter than the middle one. Claws slender and compressed, with deep 
lateral grooves at base ; hind claw lengthened and less curved than the rest, but not straight. 
Gullet very distensible. Sexes alike. Colors very different with season ; in summer ^ 
entirely black and white. One species, circumpolar. Terrestrial, gregarious. 
P. niva'lis. (Lat. nivalis, snowy ; nix, nivis, snow. Fig. 223.) Snow Bunting. Snow- 
flake. ^ , in full dress : Pure Mdiite ; the bUl, feet, middle of back, scapulars, primaries 
except at base, most inner secondaries, bastard quills, and several tail-feathers, black. Length 
about 7.00 ; extent 12.50-13.00 ; wing 4.00-4.25 ; tail 2.50-2.75. In less perfect summer dress, 
black of the back, inner secondaries and tail- 
feathers varied with white. 9 > in breeding 
plumage : The black impure or brownish, and 
most or all of the upper parts brownish-black, 
varied with w^hite. Rather smaller. Dimen- 
sions of many specimens of both sexes : length 
6.50-7.00; extent 12.00-13.00; wing 4.00- 
4.25; tail 2.50-2.75; bill 0.40; tarsus 0.80; 
middle toe and claw 0.90 ; hind toe and claw 
0.67-0.75; claw alone 0.33-0.44. Adults, in 
winter, as generally seen in the U. S. (where 
black-and-white birds are rarely if ever 
found) : Upper parts overcast with rich warm 
chestnut-brown and grayish -brown, mixed 
with the black of the back, and clouding the other upper parts which are white in summer, 
becoming dusky or even blackish on the head ; this brown also usually forming a patch on the 
ears, a collar on the breast, edging of the inner wing- and tail-feathers, and a wash on the 
flanks ; but specimens vary interminably ; other parts white or black as in summer ; bill 
Fig. 223. — Snow Bunting, 
(Sheppard del. Nichols sc. ) 
in summer, reduced. 
