364 
SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSERES— OSCINES. 
culmen 0.50 long. No yellowish over eye or on edge of wing ; no evident median stripe on 
crown. Brownish-gray, obsoletely streaked with dark brown, most noticeable on crown and 
middle of back ; entire under parts dull white, confluently streaked with clear brown every- 
where except on throat, middle of belly, and crissum. Wings and tail dusky-gray, the 
rectrices with paler edges, the primaries with whitish edges, the wing-coverts and secondaries 
broadly edged and tipped with grayish-bay. An obscure whitish superciliary line. Bill light 
brown, under mandible paler or yellowish; legs pale. Length 5.25 ; wing 2.50-2.75 ; tail 2.00. 
Pacific coast, U. S., especially California ; a curious species, common, maritime, representing^ 
with var. anthinus, the Ammodrami in the marshes of the seashore. 
231. P. gutta'tus. (Lat. guttatus, spotted; gutta, a drop.) St. Lucas Savanna Sparrow^. 
Bill shaped as in rostratus, relatively as stout, but smaller; culmen 0.45; depth at base 0.25. 
Bird smaller : pattern of coloration the same, but tone darker ; streaking of the under parts 
sharper, heavier, and darker. Instead of the light brownish-gray of rostratus the upper parts 
are here dark, almost olivaceous, brown, so that the dark streaking of the crown and inter- 
scapulars is less noticeable. The same difi'erence characterizes the under parts. Cape St. 
Lucas. 
Obs. There is a sparrow of the L. Cala. Gulf coast and islands like guttatus : larger ; 
wing 2.75 ; bill 0.50, at base 0.30 deep, thus as large as that of rostratus, but regularly conic, 
with straight culmen suddenly deflected at end, and perfectly straight commissure ; upper 
mandible and tip of lower blackish ; rest apparently yellowish. An n. sp. f P. sanctorum 
N., Mus. S. I., San Benito Isl. (See Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus., March, 1883, p. 538.) 
76. POCE'CETES. (Gr. norj, j)oe, grass ; oIk€tt]s, oiketes, an inhabitant.) Grass Sparrows. 
Bill moderate, culmen, gonys and commissure nearly straight. Wings long, longer than tail, 
tip formed by first 4 quills ; inner secondaries somewhat elongate, less so than in Passerculus. 
Tail emarginate, M^th rather broad firm feathers, not acuminate at ends. Tarsus about as long 
as middle toe without claw; lateral toes of about equal lengths, their claws scarcely reaching 
base of middle claw ; hind claw as usual, not longer than its digit. Plumage thickly streaked 
everywhere above, on sides below and across breast ; bend of wing chestnut ; 1-3 outer tail 
feathers white ; crown without light median stripe ; no trace of yellow anywhere. 
232. P. grami'neus. (Lat. gramineus, applied to a grass-loving bird ; gramen, grass. Fig. 228.) 
Grass Finch. Bay-winged Bunting. 
Vesper-bird. Above, grayish -brown, 
closely and uniformly marked with dusky- 
centred brown-edged streaks, and further 
variegated by pale gray edging of the 
feathers. Crown quite like back, though 
the marking is in smaller pattern ; super- 
ciliary line and eye-ring w^hitish. Under 
parts dull white, usually noticeably bufi"- 
tinged in the streaked areas, thickly streaked 
across breast and along sides with dusky- 
centred brown- edged streaks, anteriorly 
tending to concentrate in lateral chains 
-^t^^^U^"^ .<=■ ^~ _ bounding the white throat; above this 
FIG. 228. -Bay-winged Bunting, reduced. (Slieppard chain a maxillary brown Stripe ; auriculars 
del. Nichols sc.) varied with light and dark brown. Quills 
fuscous, the longer ones with grayish-white edging, the secondaries and greater and median 
coverts with broad firm brown and white edges and tips ; lesser coverts bright chestnut, whence 
the name ''bay-winged." Outer tail-feather largely or wholly white, next pair or two pairs 
largely white in decreasing amount. Upper mandible brown; lower, and the feet, flesh- 
