68 
ALTRICIAL GRALLATORES — HERODIONES. 
Hab. — The whole of temperate and tropical North America, north to latitude about 60°, south 
to Guatemala. Cuba ; Jamaica ; Bermudas. Occasional in Europe (18 British records!). 
Sp. Char. — Adult : Ground-color of the plumage ochraceous-buff ; but this densely mottled and 
finely sprinkled above with reddish brown and blackish, the latter color prevailing on the dorsal 
and scapular regions, where the feathers have lighter edges, the buff prevailing on the wing- 
coverts, where the variegation consists of a finer and sparser sprinkling of the dusky and brown ; 
on the tertials and ends of the secondaries, the reddish (a sort of cinnamon shade) forms the 
ground-color, and is thickly sprinkled with irregular dusky dottings and zigzags ; pectoral tufts 
nearly uniform dark brown, the feathers with broad lateral borders of clear yellowish ochraceous. 
Pileum, rusty brown, darker anteriorly, changing gradually backward into the greenish olive-gray 
of the nape ; sides of the head and neck yellowish ochraceous ; a malar stripe of dark ferruginous, 
changing posteriorly into a very conspicuous stripe of blue-black (or in some specimens dull 
grayish) down each side of the neck ; chin and throat white, with a very narrow medial dusky 
streak, suffused with ochraceous ; foreneck pale buff, with sharply defined stripes of cinnamon- 
brown edged with a black line ; lower parts pale buff, with narrower brownish stripes ; tibiae and 
crissum plain light creamy buff ; primary- coverts and primaries dark slate, tipped with pale red- 
dish ochraceous, finely, but not densely, sprinkled with dusky. Upper mandible olivaceous-black, 
the toinium (broadly) lemon-yellow ; lower mandible pale lemon-yellow, deeper basally, with a 
stripe of dusky brownish along the posterior part of the tomium ; lores and eyelids lemon-yellow, 
the former divided longitudinally by a median stripe of dusky olive, from the eye to the base of 
the upper mandible ; iris clear, light sulphur-yellow next the pupil, shading exteriorly into orange- 
brownish, this encircled narrowly with black ; legs and feet bright yellowish green ; claws pale 
brown, dusky toward points. 1 Young : Similar to the adult, but more reddish, the mottling coarser, 
and with a tendency to form ragged transverse bars, especially on the posterior upper parts. 
Length, about 24.00-28.00 ; expanse, 37.00-45.00 ; weight about 1-|- lbs. (Audubon) ; wing, 
9.80-12.00 ; tail, 3.10-4.40 ; culmen, 2.50-3.20 ; depth of bill, .50-. 65 ; tarsus, 3.10-3.85 ; middle 
toe, 2.90-3 60 ; bare portion of tibia, 1.00-1. 35. 2 
In the large collection of specimens of this species which we have been able to examine and 
compare are certain variations of plumage and proportions, which appear, however, to be chiefly, 
if not entirely, of an individual and seasonal character. The most apparent difference as to colors 
consists of a more reddish shade to the plumage in autumnal birds, while those obtained in the 
spring or summer are characterized by a more grayish aspect. There is also another noticeable 
difference between specimens, namely, in the distinctness of the black or dusky stripe along the 
side of the upper neck. This is usually a deep glossy black ; but in many individuals it is 
1 Colors of fresh specimens ( $ and 9 ) killed along the Truckee River, Nevada, Nov. 18, and Dec. 
11, 1867. 
2 From measurements of twenty-five adult specimens ! 
