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NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 
Family AMPELXDiE. — The Chatterers. 
Subfamilies. 
Common Characters. G-ape of mouth nearly straight. Metatarsal scutellse in 
three series. Body plain beneath. 
Ampelinae. Wings very long and much pointed, longer than the short, 
even tail. First primary excessively rudimentary ; the outermost about the 
longest. Gape without bristles. Frontal feathers extending forward beyond 
the nostrils. Under coverts of tail reaching • almost to its tip. Secondary 
quills with flat horny appendages at end of shaft like red sealing-wax. 
Ftilogonatinas. Horny appendages like red sealing-wax at end of shaft of 
secondaries. Wings rounded, shorter than the graduated tail. First primary 
nearly 'half the second. Gape well bristled. Frontal feathers falling short of 
the nostrils. No red horny appendage to wing-feathers. (Page 39.) 
Subfamily AIPELINiE. 
Genus AMPELIS, Linn. 
Species. 
Common Characters. A lengthened crest of soft blended feathers. Colors, soft 
silky brownish becoming more vinaceous anteriorly, and ashy posteriorly above. 
A black stripe on side of head, from nasal feathers across lores through the eye 
and behind it* beneath crest, and a patch of the same on. chin, with a white streak 
between them, on side of lower jaw. 
A. Wing variegated. Lower tail-coverts rufous. 'Crest much developed. 
Forehead and side of ’ head' bright purplish-rufous. Black patch covering 
whole throat, and sharply denned. No white line between black of lore, 
etc., and brown of forehead. Inner webs of primaries tipped narrowly with 
white. 
a. Terminal band of tail red. 
A. plicenicopterurn. Greater coverts tipped with red, producing 
a band across the wing. No yellow on tips of primaries. Hdb. 
Japan and Eastern Siberia. 
b. Terminal band of tail yellow. 
A. garrulus. Secondary and primary coverts tipped with white, 
forming two broad short bands. Primaries with outer webs tipped 
with yellow. Length, 7.40; wing, ‘ 4,50. Eyes hazel (Aud.) ; 
dark red (Rich.). -Nest on trees, of fine grass and hair, or thread 
lichens, lined with feathers, and resting on spruce, twigs. Eggs 
1 greenish -slate or stone-color, spotted with brown. Hab. Arctic 
regions ‘ of both hemispheres ; in winter south into northern 
United States, and along Rocky Mountains as far as Fort Massa- 
chusetts, New Mexico* ( Waxwing.) 
B. Wings unvariegated. Lower tail-coverts white. Crest moderately de- 
veloped. Forehead, etc., not different from crest. Chin only black, this 
fading gradually into the brown of throat. A white line between black of 
lore, etc., and brown of forehead. Inner webs of primaries not tipped with 
white. 
