C0TVRN1CULUS PASSEE1NUS. 
127 
GENUS XVIII. COTURNICULUS. THE YELLOW-SHOULDERED SPARROWS. 
Gen. Ch. Bill, short and thick, considerably swollen at base. Upper mandible, but little curved. Wings, much longer 
than the tail which is a little rounded, and with the feathers acuminate. Sternum, stout, with the coracoids much shorter in 
length than the top of the keel which is not low, nearly equaling in height one half the length of the coracoids. Size, quite 
small. 
All the species are streaked above, and some have narrow lines below where there is more or less buff. The edge of the 
wing Is yellow. The feet are quite small. I do not include Leconte’s Bunting under this head, for I think that it should 
be placed in a separate genus, for which I propose the name, Passerherbulus-, for generic charactei-3 of which see the forth¬ 
coming appendix. 
coTiramcuiiiJS passerinus. 
YeUow-winged Sparrow. 
Coturniculuspasserina Bon., List, 1839. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, robust. Size, small. Tongue, short, rather fleshy, provided with a tuft of terminal, hair-like fibers. 
Sternum, as given above. 
Color. Adult. Above, including the wings and tail, dark-brown, with the feathers edged with yellowish-ash, and 
tipped and edged with dark-chestnut, especially on the neck and back. There is a median line of yellowish-ash extending 
from the bill to the occiput, and a superciliary line, the anterior portion of which is orange and the remainder buff. Under 
parts, yellowish-white, with a strong buffy tinge on the breast, throat, sides of head, sides, flanks, and under tail coverts. 
Edge of wing and shoulder, yellow. Bill, brown, very much lighter at base of lower mandible. Feet, pale-brown. 
Young. Similar to the adult, but more reddish above, and the tail feathers, which in the adult are usually edged 
with nearly a straight line of yellowish-ash, show indications of dark brown bars. There are also dusky streakings on the 
sides of the breast. The anterior portion of the superciliary line is not as yellow. 
Nestlings. Show no traces of chestnut above, where the feathers are edged with buff and yellowish-white. There are 
indications of whitish wing bars, and the shoulders show no traces of yellow and the edge of the wing is only tinged with 
it. There is but little buff below, but the throat, breast, sides, and flanks are streaked with dark-brown. There is no su¬ 
perciliary line. Sexes, similar in all stages. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Specimens which I procured at Key West vary greatly from birds of Massachusetts in being much darker below, especially 
across the breast, where there are narrow brownish streakings. There is very little ashy above, where the chestnut is very 
much more prominent, occupying fully one half of the surface. The median line is decidedly buffy and the superciliary line 
is deep orange. Birds from Miami are nearly as dark as the above, while those from the more northern section of Florida 
are not as dusky and those from Pennsylvania are nearly as light as those from Nantucket. Skins from any given locality 
do not differ greatly, as is exhibited in a large series now before me, the principal variation being due to the wearing of the 
edges of the feathers. Known in the adult stage from Henslowi by the absence of streakings below, and from all others by 
the chestnut and ashy above, combined with the yellow and buff superciliary line and short, acuminate tail. Found in 
summer throughout the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains, south of latitude 43'. Winters in the more Southern 
sections. Resident in Florida and on the Keys. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of fifteen specimens. Length, 515; stretch, 8*00; wing, 2\50; tail, 1*70; bill, ‘45; tarsus, *72. 
Longest specimen, 5 35; greatest extent of wing, 8*45; longest wing, 2*60; tail, 1*75; bill, *55; tarsus, *75. Shortest speci¬ 
men, 5*00; smallest extent of wing, 7*60; shortest wing, 2*40; tail, 1*65; bill, - 35; tarsus, *70. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed on the ground. They are loosely constructed, being composed of dried grass lined with finer. Dimen- 
, sions; external diameter, 4*00, internal, 2*50. External depth, 2*00, internal, 1*00. 
Eggs, four or five in number, rather oval in form, ashy-white in color, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown and 
lilac, more thickly on the larger end. 
HABITS. 
A greater portion of the Island of Nantucket is destitute of trees, being composed of 
rolling, sandy plains which are covered with short, wiry grass or other herbage, while at 
