492 
U. S. P. R. R. EXP. AND SURVEYS—ZOOLOGY—GENERAL REPORT. 
b. Head not crested. Ho red. Bill dusky. 
PiriLO.—Bill moderate ; culmen and commissure curved. Hind claw very large 
and strong ; longer than its digit. Tarsus less than the middle toe. 
CALAMOSPIZA, Bonaparte. 
Calamospiza, Bonap. List, 1838. Type Fringilla bicolor, Towns. 
Corydalina, Audubon, Synopsis, 1839. Same type. 
Ch. —Bill rather large, much swollen at the base; the culmen broad, gently but decidely curved; the gonys nearly 
straight; the commissure much angulated near the base, then slightly sinuated ; lower mandible nearly as deep as the upper, 
the margins much inflected, and shutting under the upper mandible. Nostrils small, strictly basal. Rictus quite stiffly bristly. 
Legs large and stout. Tarsi a little longer than the middle toe ; outer toe rather longer than the inner, and reaching to the 
concealed base of the middle claw ; hind toe reaching to the base of the middle claw ; hind claw about as long as its toe. Claws 
all strong, compressed, and considerably curved. Wings long and pointed ; the first four nearly equal, and abruptly longest; 
the tertials much elongated, as long as the primaries. Tail a little shorter than the wings, slightly graduated ; the feathers 
rather narrow and obliquely oval rounded at the end. 
Color. —Black, with white on the wings. 
This genus is well characterized by the large swollen bill, with its curved culmen ; the large 
strong feet and claws ; the long wings, a little longer than the tail, and with the tertials as 
long as the primaries ; the first four quills equal, and abruptly longest; the tail short and 
graduated. 
The only group of N. American Spizellinae, with the tertials equal to the primaries in the 
closed wing, is Passerculus. This, however, has a differently formed bill, weaker feet, the inner 
primaries longer and more regularly graduated, the tail feathers more acute and shorter, and 
the plumage streaked brownish and white instead of black. 
Comparative measurements of specie’s. 
Catal. 
No. 
Species. 
Locality. 
Sex. 
Length. 
Wing. 
Tail. 
Tarsus. 
'Middle 
toe. 
Its claw 
alone. 
Bill 
above. 
Along 
gape. 
Hind toe 
and claw. 
Hind claw 
alone. 
Specimen 
measured. 
s 
3.43 
2,95 
1.00 
0.98 
0.24 
0.56 
0.58 
0.72 
0.32 
Skin. 
6305 
8 
6.40 
3.55 
2.96 
0.92 
0.90 
0.20 
0.54 
0 58 
0.66 
0.32 
6306 
9 
6.24 
3.36 
2.96 
0.98 
0.88 
0.19 
0.54 
0.56 
0.62 
0.28 
CALAMOSPIZA BICOLOR, Bonap. 
Lark Hunting; White-winged Blackbird. 
Fringilla bicolor, Townsend, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, 1837, 189.— Ib. Narrative, 1839,346.— Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 
19; pi. 390. 
Calamospiza bicolor, Bonap. List, 1838 .—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 475. 
Corydalina bicolor, Aud. Synopsis, 1839, 130.— Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 195; pi. 201. 
Dolichonyx bicolor, Nuttall, Manual, I, 2d ed. 1840, 203. 
Sp. Ch. — Male entirely black ; a broad band on the wing, with the outer edges of the quills and tail feathers, white. 
Female pale brown, streaked with darker above ; beneath white, spotted and streaked rather sparsely with black on the breast 
and sides. Throat nearly immaculate. A maxillary stripe of black, bordered above by white. Region around the eye, a faint 
stripe above it, and an obscure crescent back of the ear coverts, whitish. A broad fulvous white band across the ends of the 
greater wing coverts. Tail feathers with a white spot at the end of the inner web. Length, about 6.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 
3.20 ; tarsus, 1.00 ; bill above, .60. 
Hab .—High Central Plains to the Rocky mountains ; southwesterly to valley of Mimbres and Sonora. 
