A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Science
A History of North American Birds; Land Birds; Vol. 3 of 3
Baird, Spencer Fullerton
Birds -- North America
A series of ten specimens (five males and five females) from Florida,
kindly sent me for examination by Mr. C. J. Maynard, contains nothing
but var. _sparverius_, with a few individuals inclining slightly toward
var. _isabellinus_. The extreme are measurements of the series as
follows: ♂. Wing, 6.60–6.90; tail, 4.50–4.70. ♀. Wing, 6.90–7.50;
tail, 4.80–5.10. Four out of the five males have the deeply ochraceous
unspotted breast of var. _isabellinus_, but all have more or less
rufous on the crown, while the ash is of that light shade seen in var.
_sparverius_. No. 476 has the upper tail-coverts mixed with feathers
which are either wholly or partially ash, while the light bands of the
outer tail-feathers are much tinged with the same; the scapulars are
almost wholly fine ash, like the wings, and with heavy black bars. The
females likewise all incline toward var. _isabellinus_, all having the
dark bars above equal to or broader than the rufous ones. No. 6,441
is transversely spotted on the flanks with heavy black bars, and is
scarcely distinguishable from females of var. _dominicensis_.
An adult male labelled as coming from Cuba, but probably from the
southeastern United States, in the collection of the Boston Society,
is so deeply colored as to strongly resemble the young male of _T.
sparveroides_. There is not a trace of rufous on the crown, which
is dark plumbeous; the lower parts are entirely deep rufous, except
the throat, inclining more to ochraceous on the tibiæ and crissum;
the whole lower surface entirely free from spots of any kind. The
tail is very uniformly marked, being wholly rufous, except the usual
narrow terminal band, or the outer web of lateral feathers, which
are white,—the latter with a few indications of black spots near the
shaft,—and the usual subterminal zone of black, which is very regular
and continuous. Though in these respects so closely resembling the
young ♂ of _T. sparveroides_, it may be distinguished from it by the
sharp definition of the black markings on the side of the head and
on the wing-coverts, and of the black bars on the inner webs of the
primaries. We have every reason to doubt whether this specimen was
actually collected in Cuba, since so many of the specimens in the
Lafresnaye Collection are incorrectly labelled as regards locality.
A young ♂ from Georgia, in the same collection, is somewhat similar, but
differs in the following respects. The rufous beneath is confined to the
breast, sides, and abdomen, but is as deep (i.e. only a shade or two
lighter than that on the back); the two outer pairs of tail-feathers are
mostly ashy-white, with large spots of black.
LIST OF SPECIMENS EXAMINED.
National Museum, 4; Boston Society, 2; Mus. Comp. Zoöl., 3; Philadelphia
Academy, 4; New York Museum, 2; G. N. Lawrence, 4. Total, 19.
_Measurements._
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