A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 2. Robert Ridgway
Wing and tail about equal. The smallest of American Conirostres. Nest in bushes. Eggs white, spotted.
Spermophila. Bill very short and broad, scarcely longer than high, not compressed; culmen greatly curved. Color: chiefly black and white, or brown and gray.
Phonipara. Bill more triangular, decidedly longer than deep, much compressed; culmen only slightly curved, or perfectly straight. Colors: dull olive-green and blackish, with or without yellow about the head.
C. Wing much shorter than the tail.
a. Head crested. Prevailing color red. Bill red or whitish.
Pyrrhuloxia. Bill pyrrhuline, very short, and with the culmen greatly convex; shorter than high. Hind claw less than its digit; not much larger than the middle anterior one. Tarsus equal to the middle toe. Nest in bush or low tree; eggs white, spotted with lilac and olive.
Cardinalis. Bill coccothraustine, very large; culmen very slightly convex. Wings more rounded. Feet as in the last, except that the tarsus is longer than the middle toe. Nest in bush or low tree; eggs white, spotted with lilac and olive.
b. Head not crested. Colors black, brown, or olive, without red. Bill dusky, or bluish.
Pipilo. Bill moderate; culmen and commissure curved. Hind claw very large and strong; longer than its digit. Tarsus less than the middle toe. Nest on ground or in low bush; eggs white sprinkled with red, or pale blue with black dots and lines round larger end.
Calamospiza, Bonap. List, 1838. (Type, Fringilla bicolor, Towns.)
Corydalina, Audubon, Synopsis, 1839. (Same type.)
Calamospiza bicolor.
5720 ♂
Gen. Char. Bill rather large, much swollen at the base; the culmen broad, gently but decidedly 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. Male, black, with white on the wings. Female, brown above, beneath white, with streaks.
PLATE XXIX.
1. Poocætes gramineus. D. C., 10147.
2. Calamospiza bicolor. ♂ Neb., 5720.
3. Calamospiza bicolor. ♀ N. Mex., 6306.
4. Guiraca cærulea. ♂ Philada., 6480.
5. Guiraca cærulea. ♀ Cal.
6. Cyanospiza parellina. ♂ N. Leon, Mex., 4074.
7. Cyanospiza ciris. ♂ Texas, 6271.
8. Cyanospiza ciris. ♀.
9. Cyanospiza versicolor. ♂ N. Leon, Mex., 4075.
10. Cyanospiza versicolor. ♀ C. St. Lucas, 12984.
11. Cyanospiza amœna. ♂ Ft. Union, Dak., 1898.
12. Cyanospiza amœna. ♀ Nevada, 53551.
13. Cyanospiza cyanea. ♂ Pa., 2645.
14. Cyanospiza cyanea. ♀ Ga., 32426.
15. Phonipara zena. ♂ Bahamas.
16. Phonipara zena. ♀ Bahamas.
17. Spermophila moreleti. ♂ Costa Rica, 30524.
Calamospiza bicolor.
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 about equal, and abruptly longest; the tail short and graduated.
The only group of North American Spizellinæ, 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.
Fringilla bicolor, Townsend, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, 1837, 189.—Ib. Narrative, 1839, 346.—Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 19, pl. cccxc. Calamospiza bicolor, Bonap. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 475.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 492.—Heerm. X, c, 15. Corydalina bicolor, Aud. Synopsis, 1839, 130.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 195, pl. cci.—Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 347.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 225. Dolichonyx bicolor, Nuttall, Manual, I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 203.
Sp. Char. Male entirely black; a broad band on the wing (covering the whole of the greater coverts), with the outer edges of the quills and tail-feathers, white. Length, about 6.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 3.20; tarsus, 1.00; bill above, .60.
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; edge of wing white. Tail-feathers with a white spot at the end of the inner web.
Young. Similar to the female; a faint buff tinge prevalent beneath, where the streaks are narrower; dark streaks above broader, the feathers bordered with buffy-white.
Hab.