Snow-Bunting, Emberiza nivalis, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. iii. p. 86.
Emberiza nivalis, Bonap. Syn. p. 103.
Emberiza (Plectrophanes) nivalis, Snow Buntling, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 247.
Snow Bunting, Emberiza nivalis, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 458.
Snow Bunting, Emberiza nivalis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p. 515; v. v. p. 496.
GENUS II. EMBERIZA, Linn. BUNTING.
Bill short, robust, tapering, somewhat compressed; upper mandible with its dorsal line declinate and slightly convex, the ridge indistinct, the sides convex, the edges a little inflected, ascending to beneath the nostrils, then descending or direct, with a slight notch close to the narrow tip; lower mandible with the angle short and wide, the dorsal line ascending, and very slightly convex, the ridge broad at the base, the sides convex, the edges inclinate, their outline ascending for a third or more of its length, then direct, the tip narrow. Nostrils basal, roundish. Head large, ovate; neck very short; body rather stout. Feet of moderate length, rather strong; tarsus of ordinary length, compressed, with seven anterior scutella; toes rather large; the hind toe strong, and longer than the lateral, which are equal, the third much longer, and united to the fourth at the base. Claws long, arched, much compressed, acute. Plumage soft and blended, but firm. Bristles feeble. Wings of moderate length, rather acute; the first three quills longest. Tail of moderate length, emarginate.
* Wings rather long, with the second and third quills longest.
156. 1. Emberiza Americana, Gmel. Black-throated Bunting.
Plate CCCLXXXIV. Male and Female.
Bill very stout; tail-feathers acute. Male with the upper part of the head, the cheeks, and the hind neck dark ash-grey, faintly streaked with dusky; loral space whitish, a band over the eye, and a patch below the cheek, yellow; the fore part of the back greyish-brown, with longitudinal streaks of brownish-black, the hind part brownish-grey; the smaller wing-coverts bright chestnut; chin white, throat black; the lower neck and part of the breast, yellow, the rest of the breast and abdomen, white. Female similar to the male, but paler, and without the black patch on the throat.
Male, 61/2, 103/8.
Breeds abundantly in Texas and all the Western Prairies; less so from Virginia to Massachusetts. Rare in Ohio and Kentucky. Migratory.
Black-throated Bunting, Emberiza Americana, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. i. p. 411.
Fringilla Americana, Bonap. Syn. p. 107.
Black-throated Bunting, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 461.
Black-throated Bunting, Emberiza Americana, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 599.