Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXIII.
Bill of moderate length, extremely thick, conical, pointed; upper mandible with the dorsal line very slightly convex, the sides rounded; the edges sharp, overlapping, with a slight sinus close to the acute tip; lower mandible with the angle very short and broad, the dorsal line straight, or very slightly concave, the back very broad, the sides rounded, the edges inflected, the tip acute. Nasal sinus extremely short and broad: nostrils round, basal, concealed by short reflected bristly feathers.
Head large, roundish-ovate; neck short; body moderately full. Feet short, of moderate strength; tarsus short, compressed, with seven anterior scutella, and two plates behind forming a sharp edge; hind toe large, outer toe somewhat longer than inner; claws rather large, moderately arched, much compressed, acute.
Plumage full, soft, blended, the feathers oblong. Wings rather long, broad, abruptly pointed; the outer three primaries almost equal, the first longest; outer secondaries emarginate. Tail of moderate length, rather narrow, emarginate, of twelve rather narrow feathers.
Bill yellow; iris hazel; feet flesh-colour, claws brown. The upper part of the head and the occiput are brownish-black, bounded anteriorly by a broadish band of bright yellow across the forehead, and laterally by a streak of the same, passing over the eye; the stiff feathers over the nostrils black, as is the loral space. The cheeks, hind neck, and throat are dark yellowish-olive, and that colour gradually brightens until, on the outer edges of the scapulars, the rump, the axillars and inner lower wing-coverts, the abdomen and lower tail-coverts, it becomes pure yellow. The smaller wing-coverts, alula, primary coverts, three outer secondaries, outer web of the next, and the bases of the inner secondaries, black; as is the tail; six of the inner secondaries, inner web of the next, and inner margin of the rest, as well as their coverts, white, the basal part excepted.
Length to end of tail 8 inches; wing from flexure 4 3/4; tail 3; bill along the ridge 10/12, along the edge of lower mandible 11/12; tarsus 9 1/2/12; hind toe 5/12, its claw, 4 1/2/12; middle toe, 8/12, its claw 3 3/4/12.
Adult Female. Plate CCCCXXIV. Fig. 5.
The adult female, which is here figured and described for the first time, from a specimen obtained from Dr Townsend, and marked “Black Hills, Female, June 3, 1834,” wants the yellow band on the forehead, the streak of the same colour over the eye, the black line along the basal margin of the upper mandible, and the large patch of white on the wings. The bill and feet are as in the male, but paler. The upper part of the head is dark brownish-olive; the cheeks lighter; the hind neck, back, and scapulars light brownish-grey, with a slight olivaceous tint, shaded into brownish-yellow on the rump. The wings are black; a portion of the edge of the wing, the tips and part of the margins of the secondary coverts, a concealed band on the basal part of the primaries, the outer three excepted, and the edges of all the quills toward the end, white, which is broader on the secondaries, and forms a band on them. Tail-coverts black, tipped with a triangular spot of white; tail-feathers also black, with a white spot on the inner web at the tip, eight-twelfths long on the outermost feather, gradually diminishing towards the central feathers, which are slightly tipped. Throat greyish-white, margined on either side by a longitudinal band of black, from the base of the lower mandible, and ten-twelfths in length; the lower parts yellowish-grey; abdomen and lower tail-coverts white, axillars and some of the lower wing-coverts yellow.
Length to end of tail 7 1/2 inches; wing from flexure 4 1/4; tail 2 10/12; bill along the ridge 9 1/2/12.
Young Male. Plate CCCXXIV. Fig. 6.