2. H. abeillii.[108] ♂. Head entirely black, sharply defined. ♀. Crown (only) black; no dusky “bridle” on side of throat; upper tail-coverts without white tips. Hab. Mountains of Guatemala and Southern Mexico.
Hesperiphona vespertina, Bonap.
EVENING GROSBEAK.
Fringilla vespertina, Cooper, Annals New York Lyceum, N. H. I, ii, 1825, 220 (Sault St. Marie).—Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 515; V, 235, pl. ccclxxiii, ccccxxiv. Fringilla (Coccothraustes) vespertina, Bon. Syn. 1828, 113.—Ib. Am. Orn. II, pl. xv. Coccothraustes vespertina, Sw. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 269.—Aud. Birds Am. III, 1841, 217, pl. ccvii. Hesperiphona vespertina, Bon. Comptes Rendus, XXXI, Sept. 1850, 424.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 409.—Cooper & Suckley, 195.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 174. Coccothraustes bonapartii, Lesson, Illust. de Zoöl. 1834, pl. xxxiv. ♀ (Melville Island). Loxia bonapartii, Less. Bull. Sc. tab. xxv. Hesperiphona vespertina, var. vespertina, Ridgway (new variety from Mexico and the southern Rocky Mountains).
Sp. Char. Bill yellowish-green, dusky at the base. Anterior half of the body dusky yellowish-olive, shading into yellow to the rump above, and the under tail-coverts below. Outer scapulars, a broad frontal band continued on each side over the eye, axillaries, and middle of under wing-coverts yellow. Feathers along the extreme base of the bill, the crown, tibiæ, wings, upper tail-coverts, and tail black; inner greater wing-coverts and tertiaries white. Length, 7.30; wing, 4.30; tail, 2.75.
The female differs in having the head of a dull olivaceous-brown, which color also glosses the back. The yellow of the rump and other parts is replaced by a yellowish-ash. The upper tail-coverts are spotted with white. The white of the wing is much restricted. There is an obscure blackish line on each side of the chin.
Hab. (var. vespertina.) Pacific coast to Rocky Mountains; Northern America east to Lake Superior. (var. montana.) Southern Rocky Mountains of United States into Mexico; Orizaba! (Sclater, 1860, 251); Vera Cruz (alpine regions, breeding) Sumichrast, Pr. Bost. Soc. I, 550; Guatemala, Salvin.
Hesperiphona vespertina.
The variety with broad frontal band and increased amount of white appears to characterize Northern specimens, while that with narrow frontlet and the greatest amount of black is found in Guatemala, Mexico, and the southern Rocky Mountains, and may be called montana.