I>o^v_ I / is^\v\seuni of y ^^ 1869 THE LIBRARY NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. LAND BIRDS. VOL. II. A HISTORY 0 / OP NORTPI AMERICAN BIRDS BY S. F. BAIRD, T. M. BREWER, axu R. RIDGWAY LAND BIRDS ILLUSTRATED BY G^ COLORED PLATES AND 593 WOODCUTS. VOLUME II. ^' ^e' BOSTON LITTLE. RKOWN, AND COMPANY 1874 Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1874, BY LITTLE, BROWS, AKD COMPANY, in tliu Office of the LiLrarian of Congress, at Wasliington. fK^/^lf0.^Jr-ffi CONTENTS Page Family Fkixoili.id^. The Finches. (Continued.) 1 Subliimily Spizellin.*:. (Conliiuud.) 1 Subfamily Passekellin.e 48 Subfamily Spizin^ 58 Family Alaudid*. The Larks 135 Family 1ctei;id.e. The Orioles 147 Subfamily Agelainjs 148 Subfamily IcTERlN^ 179 Subfamily Quiscalix.e 202 Family Stvenid.e. The Starliugs 228 Family Cokvid.e. The Crows 231 Subfamily Corvine 231 Subfamily Garrulin^s; 263 Family Tyrannid^. The Tyrant Flycatchers 306 Family Alcedinihj:. The Kingfishers 391 Family C'apeimulgid.e. The Goatsuckers 398 Subfamily Caprimulgin^ 398 Family Cypselid/E. The Swifts 421 Subfamily Cypselin^e 423 Subfamily CHi}TURlN.E 427 Family Trochihd^. The Humming-Birds 437 Family CucuLiDiE. The Cuckoos 470 Subfamily Cocoygin^ 470 Family Ficwm. The Woodpeckers 491 Subfamily Pici.n^ 492 Family Psittacid^e. The PaiTots 585 Subfamily SiTTACisa; S85 Index to the Plates. Plates 27 - 56. NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. Family FRINGILLIDiE. — The Finches. {Cviitinmd.) Genus SPIZELLA, Boxap. Spizella, Bonap. Geog. and Comp. List, 1838. (Type, Fringilla caiuidensis. Lath. Spinites, Cab.inis, Mhs. Hi-in. 1851, 133. (Type, Fringilla socialis, Wils.) Gen. Char. Bill conical, the outlines slightly curved; the lower mandible decidedly larger than the upper; the commissure gently sinuated ; the roof of the mouth not knobbed. Feet slender ; tarsus rather longer than the middle toe ; the hinder toe a little longer than the outer lateral, which slightly exceeds the inner; the outer claw reaching the base of the middle one, and half as long as its toe. Claws moderately curved. Tertiaries and secondaries nearly equal ; wing somewhat pointed, reaching not quite to the middle of the tail. First quill a little shorter than the second and equal to the fifth ; third longest. Tail spizella monticola. rather long, moderately forked, and divaricated at the tip; the feathers rather narrow. Back streaked ; rump and beneath immaculate. Young streaked beneath. This genus differs from Zonotrichia principally in the smaller size and longer and foi'ked, instead of rounded tail. Birds of the year of this genus are very difficult to distinguish, even liy size, except in monticola. The more immature birds are also very closely related. In these the entire absence of streaks on a plund)eous head point to atrigularis ; the same character in a reddish cap, and a reddish up]}er mandible to pusilla ; a dusky loral spot with dark streaks and generally a rufous shade on top of head, to socialis. S. hrcweri, with a streaked head, lacks the dusky lore and chestnut shade of feathers. S. pallida generally has a median light stripe in the cap, and a dusky mandibular line. Common Characters. Interscapular region with black streaks. Rump and lower parts without streaks (except in young). Wing with two narrow light bands (indistinct in atri'jnlaris). VOL. II. 1 2 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. A. Crown difleient from the sides of the head, a plain light superciliary stripe. Young with crown and breast streaked. a. Crown rufous and plain in adult ; in young, grayish and with streaks. /. Streak behind eye, and tinge on side of breast, rufous. Egg pale blue, or bhiixh-while. blotched with pale broivn, or sprinkled with reddish. 1. S. monticola. Crown bright rufous, undivided medially ; a dusky spot on lore; wing-bands sharply defined, pure white. A black spot on breast ; jugulum tinged with ashy. Bill black above, yellow below. Length, 6.25 ; wing, 3.00. Hab. Whole of North America ; north of the United States only, in summer. 2. S. pusilla. Crown dull rufous, indistinctly divided medially ; lores entirely whitish ; wing-bands not sharply defined, pale brown. No black spot on breast; jugulum tinged with buff. Bill entirely light brownish-red. Wing, 2.70 ; tail, 2.80 ; bill, from forehead, .37. Hab. East- ern Province United States var. pusilla. " Similar, but colors clearer, and bill more robust." Hab. Peten, Ciuateraala ...... var. pinetorum.^ II. Streak behind the eye blackish. Ko rufous tinge on side of breast. Egg deep blue, tvith black dots and streaks round larger end. 3. S. socialis. Crown bright rufous, not distinctly divided, gen- erally plain. Forehead black, divided medially with white. Streak of l.ilack on lore and behind eye. Rump pure bluish-ash. Bill blackish, lower mandible paler. Auriculars deep ash, in strong contrast with pure white of the supercihary stripe and throat; breast without ashy tinge. Dorsal streaks broad. Wing, 2.80 ; tail, 2.30. Hab. Eastern Province of United States var. socialis. Auriculars lighter ash, less strongly contrastitd with the white above and below ; breast strongly tinged with ash. Dorsal streaks narrow. Wing, 3.00 ; tail, 2.90. Hab. Western Province of United States, and table-lands of Mexico. var. arizonee. b. Crown light grayish-brown, with distinct black streaks ; young differing in streaked. Egg deep blue, with black streaks and dots (precisely as in socialis). 4. S. pallida. Crown divided medially by a distinct pale stripe ; whitish superciliary stripe, and blackish post-ocular streak sharply defined. A dusky .sub-maxillary streak. Nape ashy in con- trast with the crown and back. Wing, 2.50 ; tail, 2.40. Hab. Plains of United States, from the Saskatchewan southward. var. pallida. Crown without a distinct median stripe. Markings on side of head not sharply defined. No dusky sub-ma.\illary stripe, and nape scarcely different ft-om crown and back. Wing, 2.50; tail, 2.60. Hab. Middle and western Provinces . var. breweri. B. Crown not different from the sides of head ; no light superciliary stripe. 1 Spisella pinetorum, Salvin, Pr. Z. S. 1863, p. 189. ("Similis S. pusillce, ex Amer. Sept. et Me.\lco, sed eoloribus clarioribus et rostro robusliore differt.") FRIXGILLID.E — TUB FINCHES. f). S. atrigularis. Head ami neck all round, and ramp, uniform dark asii, gi-adually fading into white on the abdomen ; wing- bands indistinct; bill light brownish-red. Ad. Lores, chin, and upper part of throat black. Juv. without black about the head. (Eggs unknown.) Hab. Adjacent portions of Mexico and southern Middle Province of United States (Fort Whipple, Arizona, Coues ; Cape St. Lucas, Xantus). Spizella montieola, Bated. TEEE SPABROW. Fringilla montieola, G.m. Syst. Nat. \, 17S8, 1*12. Zonotrichia montieola, Gkay, Genera. Spinilcs numticolus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 134. Spizella montieola, Baikd, Birds N. Am. 1S58, 472. — Coues, P. A. N. S. 1861, 224 (Labrador). — Cooper & Suckley, 203 (Washington Ter.). —Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 18(J9, 285. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 206. — Samuels, 317. Passer mnaden-^is, Brisson, Orn. Ill, 1760, 102. Fringilla canadensis, Lath. Imle.x, \, 1790, 434. — AuD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 511 ; V, 504, pi. cLxxxviii. — Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 280. Ember iza canadensis, Sw. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 252. — AuD. Syn. 1839. — Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 83, pi. clxvi. Spizella canadensis, BoN. List, 1838. — Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 480. Fringilla arborea, WiLs. Am. Oru. II, 1810, 12, pi. xii, f. 3. Moineau dii, Canada, Buffon, PI. Enl. 223, f. 2. " Mountain Finch," Lath. Syn. II, i, 265. Sp. Char. Middle of back with the feathers dark brown centrally, then rufous, and edged with pale fnlvous (sometimes with whit- ish). Hood and upper part of nape continuous chestnut; a line of the same from behind the eye, as well as a short maxillary stripe. Sides of head and neck ashy. A broad light super- ciliary band. Beneath whitish, tinged with ful- vous ; the throat with ashy ; a small circular blotch of brownish in the middle of the upper part of the breast ; the sides chestnut. Edges of tail-feathers, primary quills, and two bands across the tips of the secondaries, white. Tertiaries nearly black ; edged externally with rufous, turn- ing to white near the tips. Lower jaw yellow ; upper black. Young bird streaked on throat and breast, as well as on crown. Length, G.2.5 inches ; wing, 3.00. Hab. Eastern North America to the Missouri, north to Arctic Ocean ; also on Pole Creek and Little Colorado River, New Mexico ; Western Nevada. This species varies in the amount of wliitish edging to tlie quills and tail. H.iBiTS. Essentially a northern bird, the Tree Sparrow breeds in liigh Arctic regions, only appearing in winter within the United States. It is then common as far soutli as Pennsylvania. A few winter in South Carolina. It arrives on the Saskatchewan in the latter part of April, where it only SpiztUa mnnlicoln. 4 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. makes a short halt, proceeding farther north to breed. Bischoff obtained a specimen at Sitka. Mr. Kennicott found its nest and eggs on the Yukon, and Mr. ]3all obtained it at Nulato, and more sparingly below that ])oint. i\Ir. MacFarlane met with it breeding in large numbers at Fort Anderson. The nests were in various situations, the larger proportion on the ground, a few in bushes near the ground, and only one is mentioned as having been several feet abo\'e it. One was in the cleft f)f a low willow on the edge of a small lake ; another, in a bush, was nearly four feet from the ground ; and a third was in a clump of willows and fourteen inches above the ground. Neai'ly all the other nests mentioned were built directly upon the ground. The nests were constructed of dry bark and grasses, loosely put together, and very warmly lined with feathers. On the ground they were usually concealed in a tuft of grass. In all instances the female alone was found on the nests, the male being very rarely seen in their vicinity. The usual number of eggs in a nest was four or five, occasionally six, and even seven. Dr. Suckley obtained a single specimen at Fort Dalles, and Dr. Cooper saw a flock in September, 1863, and again in 1864 at the mouth of the Columbia. Lieutenant Bryan met witli th.em among the Piocky Mountains in latitude 39°, in August. 'Sir. Eidgway found them very common during the winter in the interior. Dr. Coues found this Sparrow common in all the wooded districts of Lab- rador. It was \"ery tame and unsuspicious, showing no fear e\'en when closely approached. I have never met with any, in summer, in any part of jSTew Brunswick or Nova Scotia. This Sparrow is occasionally abuudant in Massachusetts early in October, but rarely appears in full numbers until November. Some remain in the gardens in and about Boston during the winter, and during November the marshes of Fresh Pond are filled with them, when their wailing autunmal chant is in marked contrast with the sweet and sprightly song with which they enliven the spring, just before they are about to depart i'or their sum- mer homes. They remain until the latter part of April, and ^Ir. Allen has observed them at Springfield till about the first of May. In regard to their song, Mr. "William Brewster informs me that they usu- ally commence singing about the I'oth of March. Their song is a loud, clear, and powerful chant, starting with two high notes, then falling rapidly, anil ending with a low, sweet warble. He has heard a few singing with their full vigor in November and December, but tliis is rare. Dr. Coues found them not common in South Carolina, but Dr. Kennerly states that they were C[uite abundant in December on the Little Colorado, in New Mexico, feeding on the fruit of the wild grape and upon seeds. During the love-season the Tree Sparrow is quite a fine musician, its song resembling that of the Canary, but finer, sweeter, and not so loud. In their migrations, !Mr. Audubon states, a flock of twenty or more will perch upon the same tree, and join in a delightful chorus. Their flight is elevated FRIXGILLID.E — THE FIXCHES. 5 and graceful, and in waving undulations. On opening the stomachs of those he shot at the Magdeleine Islands, iMr. Audubon found them contain- ing minute shell-fish, coleopterous insects, hard seeds, berries, and grains of sand. Nests obtained near Fort Anderson confirm tlie descriptions given by Mr. Hutchins, as observed in tlie settlement at Hudson's Bay. The eggs, which are much larger than those of the other species of Sjnzella, measure .85 by .65 of an inch. Their ground-color is a light green, over which the eggs are very generally freckled witli minute markings of a foxy brown. These markings are distributed with great regularity, but so sparsely as to leave the ground distinctly visible. Spizella pusilla, I'-oxap, FIELD SPARROW. FringiUa pusilla, Wilson, Am. Oni. II, 1810, 121, pi. xvi, f. 2. — Licht. Verzeich. Doubl. 1823, No. 252. —AuD. Orn. Biog. 11, 1834, 299, pi. cxxxLx. Spixella pusilla, BOXAP. List, 1838. — Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 480. — Baied, Birds N. Am. 1858, 473. — Samuels, 319. Emberiza pusilla, Ai-D. Syn. 1839, 104. — Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 77, pi. clxir. Spinites pusillus, C.\B. Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. Fringilla junconmn, NuTT. Man. 1, 1832, 499 (2d ed.,) 1840, 577 (supposed by him to be Molacilla jurvco- rum, Gmelin, I, 952; Sylvia juncorum, LATHA.\r, Ind. II, 511 ; Little Brovm Sparrow, Catesby, Car. I, 35). Sp. Char. Bill red. Crown continuous rufous-red, with a faint indication of an ashy central stripe, and ashy nuchal collar. Back somewhat similar, with shaft-streaks of blackish. Sides of head and neck (including a superciliary stripe) ashy. Ear-coverts rufous. Beneath white, tinged with yellowish anteriorly. Tail-feathers and quills faintly edged with white. Two whitish bands across the wing-coverts. Aatunmal specimens more rufous. Length about 5.75 ; wing, 2.34. Hab. Eastern North America to the Missouri River; San Antonio, Texas in winter (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 489). This species is about the size of S. socialis, but is more rufous above; lacks the black forehead and eye stripe ; has chestnut ears, instead of ash ; has the bill red, instead of black ; lacks the clear ash of the rump ; has a longer tail, etc. It is more like monticola, but is much smaller ; lacks the spot on the breast, and the predominance of Avhite on the wings, etc. The young have the breast and sides streaked, and the cro^^■n slightly so. Habits. Tlie common Field Sparrow occupies a weU-defined and some- what compact area, being resident within the United States, and in its mi- srations not removing far from its summer abode. In the summer it breeds from Virginia to Maine, as far as the central and western portions. It is not found near Calais, but occurs and breeds near Xorway, Oxfcnxl County. In the interior it is found still farther north, in Canada, Iowa, and Wiscon- sin, to the Bed Eiver settlements, where it was found breeding by Donald Gunn. At Hanulton, Ontario, Mr. Mclhvraith states it to !>e a ratlier rare 6 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. summer resilient. Tt breeds in Southern Wisconsin and in Iowa, but is not abundant. It does not appear to iiave been found west ol' the .Mi.ssoui-i \'alley. This Sparrow arrives in JMassauhusetts early in April, ami is found almost exclusively in open pastures, old fields, and in clearings remote from villages. It is a shy, retiring bird, and seems to avoid the near presence of man. Wil- son states that it has no song, nothing but a kind of chirruping, not much superior to the chirping of a cricket. But this is quite a mistake, as it is in reality a very varied and fine singer. Its notes are not very powerful, and cannot be heard any distance, but they are very pleasing, although little known or appreciated. It continues in full song until into July, when the second brood is about hatcliing, when its notes rela.x, but do not cease until just before its departure in September or early October. Mr. D. I). Hughes, of Grand liapids, Mich., in an interesting paper on the haljits of tliis species, speaks of its beautiful tinkling song as one of its most marked features. To his ear it resembles the ringing of a tiny bell more nearly than anything else. In the early morning and at evening tlie fields ring with their plaintive and tender peals. It sings at all hours of the day, during the nesting-season, even in the noonday heat of summer, when most other birds are silent. In Virginia these birds may be found throughout the year, though probably not the same birds in the same localities, some retiring farther south and others coming to take their places from the north. In winter they are found in the greatest abundance in South Carolina and Georgia, occurring in large loose flocks, found chiefly along the roadsides and in old fields and pastures in the rural districts. The Field Sparrow nests both on the ground and in low liushes, or among tangled clusters of vines. I have found their nests in all these situations, and have no doubt tlie nature of the surface may have something to do with the position. In high dr}' pastures, in sheltered situations, I have always found their nests on the ground. In the wet meadows and fields subject to a rise of water, as about the Potomac, near Washington, where these birds are \ery abundant, they almost invariably nest in bushes at a height of two or three feet. Mr. Audubon says that during the winter these birds are quite common throughout Louisiana, and the country about the Mississippi, as far as Ken- tucky. They begin to depart from the South early in jNIarch, and move slowly northward as the season advances. He states that they begin to nest in May, and raise three broods in a season. This is not the case in New Eng- land, where tliey do not often have more than a single brood. Their nests are constructed in a manner very similar to those of the Chip- ping Sparrow, loosely made of a few stems of vegetables, grasses, and sedges, and lined N\'ith hair or fine rootlets. Those placed on the ground are larger and more bulky, and those wrought into the twigs of a bush are made with FRIXUILLID.E — TUK KTXCllES. 7 more care and neatness of interweaving. Tlie eggs are nsnally five in num- ber, of an oblong-oval shape. The ground is a whitish clay-color, marked more or less fully witli blotches of a ferruginous-brown. In some these markings are few, and arranged only about the larger end. In others they are generally diffused, and impart a deep ferruginous color to the whole egg, and disguise or conceal the ground. They vary also in size, — in length from .70 to .63 of an inch, and in breadth from .5:^ to .5U. Their usual size is .70 by .52. Two nests of this bird taken in Lyiui, Mass., by Mr. George 0. Welch, are characteristic of their usual style in architecture. One of these has a diam- eter of four and a heiglit of two and a half inches. Its base, as well as the great mass of its periphery, is made of a very loose intertwining of mi- nute stems of vegetables and dry grasses. The ends of these project from the exterior of the nest at the upper rim, and present a very peculiar apjDearance, as of an enclosure of palisades. The interior is lined with horsehair. The other is made of similar materials, of a less rigid character and closer tex- ture. Its rim presents the same peculiarities of projecting ends, arranged like a fence above the nest itself. Its dimensions also are aliout the same. It is, however, much more compactly constructed, with thicker walls and a less open network of dry grasses, and stiff wiry stems of di-ied plants intermixed with a few pine leaves. The whole is very carefully and warndy lined with horsehair and the softer fur of small quadrupeds. These nests con- tained, one three, and the other four eggs. Spizella socialis, Bonap. CHIPPING SPARROW ; CHIPPY. Friiujilla socialis, Wilson, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 127, pi. .xvi, i. 5. — AuD. Oni. Biog. II, 1834, 21 ; V, 517, pi. civ. Si>izeUa socialis, BoN. List, 1838. —Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 480. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 473. — Coopeh & Sucklet, 203. — Samuels, 320. Emberiza socialis, AuD. Syu. 1839. —Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 80, pi. cl.xv. Spinites socialis, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. Sp. Char. Rump, back of neck, and .'sides of neck and head, a.«hy. Interecapiilar region with l)lacl< sti'eaks, margined with pale rufous. Crown continuous and uniform chestnut. Forehead black, separated in the middle by white. A white streak over the eye to nape, and a black one from the base of the bill through and behind the eye. Lores dusky. L'nder parts unspotted whitish, tinged with ashy on the sides and across the upper breast. Tail-feathers and primaries edged with paler, not white. Two narrow white bands acro.ss the wing-coverts. Bill black. Length, 5.75; wing, nearly 3.00; tail, 2.50 (or le.s.s). Young. Immature birds and frequently the adult females with the cap streaked with blackish lines, the chestnut nearly or sometimes quite wanting. Birds of the year slicakcd beneath and on rump. The color of bill varies; .sometimes entirely lilack throughout, sometimes very light (but never reddish as in S. jmsiUa), with all intermediate stages. Thei-e is usually, however, a 8 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. dusky tinge in the upper liill, wanliug iu i>usitlii, and the lores are almost always more or less dusky in all stages of plunia<;e. Had. Eastern Province of North America; north to G-reat Slave Lake, and south to Orizaba, Eastern Mexico, wliero it is resident. Oa.xaca (perhaps var. arizonce). .Ian. (Sci-. 858, 30i); Xalapa (Scl. 1859, 365) ; Conlova (Sci,. 18.5(5, 305); Cuba (L.wvr. 18G0, VII., 1269). HjV-BITS. The coimnou Chipping Sparrow, so I'aiiiiliar to all iu the eastern portion of the United States, is not only one of the most abmiilant, but one of the most widely distributed of our North American birds. It is found from the Atlantic to the Pacific in it.s two races, and breeds from Georgia to the Arctic Circle. At different seasons of the year it is found in all jior- tions of North America to Mexico. Along the Atlantic coast it uests at least as far north as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia ; in the extreme northern portion of the latter Province I found it one of the most abundant birds. The late Mr. Iiobert Kennicott met with them in considerable numbers at Fort Eesolution, on Great Slave Lake, and there he obtained quite a number of their nests, all of which were in trees or bushes, from two to three feet above the gi-ound. These were all met with between the 1st and the 26th of Jime. Mr. B. E. Koss also met with these birds iu considerable numbers at Fort Simjison and at Fort Rae. On the Pacific coast the Chipping Sparrow is stated Ijy Dr. Cooper to be quite as abundant in the northern parts of California, and in Oregon and Washington Territory, as on the Atlantic coast. He found them wintering in the Colorado "\^alley in large numbers, but met with none about San Diego. They spend their summers in the northern part of California, building their nests, as with us, in the shrubbery of the gardens, and coming familiarly about the doorsteps to pick up crumbs. In autumn they collect in large flocks, and frequent the open fields and pastures. Dr. Cooper found them in flocks on Catalina Island in June, but could discover no nests. They were all old birds, and the conclusion was that they had dela3'ed their more north- ern migrations. Dr. Suckley found this species extremely abundant in the open districts on the Columbia Eiver, as wAl as upon the gravell}' prairies of the Puget Sound district. It is not named as hax'ing been met with by Mr. Dall or any of the Eussian Telegraph party in Alaska. It was found in abundance during the summer by Mr. Eidgway in all the wooded portions of the country of the Great Basin. He did not meet with any among the cottonwoods of the river-valleys, its fa\'orite haunts appear- ing to be the cedars and the nut-pines of the mountains. In July and August, in such localities, on the East Humboldt Mountains, it was not only the most numerous species, but also very abundant, nesting in the trees. About the middle of August they congregated in large numbers, preparing for their departure. FRINGILLID^ — THE FINCHES. 9 At Sacramento it was also very aLuudant among the groves of small oaks. He could not observe the slightest difference in habits or notes between the eastern and the western specimens of this form. He found them breeding at Salt Lake City, June 19, the nest being in a scrub-oak, six feet from the ground. In Arizona, Dr. Coues found the Chippy a very abundant summer resident, arriving the third week of March and remaining until the latter part of November. A few may spend the winter there. As described, it seems more gregarious than it is with us, arriving in the spring, and remaining for a month or more in large flocks of fifty or upwards. In New England they always come in pairs, and only assemljle in flocks just on the eve of their dei^arture. Mr. Dresser met with these Sparrows, and obtained specimens of them, near San Antonio, on the 10th of April. Dr. Heermann, in his Eeport upon the birds observed in Lieutenant Williamson's route between the 32d and 35th parallels, speaks of finding this species abundant. Dr. Gerhardt found this Sparrow not uncommon in the northern portions of Georgia, where it is resident throughout the year, and where a few remain in the summer to breed. Dr. Coues also states that a limited number sum- mer in the vicinity of Columbia, S. C, but that their number is insignificant compared with those wintering there between October and April. They collect in large flocks on their arrival, and remain in companies of liundreds or more. Mr. Sumichrast states that it is a resident liird in the temperate region of Vera Cruz, Mexico, where it remains throughout the year, and breeds as freely and commonly as it does within the Lhiited States. Although found throughout the country in greater or less numbers, they are noticeably not common in the more recent settlements of the West, as on the unsettled prairies of Ilhnois and Iowa. Mr. Allen found them quite rare in both States, excepting only about the older settlements. As early as the first week in April, 1868, I noticed these birds very common and familiar in the streets of St. Louis, especially so in the business part of that city, along the wharves and near the grain-stores, seeking their food on the ground with a confidence and fearlessness quite unusual to it in such situ- ations. The tameness and sociability of this bird surpass that of any of the birds I have ever met with in New England, and are only equalled by similar traits manifested by the Snowbird (./. hycmali^ in Pictou. Those that live about our dwellings in rural situations, and have been treated kindly, visit our doorsteps, and even enter the houses, with the greatest familiarity and trust. They will learn to distinguish their friends, alight at their feet, call for their accustomed food, and pick it up when thrown to them, witliout tlie slightest signs of fear. One pair which, summer after summer, had built their nest in a fir-tree near my door, became so accustomed to be fed that they would clamor for their food if they were any morning forgotten. One VOL. II. 2 10 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. of these birds, the I'eniale, from coining down tn the grnnnd to be fed with crumbs, soon learned to take them on the tiat braneli of the fir near her nest, and at last to feed from my hand, and afterwards from that of other members of the family. Her mate, all the while, was comijaratively shy and distrust- ful, and could not be induced to receive his food from us or to eat in our presence. This Sparrow is also quite social, keeping on good terms and delighting to associate with other species. Since the introduction of the European House Sparrow into Boston, I have repeatedly noticed it associating with them in the most friendly relations, feeding with them, iiying up with them when disturbed, and imitating all their movements. The Chipping Sparrow has very slight claims to be regarded as one of our song-birds. Its note of complaint or uneasiness is a simple chip, and its song, at its best, is but a monotonous repetition of a single note, sounding like the rapid striking together of two small pebbles. In the bright days of June this unjDretendiug ditty is kept up incessantly, hours at a time, with only rare intermissions. The nest of this bird is always in trees or bushes. I have in no instance known of its being built on the ground. Even at the Arctic regions, where so many of our tree-builders vary from this custom to nest on the ground, no exceptional cases are reported in regard to it, aU its nests being upon trees or in bushes. These are somewliat rudely built, often so loosely that they may readily be seen througli. Externally they are made of coarse stems of grasses and vegetable branches, and lined with the hair of the larger animals. These birds are devoted parents, and express great solicitude whenever their nests are approached or meddled with. They feed their young almost exclusively with the larvaa of insects, especially with young caterjjillars. When in neighborhoods infested witli the destructive cankei'-worm, they will feed their young with this pest in incredible numbers, and seek them from a considerable distance. Living in a district exempt from this scotn-ge, yet but shortly removed from them, in the summer of 1869, I noticed one of these Sparrows with its mouth filled with something which inconvenienced it to carry. It alighted on the gravel walk to adjust its load, and passed on to its nest, leaving two canker-worms behind it, which, if not thus detected, would ha\'e introduced this nuisance into an orchard tiiat had pre%iously escaped, showing that though friends to those afflicted they are dangerous to their neighbors. This Sparrow is also the frequent nurse of the Cow Blackbird, rearing its young to the destruction of its own, and tending them with exemplary fidelity. Their eggs, five in number, are of an oblong-oval shape, and vary greatly in size. They are of a bluish-green color, and are sparingly spotted about the larger end with markings of umber, purple, and dark blackish-brown, intermingled with lighter shadings of faint purple. The largest specimen FRINCrlLLID^ — THE FINCHES. "11 I have ever uoticed of this egg, found in the Capitol Grounds, Washington, measures .80 by .58 of an inch ; and the smallest, from Varrell's Station, Ga., measures .60 by .50. Their average measurement is about .70 by .54. They are all much pointed at the smaller end. Spizella socialis, ^ar. arizonae, Coues. WESTEEN CHIPPING SPARKOW. Spizella socialis, var. arizonoe, Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866. — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 207. Sp. Char. Similar to socialis, but tail and wing longer, the bill narrower, and colors paler and grayer. Ruibus of the crown lighter and less purplish, generally (always in specimens from southern Rocky Mountains) with fine black streaks on the posterior part. Ash of the cheeks paler, throwing the white of the superciliary stripe and throat into less contrast. Black streaks of the back narrower, and without the rufous along their edges, merely streaking a plain light brownish-gray ground-color. A strong ashy shade over the breast, not seen in socialis ; wing-bands more purely white. Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.80; bill, .36 from forehead, by .18 deep. (40,813 ird at Fort Carlton on the 21st of May. He speaks of its note as very peculiar, reseniljling, thouyli sharper than, the buzzing made by a fly in a paper box, or a faint imitation of the sound of a watchman's rattle. Tliis song it utters perched on some young tree or bush, sometimes only once, at others three or four times in quick succession. Their nests appear to have been in all instances placed in trees or in shrubs, generally in small spruces, two or three feet from the ground. Tn one instance it was in a clump of small bushes not more than six inches from the ground, and only a few rods i'rom the buildings of Fort llesolution. Roth this species and the S. hreweri were found by Lieutenant Couch at Tamaulipas in March, 1855. It does not appear to have been met with by any other of the exploring expeditions, but in 18G4, for the first time, as Dr. Heermann states, to his knowledge, these birds Avere found quite plentiful near San Antonio, Texas, by Mr. Dresser. Tliis was ui April, in the fields near that town. They were associating with the Melospiza lincolni and other Sparrows. They remained about San Antonio imtil the middle of May, after which none were observed. The eggs of this .species are of a light blue, with a slight tinge of greenish, and are marked around the larger end with sj^ots and blotches of a purplish- brown, rather finer, perliaps, than in the egg of S. socialis, though very similar to it. They average .70 of an inch in length, and vary in breadth from .50 to .52 of an inch. Spizella pallida, \ar breweri, Cassin. BREWER'S SPARROW. Emberisa pallida, AuD. Orn. Biog. \, 1839, 66, pi. ccc.^:eviii, f. 2. — Ib. Synopsis, 1839. — Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 71, pi. clxi (not of Sw.\inson, 1831). Spizella hreweri, CA.SSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. VIII, Feb. 1856, 40. — B.a.ird, Birds N. Am. 18.58, 475.— Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 209. Sp. Cn.iR. Similar to S. pallida ; the markings including the nuchal collar more obsolete; no distinct median and superciliary light stripes. The crown streaked with black. Some of the feathers on the sides with brown shafts. Length, 5 inches ; wing, 2.50. Young streaked beneath, as in pallida. Had. Rocky Mountains of United States to the Pacific coast. This race is very similar to the S. imllida, and requires close and critical comparison to separate it. Tlie streaks on the back are narrower, tuid the central ashy and lateral whitish stripes of the crown are scarcely, if at all, appreciable. The clear nnstreaked asli of the back of the neck, too, is mostly wanting. The feathers along the sides of the body, near the tibia, -[4 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. and occasionally elsewhere on the sides, have Itrownish shafts, not found in the other. The differences are perhaps those of race, rather tlian of species, tlioiigh they are very apiireciable. Habit.s. This species bears a very close resemblance to the S. pallida in its external appearance, but there are certain constant differences which, with the peculiarities of their distinctive distributions and habits, seem to estab- lish their specific separation. The present bird is found from the Pacific coast to the Eocky Mountains, and from the northern portion of California to the Eio Grande and Mexico. Dr. Kennerly found it in February, 1854, throughout New Mexico, from the Rio Grande to the Great Colorado, along the different streams, where it was feeding upon the seeds of several kinds of weeds. Dr. Heermann, while accompanying the surveying party of Lieutenant Williamson, between the 32d and 35th parallels, found these Sparrows throughout his entire route, both in California and in Texas. On the pas- sage from the Pimos villages to Tucson he ob.served large flocks gleaning their food among the bushes as they were moving southward. In the Tejon valley, during the fall season, he was constantly meeting them associated with large flocks of other species of Sparrows, congregated around the cul- tivated fields of the Indians, where they find a bountiful supply of seeds. For this purpose they pass the greater part of the time upon the ground. Dr. Woodhouse also met with this Sparrow throughout New Mexico, wherever food and water were to be found in sufficient quantity to sustain life. In Arizona, near Fort Whipple, Dr. Coues states that this bird is a rare summer resident. He characterizes it as a shy, retiring species, keeping mostly in thick brush near the ground. Mr. Eidgway states that he found this interesting little Sparrow, while abundant in all fertile portions, almost exclusively an inhabitant of open situations, such as fields or bushy plains, among the artemesia especially, where it is most numerous. It frequents alike the valleys and the moun- tains. At Sacramento it was the most abundant Sparrow, frequenting the old fields. In this respect it very much resembles the eastern Spizdla pusilla, from which, however, it is in many respects very different. The song of Brewer's Sparrow, he adds, for sprightliness and vivacity is not excelled by any other of the North American Fringillida^, being inferior only to that of the Chvndestes grammaca in jjower and richness, and even excelling it in variety and compass. Its song, while possessing all the plain- tivencss of tone so characteristic of the eastern Field Sparrow, imites to this quality a vivacity and variety fully equalling that of the finest Canary. This species is not resident, but arrives about the 9th of April. He found its nest and eggs in the Truckee Eeservation, early in June. The nests were in sage-bushes ai)out three feet from the ground. Dr. Cooper found small flocks of this species at Fort Mohave, after March FRINtULLIDJ': — THE FIXCHKS. I5 20, frequenting grassy spots among the low bushes, and a niinith later they were singing, he adds, much like a Canary, but more I'aiutly. They are pre- sumed to remain in tlie valley all summer. The eggs, four in number, are of a light bluish-green color, oblong in shape, more rounded at the smaller end than the eggs of the socialis, and the ground is more of a green than in those of ;S'. pallida. They art; marked and blotched in scattered markings of a golden-brown color. These l)lotches are larger and more conspicuous than in the eggs of the other .species. They measure .70 by .51 of an inch. Spizella atrigularis, Baied. BLACE-CHimiED SPARROW. Spinites atrigulari'!, C'.\b.a.ni.s, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. Spizella atrigularis, B.\ird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 476, pi. Iv, f. 1. — Ib. Mex. Bound. 11, Birds, p. 16, pi. xvii, f. 1. — CooPEK, Orn. Cal. I, 210. StruOms atrimenlalis, Couch, Pr. A. N. Sc. riiil. VII, April, 1854, 67. Sp. Ch.\r. Tail elongated, deeply forked and divaricated. General color bluish-ash, paler beneath, and turning to white on the middle of the belly. Interscapular region yellowish-rusty, streaked with black. Forehead, loral region, and side of head as far as eyes, chin, and upper part of throat black. Quills and tail-feathers very dark brown, edged virith ashy. Edges of coverts like the back. No white bands on the wings. Bill red, feet dusky. Immature birds, and perhaps adult female, without any black on head. Length, 5.50 ; wing, 2.50 ; tail, 3.00. Has. Mexico, just south of the Rio Grande ; Fort Whipple, Ariz. (Coues) ; Cape St. Lucas. This species is about the size of *S^. f^usilla and S. socialis, resembling the former most in its still longer tail. This is more deeply forked and divari- cated, with broader feathers tlian in either. The wing is much rounded ; the fourth quill longest ; the first almost the shortest of the primaries. Habits. This species is a Mexican bird, found only within the limits of the United States along the borders. But little is known as to its history. It is supposed to be neither very abundant nor to have an extended area of distribution. It was met with by Dr. Coues in the neighborhood of Fort Wliipple, Arizona, where it arrives in April and leaves again in October, collecting, before its departure, in small flocks. In the spring he states that it has a very sweet and melodious song, far surpassing in power and melody the notes of any other of tliis genus that he has ever heard. Dr. Coues furnishes me with the following additional information in regard to this species : " This is not a common bird at Fort Whipple, and was only observed from April to October. It unquestionably breeds in tliat vicinity, as I shot very young birds, in August, wanting the distinctive head-markings of the adult. A pair noticed in early April wei-e seemingly about breeding, as the male was in I'ldl song, and showed, on dissection, highly developed IG NORTH AMKIUCAX BIRDS. sexual organs. The song is very agreeable, not in the least recalling the monotonous ditty of the Chip Bird, or the rather weak performances of some other species of the genus. In the latter i)art of summer and early autumn tlie birds wei'e generally seen in small tioops, ])erhiips families, in w'eedy places, associating with the western variety of Spizella socialis, as well as with Goldfinches." lieutenant Couch met with inilividuuls of this species at Agua Xiieva, in Coahuila, Mexico, in May, 1853. They were found in small flocks among the mountains. Their nest and eggs are unknown. Mthapiza mf.htlia. Genus MELOSPIZA, IVmrd. Melosjyuxi, B.iir.n, Birds N. Am. 1S68, i78. (Tyijc, FrinyUla melodia, Wii,s.) Gen. Char. Body stout. Bill conical, very obsoletely notclicd, or smooth ; somewhat compres.sed. Lower mandible not so deep as the upper. Commissure nearly straight. Gonys a little curved. Feet stout, not stretching beyond the tail; tarsus a little longer than the middle toe ; outer toe a little longer than the inner; its claw not quite reaching to the base of the middle one. Hind toe appreciably longer than the middle one. Wings quite short and round- ed, scarcely reaching bej'ond the base of the tail; the tcrtials considerably longer than the secondaries ; the quills considera- bly graduated ; the fourth longest ; the first not longer than the tertials, and almost the shortest of the primaries. Tail moderately long, rather longer from coccyx than the wings, and considerably graduated ; the feathers _s, ov.al at tlie tip;;, and not stifToned. Crown and back similar in color, and streaked ; beneath thickly streaked, except in M. pahistris. Tail immaculate. Usually nest on ground ; nests stronglj' woven of grasses and fibrous stems ; eggs marked with rusty- j_- - rrn ' \'in. ■ ^- ';T.\mi\-i brown and purple on a ground of a clay color. S^jaflri'i'' ^VlBlL ^^' "'^^«l This genus differs from Zonotrkliia in the shorter, more graduated tail, rather longer hind toe, much more rounded wing, which is shorter; the tertiaries longer; the first quill almost the shortest, and not longer than the tertials. The under parts are spotted ; the crown streaked, and like the back. There are few species of American birds that have caused more perplexity to the Mtiospiza meM,a. ornithologist than the gi-oup of Mhich Melospiza melodia is the type. Spread FKIXGILLID.E — THE FINCHES. 17 over the whole of North Aineiiua, and faiuiliiir to every one, we find each region to possess a special form (to wliicli a specific name has been given), and yet these passing into each other by such insensible gradations as to render it quite impossible to define them as species. Between 31. vieloclia of the Atlantic States and M. itim/nis of Kodiak the difference seems wide ; but tlie connecting links in the intermediate regions bridge tliis over so completely that, with a series of hundreds of specimens before us, we abandon the attempt at specific separation, and unite into one no less tlian eight species previously recognized. Taking, then, the common Song Sparrow of the Eastern Atlantic States (J/, mc/odia) as the starting-point, and proceeding westward, we find cpute a decided difference (in a variety fallax) when we reach the J\liddle Province, or that of the Eocky Mountains. The general tints are paler, gi'ayer, and less rusty ; the superciliary stripe anteriorly more asliy ; the bill, and espe- cially the legs, more dusky, the latter not at all to be called yellow. The bill is perhaps smaller and, though sometimes equal to the average of eastern specimens, more slender in proportion. In some specimens (typical /«;/«a,-) the streaks are uniform rufous without dai'ker centres, — a feature I have not noticed in eastern mcludia. Another stage (hrrrmanni) is seen when we reach the Pacific coast of California, in a darker lin}wn color (but not rufous). Here the bill is rather larger than in \ar. /«//«.<■, and the legs colored more like typical iiidodlu. In fact, the bird is like mclodia, but darker. The stripes on the back continue Avell defined and di.stinct. M. smnuelis i==(jouldi) may stand as a smaller race of tliis variety. Proceeding northward along the Pacific coast, another form (var. guttata), peculiar to the coast of California, is met with towards and beyond the mouth of the Columbia (coming into Southern California in winter). This is darker in color, more rnfous ; the stripes quite indistinct above, in fact, more or less obsolete, and none, either above or below, with darker or black- isli centres. The sides, crissum, and tibia are washed with ochraceous- lirown, the latter perhaps darkest. The liill is proportionally longer and more slender. Tliis race becomes still darker nortliward, until at Sitka (var. rvfina) it shows no rufous tints, but a dusky olive-brown instead, in- cluding the streaks of the under parts. The markings of the head and back are appreciable, though not distinct. The size has become consider- ably larger than in eastern melodia, the average length of wing being 3.00, instead of 2.60. The last extreme of difference from typical melodia of the east is seen in the variety insirjnis from Kodiak. Here the size is very large : length, 7.00 ; extent, 10.75 ; wing, 3.20. The bill is very long (.73 from forehead), the color still darker brown and more uniform above ; the median light stripe of vertex scarcely appreciable in some sjiecimens ; the superciliary scarcely sliowing, except as a whitish spot anteriorly. Tlie lull and feet have become almost black. VOL. II. 3 l^ NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. Tho I'oUowiiig synopsis may serve as a ineaus ly wliioh to distinguish the several races of this species, as also tlie two reinainiug positive species of the genus : — Species and Varieties. A. Lower parts streaked. 1. M. melodia. White of the lower parts uninterrupted from tlu^ chin to the crissum ; the streaks of the jugulura, etc., broad and cuneale. a. Streaks, above and below, sharply defined, and distinctly black medially (except sometimes in winter plumage). Ground-color above reddish-gray, the interscapulars with the whitish and black streaks about equal, and sharply contrasted. Rump with reddish streaks. Wing, 2.70 ; tail, 2.90 ; bill .36 from nostril, and .30 deep. Hab. Eastern Province of United States, to tlie Plains on the west, and the Rio Grande on the south var. melodia.' Ground-color above ashy-gray, the interscapulars with the black streaks much broader than their rufous border, and the whitish edges not in strong contrast. Rump without streaks. Wing, 2.80 ; tail, 3.15; bill, .33 and .22. Hab. Middle Province of United States var. faUax.' Ground-color above nearly pure gray, the interscapulars with the black streaks much broader than the rufous, and the edges of the feathers not appreciably paler. Rump without streaks. Wing, 2.80; tail, 2.85; bill, .32 by .27. Hah. California, except along the coast; Sierra Nevada var. heermanni.^ Ground-color above grayish-olive, the interscapulars with the black streaks much broader than their rufous border ; edges of the feathers scarcely appreciably paler. Rump and tail-coverts, above and below, with distinct broad streaks of black. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.50 ; bill, .37 and .24. Hab. Coast region of Cahfornia var. samuelis.* Ground-color above olive-rufon.s, the edges of the interscapulars, alone, ashy ; dorsal black streaks very broad, without rufous border. Rump streaked with black. Wing, 2. GO ; tail, 2.85 ; bill, .34 and .25. Hab. Puebla, Mexico . . . var. mexicana.^ 1 Winter plwnxafjc. Rusty prevailing above, but hoary whitish edges to feathers still in strong contrast ; streaks beneath with a rufous suffusion externally, but still with the black in excess. - WinUr plumarje. Gray above more olivaceous, the black streaks more subdued by a rufous suffusion ; streaks beneath with the rufous predominating, sometimes without any black. ' Winter plumage. Above rusty-olive, with little or no ashy, the black streaks broad and distinct. Streaks beneath with the black and rusty in about equal amount. * In sununer the sti-uaks beneath are entirely intense black ; in winter they have a slight rufous external suffusion. ^ Mclos-pizamclodiii, var. mcxicnna, Kidgw.w. Mexican Song Sparrow, f ? Mclo.ipiza pecto- ralii, VON Muller. Sr. Char. (Type, 60,046, Puebla, Mexico, A. BoucAun.) Similar to M. melodia, but giound-color above olive-brown ; inner webs of interscapular pale ashy, but not in strong contrast. Crown and wings rusty-brown, the former with broad black streak.s, and divided by a just appreciable paler line ; back with broad black .streaks without any rufous suffusion. Sujierciliary stri|)C pun; light a.sh, becoming white anteiior to the eye ; two broad, dark-brown stripes on side of head, — one from the eye back along upper edge of auricidars, the other back from the rictus, along their lower border. Lower ])arts ]>ure white, the flanks and crissum dis- tinctly ochraccous ; markings beneath broad and lieavj', entirely pure deep black ; those on the jugulum deltoid, on the sides linear. Wing, 2. GO ; tail, 2.S5 ; bill, .37 and .24 ; tarsus, .85 ; FRINaiLLID.E — TIIE FINCHES. 19 6. Streaks, aliove and below, not sharply (lefnied, anil without black medially. Above rufescent-olive, the darker shades oastaneous ; streaks be- neath ca.staueous-rufous. Wing, 2.G0 ; tail, 2.50 ; bill, .35 and .23. Hab. Pacific Province from Briti.«h Columbia, southward . \m: guttata. Above sepia-plunibeous, the darker shades fuliginous-sepia ; streaks beneath fuliginous-sepia. Wing, 3.00; tail, 3.00 ; bill, .41 and .25. Hah. Pacific Province from BritLsh Columbia northward. var. )• n/i n a . Above plumbeous, the darker markings dull reddish-sepia in winter, clove-brown in summer ; streaks beneath castaneous-rufous in winter, dull sepia in summer. Wing, 3.40 ; tail, 3. GO ; bill, .50 and .30. Hab. Pacific coast of Alaska (Kodiak, etc.) . var. insignis. 2. M. lincolni. White of the lower parts interrutped by a broad pectoral band of bud'; streaks on the jugulum, etc., narrow linear. A vertex and superciliary scripe of ashy ; a maxillary one of buff. Wing, 2.60 ; tail, 2.40 ; bill, .30 and .25. Hab. Whole of North America ; south, in winter, to Panama. Lower parts without streaks (except in young.) 3. M. palustris. .Jugulum and nape tinged with ashy ; outer surface of wings bright casianeous, in strong contrast with the olivaceous of the back ; dorsal streaks bruad, black, without rufous e.xternally ; a superciliary and maxillary stripe of ashy. ^. Crown uniform chestnut, forehead black. ?. Crown similar, but divided by an indistinct ashy stripe, and more or less streaked with black (autumnal or winter ^ similar). Jnv. Head, back, and jugulum streaked with black on a yellowish-white ground; black pre- vailing on the crown. Sab. Eastern Province of North America. Melospiza melodia, Baird. SONG SPARROW. Fringilla melodia, Wilson, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 125, pi. xvi, f. 4. — Lioht. Verz. 1823, No. 219. —AuD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 126; V, 507, pi. 25. —Ib. Syn. 1839, 120.— IB. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 147, pi. clxxxix. — Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 275. Zmwtrichia melodia, Bon. List, 1838. — Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 478. / / Fringilla fasdala, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 922. — Nutt.ill, Man. I, (2d cd.,) 1840, 562. ? f Frinrjilla hyonalis, Gmelix, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 922. Melospiza melodia, Baiud, Birds N. Am. 1858, 477' — Samuels, 321. Sp. Char. General tint of upper parts rufous and distinctly streaked with rufous-brown, dark-brown, and ashy-gray. The crown is rufous, with a superciliary and median stripe of dull gray, the former lighter ; nearly white anteriorly, where it sometimes has a faint shade of yellow, principally in autumn ; each feather of the crown with a narrow streak of black forming about six narrow lines. Interscapulars black in the centre, then rufous, then pale grayish on the margin, these three colors on each feather very sharply con- trasted. Rump grayer than upper tail-co\erts, both with obsolete dark streaks. There is middle toe without claw, .68. This may possitily be the M. pcdoralis of von Miiller. The de- scription cited above, however, does not agree with the specimen under consideration. The pec- toral spots are expressly stated to be brown, not even a black shaft-streak being mentioned, whereas the pure black spots of the specimen before us render it peculiar in this respect, being, in fact, its chief characteristic. 1 aJ 20 NOUTII AMKinCAX BIRDS. a whitisli maxillary stripe, bordered above and below by one of daik nifous-brown, and with another from behind the eye. The under parts are white ; the jugnhnn and sides of body streaked with clear dark-brown, sometimes with a rufous sufl'usion. On the middle of the breast these marks are rather aggregated so as to form a spot. No distinct white on tail or wings. Length of male, 6..50; wing, 2.58; tail, 3.00. Bill pale brown above ; yellowish at base beneath. Legs yellowish. Hab. Ea.stern United States to the high Central Plains. Specimens vary somewhat in liaving the streaks across the breast more or less sparse, the spot more or less distinct. In autumn the colors are more bleiided, the light maxillary stripe tinged with yellowish, the edges of the du.sky streaks strongly suffused with brownish-rufous. The young bird has the upper parts paler, the streaks more distinct ; tlie lines on the head scarcely appreciable. The under jjarts are yellowish ; the streaks narrower and more sharply defined dark lirown. As already stated, this species varies more or less from tlie above descrip- tion in dillerent parts of North America, its typical races having received specific names, which it is necessary to retain for them as varieties. Habit-s. The common Song Sparrow of eastern N^orth America has an extended range of distribution, and is resident throughout tlie year in a large part of the area in which it breeds. It nests from about South Carolina north to the British Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick at the east, and to a not well-defined limit in British America. The most northern points to wliich it has been traced are the plains of the Saskatchewan and the southern shore of Lake Winnepeg, in which latter place Mr. Kennicott found it breeding. It is said by Dr. Coues to breed in South Carolina, and by Mr. Audubon in Louisiana, Imt I liave never seen any of their eggs from any point south of Washington. In winter it is found from Massachusetts, where only a few are oljserved, to Flijrida. It is most abundant at this period in Nortli and Soutli Carolina. It is not mentioned in Dr. Ger- hardt's list as being found in Northern Georgia at any season of the year. Mr. Eidgway informs me that it does not breed iu Soutliern Illinois. Its song is not popularly known there, though he has occasionally heard it just before these Sparrows were leaving for the north. This s])ecies winters tliere in company with the Z. cdhicoUis and Z. hiicophrijs, associating with the for- mer, and inhabiting brush-heaps in the clearings. To ]\Iassachusetts, wliere specimens have been taken in every month of the year, and wliere they have lieen heard to sing in January, they return in large numbers usually early in March, sometimes even in February. It is probable that these are but migrants, passing farther north, and that dur summer visitants do not appear among us until the middle of April, or just as they are about to breed. They reach Maine from the 1.5th to the I'.'ith, and breed there the iniTldle of May. In Massachusetts they do not have eggs until the first M'eek in JMay, except in very remarkable seasons, usually not until after the Bluebird has already hatched out her first brood, and a week later than the Bobiii. FRIXGILLID.K — THE FINCHES. 21 The tide of returning emigration begins to set soutliward early in October. Collecting in small loose flocks, probably all of each group members of the same family, they slowly move towards the south. As one set passes on, anotlier succeeds, until the latter part of Novemljer, when we no longer meet with flocks, but solitary individuals or groups of two or three. These are usually a larger and stouter race, and almost suggest a different species. They are often in song even into December. They apparently do not go far, and are the first to return. In early March they are in full song, and their notes seem louder, clearer, and more vibratory than those that come to us and remain to breed. The Song Sparrow, as its name implies, is one of our most noted and con- spicuous singers. It is at once our earliest and our latest, as also our most constant musician. Its song is somewhat brief, but is repeated at short intervals, almost thi-oughout the days of spring and early summer. It some- what resembles the opening notes of the Canary, and though less resonant and powerful, much surpasses them in sweetness and expression. Plain and homely as this bird is in its outward garli, its sweet song and its gentle con- fiding manners render it a welcome visitor to every garden, and around every rural home wherein such attractions can be appreciated. Whenever these birds are kindly treated they readily make friends, and are attracted to our doorsteps for the welcome crumbs that are thrown to them ; and they will return, year after year, to the same locality, whenever thus encouraged. The song of this Sparrow varies in different individuals, and often changes, in the same bird, in different parts of the year. It is even stated by an observing naturalist — Mr. Charles S. Paine, of Eandoljjh, Vt. — that he has known the same bird to sing, in succession, nine entirely different'' sets of notes, usually uttering them one after the other, in the same order. This was noticed not merely once or during one season, but through three successive summers. The same bird returned each season to his grounds, and came each time provided with the same variety of airs. Mr. Nuttall, wlio dwells witli much force upon the beauty and earnestness of expression of the song of this species, has also noticed and remarked upon the power of individuals to vary their song, from time to time, with very agreeable effect, but no one has recorded so remarkalile an instance as that thus carefully noted by Mr. Paine. These birds are found in almost anj^ cultivated locality where tlie grounds are sufficiently open. They prefer the edges of open fields, and those of meadows and low grounds, but are rarely found in woods or in thick bushes, except near their outer edges. They nest naturally on the ground, and in such situations a large majority build their nests. These are usually the younger birds. A portion, almost always birds of several summers, probably taught by sad experiences of the insecurity of the ground, build in l)ushes. A pair which had a nest in an adjoining field had been robbed, by a cat, of their young when just about to fly. After much lamentation, and an interval of a 22 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. week, I loiind this same pair, wliicli I easily recognized, Imilding their nest among some vines near my liouse, some eight feet from the ground. Tiiey liad abandoned my neiglihor's grounds and taken refuge close to my house. This situation they resorted to afterwards for several successive summers, each season building two nests, never using the same nest a second time, although each time it was left as clean and in as good condition as wlien first made. Indeed, this species is remarkable for its cleanliness, both in its own person and in its care of nestlings and nests. They feed their young chiefly with insects, especially small caterpillars ; the destructive canker-worm is one of their favorite articles of food, also the larvae of insects and the smaller moths. When crumbs of bread are given them, they are eagerly gathered and taken to their nests. In tlie iMiddle States tliey ai-e said to have three broods in a season. This may also be so in j^ew England, but I have never known one pair to have more than two broods in the same summer, even when both had been suc- cessfully reared. Nests found after Juh' have always been in cases where some accident had befallen the preceding brood. The nest of the Song Sparrow, wliether built on ground, bush, or tree, is always well and thoroughly made. Externally and at the base it consists of stout stems of grasses, fibrous twigs of plants, and small sticks and rootlets. These are strongly wrought together. Within is made a neat, weU-woven basket of fine long stems of grasses, rarely anything else. On the ground they are usually concealed beneatli a tuft of grass ; sometimes they make a covered passage-way of several inches, leading to their nest. Wlien built in a tree or shruli, tlie top is often sheltered by the branches or by dry leaves, forming a co\-eriug to the structure. The eggs of the Song Sparrow are five in number, and have an average measurement of .82 by .60 of an inch. They have a ground of a clay-color or dirty wliite, and are spotted equally over the entire egg with blotches of a rusty-brown, intermingled witli lighter shades of purple. In some these markings are so numerous and confluent as to entirely conceal the ground- color ; in others they are irregularly difiused over different parts, leaving patches unmarked. Occasionally the eggs are unspotted, and are then not unlike those of Zcucosticte griscinucha. Melospiza melodia var. fallax, B.urd. WESTERN SONG SPARSOW. Zmwlrichia fallax, B.\IRD, I'r. A. N. Sc. Ph. VIT, June, 1854, 119 (Pueblo Creek, New Mexico), t Zonolrichia fasciata, (Gm.) Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d Series, I, 1847, 49. Melospiza. fallax, Baikd, Birds N. Am. 1858, 481, pi. x.xvii, f. 2. — Kenserlt, P. K. E. X, b. 1)1. xxvii, f. 2. — Cooi-f.k, Oni. Cal. I, 215. Si'. Char. Similar to var. melodia, but with the bill on the whole rather smaller, more slender, and darker. Legs quite dusky, not yellow. Entire plumage of a more FKINGILLID.E — TIIK KINCHKS. 28 grayish cast, including the whole superciliary stripe. The streaks on throat and jiigulum in spring are almost black, as in melodia ; in auUuiin more rufous; in all cases quite as sharply defined as in melodia. The bill is nearly black in spring. H.\i!. Middle Province of United States, to the Sierra Nevada. This race, intermediate between melodia and liccrmanni in habitat, is, however, hardly so in characters. The bill is more slender than in eitlier, being much like that of cjuituta, and the tail is longer iu proportion to the wing. In colors it is paler than either, the ground-cast above being nearly- clear grayish : the streaks, both on the back and jngulum, are more sparse, as well as narrower ; \-cry frequently, in the winter plumage, those beneath lack the central black, being wholly rufous ; such is the case with the type. In summer, however, they are frequently entirely black, the external rufous having entirely disappeared. As in heermanni, the rump is immaculate. The young bird differs as does the adult, though the resemblance to those of melodia and heermanni is more close than in the adult. The very narrow bill and long tail are the most characteristic features of form. Habits. In habits and song, Dr. Cooper can find no appreciable differ- ences between this variety and its nearest allies. He states that its nest, which he found in a willow thicket, was composed of bark and fine twigs and gxass, and lined with hair. Its eggs he describes as bluish-white, blotched and streaked with reddish-brown, and as measuring .74 by .55 of an inch. Dr. Cones found tins species a common and permanent j:esident in Ari- zona, and he pronounces its habits, manners, and voice precisely like those of M. Ill dud ia. This species, he states, occurs thronghout New ]\fexico, Arizona, and a part of Southern California, and is particularly abundant in the valley of the Colorado. Dr. Kennedy observed this species only along Pueblo Creek, in the month of January. It did not confine itself to the open valley, but was often seen among the thick bushes that margined the creek, far up into the Aztec Mountains, where the snow covered the ground. In its habits it rescimbled the Pooqiiza belli, being very restless and rapid in its motions, accouqiany- ing them with a short chirp, feeding upon the seeds of the weeds that remained uncovered by tlie snow. Its ilight was also rapid and near the earth. The bird being very shy. Dr. Kennerly found it diHicult to procure many specimens. According to Mr. Eidgway, the Western Song Sparrow is one of the most abundant of the resident .species inhabiting the fertile portions of the Great Basin. It principally occupies the willows along the streams, but is also found in <«^^ sloughs of the river valleys. From a long acquaintance with the Western Song Sparrows, Mr. Eidgway is fully convinced of tlie pro- priety of recognizing this as a distinct variety from the eastern 31. melodia. In all respects, as to haljits, especially in its familiarity, it replaces at tlie West the well-known Song Sparrow of the East, When first heard, the peculiar measure and delivery of its song at once attracts attention. The \ 24 \OUTH AMERICAN BIRDS. precision of style uiid method oi' utterance are miitc distinct and constant peculiai'ities. The song, though as pleasing, is not so loud as that of the eastern Song Sparrow, while the measure is very different. He noted the syllables of its song, and found them quite uniform. He expresses the song thus: Glta-cha-cha-cha-cha-wit' -tur'-r-r-r-r-r - tut. The first six syllables as to accent are exactly alike, but with a consideraV)le interval or pause between the first and second notes. The second to the fifth follow in rapid succes- sion, each being uttered w illi deliberation and distinctness. Then conies a pause between the last '" clia " and the " wit," which is pronounced in a fine metallic tone; with a rising infiection, then another pause, and a liquid trill with a falling inllection, the whole terminating abruptly with a very peculiar " tut," in an entirely different key from tlie other notes. The nests and eggs were found in the AVahsatcli Mountains, June 23. The nests were generally among bushes, in willow thickets, along the streams, about a foot from the ground. One of these nests found in a clumi) of willows, about two feet from the ground and near a stream, is a compact, firmly built nest, in the shape of an inverted dome. It is two and a half inches in height, and about the same in diameter. Externally it is com- posed of a coarse framework of strips of willow bark firmly bound around. Within is a com})actly woven inner nest, composed of straws, mingled and interwoven with horse-hairs. The cavity has a depth and diameter of two inches. The eggs, four in number, measure .85 by .63 of an inch. Their form is a rounded oval, distinctly pointeil at one end. They have a greenish- white ground, marked and blotched with splashes of purplish and reddish brown. Melospiza melodia, var. heermanni, Baird. HEERMANN'S SONG SPARROW. Melospiza heermanni, Haiku, Binls N. Am, 1858, 478, pi. 70, f. 1. — CooPER, Orn. C'al. I, 212. Sp. Char. Somewhat like melodia. but darker. The streaks on the back and under parts blacker, broader, more distinct, and scarcely margined vvith reddish, except in winter plumage. The median stripe on vertex indistinct. General shade of coloration olivaceous-gray rather than rusty. Length, C.40; wing, 2.56; tail, 3. Bill and legs in size and color most like melodia. Hab. Southern California; eastern slope of Sierra Nevada (Carson City), and West Humboldt Mountains, Nev. ; Eidgway. Of the various races of JA mdodia. this one ajiproachcs nearest the tyiJical style of the Atlantic region; agreeing with it in tiiickcr bill and shorter tail, as compared with the var. fallax, which occurs between them. It differs from the var. melodia, however, in a more grayish cast to the ground-color of the upper jilumage, being olivaceous-gray, rather than reddish ; the black dorsal streaks are very much broader than the rusty ones, FRINGILLID.K — THE KIXCHES. 25 instead of aViout equal tu them in wiilth, uiid the edges to the iiiterscaimlar feathers are uot appreciably paler than the prevailing shade, instead of beini,' hoary whitish, iu strong contrast. In spring the "bridle" on the side of the throat and the spots on the jugulum liave the black of their central portion iu excess of their external rufous suffusion ; but iu autumn the rusty rather predominates ; at this season, too, the rusty tints above overspread the whole surface, but the Ijlack streaks are left shar])ly defined. At all seasons, the spots on the jugulum are broader and rather more nunierous than in mcJodia. The young can scarcely be distinguished from those of mclodia, but they have the dark streak.'; on the crown and upjjer tail-coverts consi-derably broader. Habits. The California Song Sparrow has been named in honor of the late Dr. Heermann, who first obtained specimens of this bird in the Tejon Valley, and mistook them for the Zoiiotricida guttata of Gambel {M. rujina), from which they were appreciably different. Whether a distinct species or only a local race, this bird takes the place and is the almost precise counterpart, iu most essential respects, of the Song Sparrow of the East. The exact limits of its distribution, both in the migratory season and in that of reproduction, have hardly yet been ascertained. It has been found in California as far north as San Francisco, and to the south and southeast to San Diego and the Mohave Eiver. The California Song Sparrow is the characteristic Melospiza in all that por- tion of the State south of San Francisco. It is found, Dr. Cooper states, in every locality where there are thickets of low bushes and tall weeds, espe- cially in the vicinity of water, and wherever unmolested it comes about the gardens and houses with all the i'amiliaritv of the common mclodia. The ground, under the shade of plants or bu.shes, is their usual jdace of resort. There they diligently search for their food throughout the day, and rarely fly more than a few yards from the place, and remain about their chosen locality from one year's end to another, being everywhere a resident species. In the spring they are said to perch occasionally on some low bush or tree, and sing a lively and pleasant melody for an hour at a time. Each song. Dr. Cooper remarks, is a complete little stanza of a dozen notes, and is frequently varied or changed entirely for another of similar style, but quite distinct. Although no two birds of this species sing just alike, there is never any difficulty in dis- tinguishing their songs when once heard. There is, he thinks, a similarity of tone and style in the songs of all the species of true Meloqnza, which has led other observers to consider them as of only one species, when taken in connection with their other similarities in colors and halats. Dr. Cooper found a nest, presumed to belong to this bird, at Santa Cruz, in June. It was built in a dense blackberry-bush, about three feet from the ground, constructed with a thick periphery and base of dry grasses and thin strips of bark, and lined with finer grasses. The eggs were of a smoky white, densely speckled with a dull brown. Although this bird was abun- dant arounil Santa Cruz, he was only able, after nmcli searching, to find two VOL. II. 4 26 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. of their nosts. One was iu a willow, close against the tree, and three feet from the ground, containing, on the 11th of May, four eggs partially hatched. This was built of coarse dry stems and leaves, lined with finer grasses and liorse-hair. It was five inches in external diameter, and four high. The cavity was two and a half inches dee]) and two in diameter. These eggs had a ground of greenish-white, and were blotched and spotted with a purplish-brown, chielly at the larger end. They were .82 by .62 of an inch in measurement. The ground-color was j)aler and the spots were darker tJKUi in eggs of Z. gambcli, the whole coloring much darker than in those of M. fal/tui: This nest was aj)parently an old one used for a second brood. Another nest found as late as July 10, and doubtless a second bi'ood, was in a thicket, si.x feet from the ground, and also contained four eggs. Dr. Cooper states that he has seen the newly Hedged young Viy the 7th of iMay. Dr. Heermann, in his account of this bird, which he supposed to be the guttata of Dr. (Janibel, states that he found it abundant throughout the whole country over which he passed, and more especially so iu the bushes bordering tlie streams, ponds, and marshes. Its notes, sweet, and few in number, resembled those of the common Song Sparrow. Its nests, usually built in thick tufts of bushes, were composed externally of grasses and lined with Jiair, and contained each four egss, with a pale bluish-ash ground, thickly covered with dashes of burnt umber. Eggs of this species, from near Monterey, collected by Dr. Canfield, vary in measurement from .80 by .65 of an inch to .88 by .70, — larger than any eggs of Mdrnpizn mclodia that I have seen. Their ground-color is a light green. The blotches are large, distinct, and more or less confluent, and of a blended reddish and purplish brown. They are iu some diffused over the entire egg, in others disposed around the larger end. Melospiza melodia, var. samuelis, P-.vird. SAMUELS'S SONG SPARROW. Ammodromus samuelis, Baikd, Pr. Boston Soc. ^\ H. VI, June, 1858, 381. — Ib. Birds N. Am. 1858, 455, pi. lx.\i, f. 1. — Cooper, Om. Cal. I, 191. Melospisa gouldi, B.\IRD, Birds X. .\m. 1858, 479. Sp. Char. Somewhat like Melospiza melodia, but considerably smaller and darker. Bill slender and acute, the depth not more than half the culmen. Above streaked on the head, back, and nnnii with dark lirown, the borders of the feathers paler, but without any rufous. Beneath pure white ; the breast, with sides of throat and body, spotted and streaked with black, apparently farther back than on other species. Win^s above nearly uniform dark brownish-rufous. Under tail-coverts yellowish-brown, conspicuously blotched with blackish. An ashy superciliary stripe, becoming nearly white to the bill, and a whitisli maxillary one below wliich is a broad blackish stripe along the sides of neck; the crown with faint grayish median line. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.20; tail, 2..35. Bill dusky; legs rather pale. Bill, ..35 from nostril by .24 deep; tarsus, .71; middle toe without claw, .58. (5,.553 g, Petaluma, Cal.) Hab Coast region of California, near San Francisco. FRINGILLID^E — THE FIKCHES. 27 Tlie above description is of a specimen in worn summer pluma>ie, when the markings have not the sharp definition seen in the; autumnal plumage. The autunmal plumage is as follows : Gruuud-culor above gravish-olive, outer surface of wings, with the crown, more rufous ; crown with nari-ow, and dorsal region with broad, stripes of black, the latter witli scarcely a perceptible rufous suffusion ; crown \\-ith a distinct median stripe of asliy. Streaks on jugulum, etc., broader than in the type, and with a sliglit rufous suffusion. Wing, 2.!^0 ; tail, 2.35 ; bill from nostril .31, its depth .22 ; tarsus .74 ; middle toe without claw, .6U. The type of Melonpiza gouldi resembles the last, and differs only in havin" a more distinct rufous suffusion to the black markings ; the measurements are as follows : Wing, 2.20; tail, 2.35; bill, .33 by .23; tarsus, .73; middle toe without claw, .o'J. This is probably a dwarfed race of the common species, the very small size being its chief distinctive character. The colors are most nearly like those of heermanni, luit are considerably darker, caused by an expansion of the black and contraction of the rufous markings. The pattern of colora- tion is precisely the same as in the other races. The j)reseut Ijird appears to be peculiar to the coast region of California, the only specimens in tlie collection being from the neighljorhood of San Francisco. Habit.S. Of the history, distributiou, and general habits of this species, nothing is known. It w'as found at Petaluma, Cal, by Emanuel Samuels, and described in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History in 1858. The following description of the nest and eggs of this bird, in the Smithsonian collection, has been kindly furnished me by Mr. Ridgway. Nests elaborate and sj'mmetrical, cup-shaped, composed of thin grass- stems, but externally chiefly of grass-blades and strips of thin inner bark. Diameter about 3.50 inches ; internal diameter 2.00, and internal depth 1.50 ; external, 2.00. Egg measures .78 by .62 ; regularly ovate in shajie ; ground- color, greenish-white ; this is thickly sprinkled with purjjlish and livid ashy- brown, the specks larger, and somewhat coalescent, around the larger circum- ference. (3553, San Francisco, Cal., J. Hepburn.) Melospiza melodia, Mir. guttata, Baied. OREGON SONG SPARKOW. Frmgilla cinerea, (Gm.) Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 22, pi. ccc.xc. — Ib. Syn. 1S39, 119.— Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1811, 1-io, pi. clxx.wii. Passerella cincrea, Bp. List, 1839. — Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 477. Fringi/Ia (Passerclla) guttata, NuTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 581. Zonolrichia guttata, Gameel, J. A. TS. Sc. I, Dec. 1847, 50. Melospiza rufiiia, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 480. — Cooper & Suckley, 204. — Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1859, 285. — Cooper, Oni. Cal. I, 214. Sp. Char. Bill .=!lender. Similar in general appearance to M. melodia, but darker and much more rufous, and witliout any blackish-brown streaks, or grayish edges of the 28 NOKTH AMERICAN BIRDS. feathers ; generally the colors more blended. General appearance above light rufous- brown, the interscapular region streaked very obsoletely with dark brownish-rufous, tlie feathers of the crown similar, with still darker obsolete central streaks. A superciliary and very indistinct median crown-stripe ashy. Under parts dull white, the breast and sides of throat and body broadly streaked with dark brownish-rufous ; darker in the centre. A light maxillary stripe. Sides of the body and anal region tinged strongly with the colors of the rump. Under coverts brown. Length, 6.75; wing, 2.70; tail, 3.00. Legs rather darker than in melodiu. Bill from nostril, .37 ; from forehead, .60. Hais. Pacific coast of the United States to British Columbia. A young bird from Napa Valley, Cal. (12,912, Colonel A. J. Grayson), probably referrible to this race, differs from the corresponding stage of heermunni, fa/lci.c, and melodia in the following respects : the ground-color above is much darker, being dull dingy-brown, and the dusky streaks broader ; the white beneath has a strong yellowish tinge, and the pectoral streaks are very broad. Habits. Dr. Cooper characterizes this species as the most northern and mountain-frequenting representative of the Song Sparrows, being a resident of the higher Sierra Xevada and on the borders of the evergreen forests towards the Columbia, and thence northward, where it is the only species of this genus, and where it is common down to the level of the sea. Specimens have been obtained at ilarysville in the spring, by Mr. CIruber. Dr. Cooper says that he has also met with this bird, and found it jios- sessiug habits and songs entirely similar to those of the eastern M. melodia, and resembling also those of the more southern M. hee.rmanni. He was never able to meet with one of their nests, as, like other forest birds, they are more artful in concealing their treasures than birds that have become accus- tomed to the society and protection of man, and who, no longer wild, select gardens as the safest places in which to build. In the mild winters usual about the mouth of the Columliia, these birds do not evince any disposition to emigrate, but come familiarly around the houses for their food, when the snow has buried their usual supply. Dr. Suckley remarks that this Finch is quite a common bird in the vicinity of Puget Sound, and that it is there resident throughout the year. He has found them in very difi'ereut situations ; some in thickets at the edges of prairies, others in stranded drift-logs on open salt marshes, as well as in swamps, and in the dense forests of the Douglass firs, peculiar to the north- west coast. Its voice, he adds, is, during the breeding-season, singularly sweet and melodious, surpassing that of the Meadow Lark in melody and tone, but unequal to it in force. This species is stated to be a constant resident in the district wherein it is found, never ranging far from the tliicket which contains its nest, or the house in the neighborhood of which it finds food and protection. Almost every winter morning, as well as during the summer, as Dr. Cooper states, its cheerful song may be heard Ironi tlie garden or the fence, as if to repay those whose presence has protected it from its rapacious enemies. When unmo- FRINGITJJD^ — THE FINCHES. 29 lested, it becomes very familinr, and tlic old birds hrintj tlieir young to the door to feed, as soon as tliey can lea\o tlieir nest. Tlieir song is said to so closely resemble that of the eastern bird, in melody and variety, that il is impossible either to tell which is the superior or to point out the differences. In wild districts it is always to be found near the sides of brooks, in thickets, from which it jealously drives off other birds, whether of its own or other species, as if it considered itself the proprietor. Its nest is built on the ground or in a low bush. Dr. Cooper has seen newly fledged young as early as May 6, at Olymjiia, though the rainy season was then hardly over. ^Ir. Nuttall pronounces its song as sweeter and more varied in tone than that of the Song Sjiarrow. He heard their cheerful notes throughout the summer, and every fine day in winter until the month of November, particu- larly in the morning, their song was still continued. Tlieir nests and eggs were not distinguishable from those of F. melodia. The nests were composed of dry grasses, lined with finer materials of the same, and occasionally with deer's hair. He states that they keep much in low ground and alluvial situ- ations, amidst rank weeds, willows, and brambles, where they are fret|uently to be seen hopping about and searching after insects, in the manner of the Swamp Sparrow, which they so much resemble in their plumage. They are usually very solicitous for the safety of theii' young or for tlieir nests and eggs, keeping up an incessant chirp. They raise several broods in a season, and are, like the Song Sparrow, also engaged nearly the whole of the summer in the cares of rearing their young. Mr. Townsend met with this species througb several hundred miles of the Platte country in great numbers, as well as on the lianks of the Columbia, generally frequenting the low bu.shes of wormwood {Artemisia). It appeared also to be a very pugnacious species. Two of the males were often observed fighting in the air, the beaten party going off crestfallen, and the conqueror repairing to the nearest bush to celebrate his triumph by his lively and tri- umphant strains. He again met with these birds, though not in abundance, in June, 1825, at the mouth of the Lewis Eiver, on the waters of the Columbia. This Sparrow was also found very numerous at Sitka, by Mr. Bischoff, but no mention is made of its habits. Melospiza melodia, var. ruflna, Baird. BUSTY SONG SPARROW. Bmteriza rufina, " Braxdt, Desc. Av. Kossic. 1S36, tab. ii, 6 (Sitka)," Bonaparte. Pas- serella rufina, Bo.nap. Coiisp. 1850, 477. (This may refer to Passcrella toimisendi, but is more probably the present bird.) Melosjriza cinerea, Finsch, Abh. Nat. Ill, 1872, 41 (Sitka). (Not Fringilla c. Gmel.) M. gvitata, Finsch, Abh. Nat. Ill, 1872, 41 (Sitka). (Not Fringilla g. Nutt.) Sp. Char. Resembling M. guttata in the undefined marking.^;, slender bill, etc., but olivaceous-brownish instead of rufous above, the darker markings sepia-brown instead 30 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. of castaneous. The wliite beneath much tinged with asliy; juguUini-spoLs blended, and of a sepia-brown tint. Wing, 3.00 ; tail, 3.00 ; bill .41 from nostril, and .25 deep at base. Hab. Northwest coast, from British Columbia northward. (Sitk.i.) The above characters are those of a large series uf specimens from Sitka, and a few points along the coast to the southward and northward, and represent the average features of a race which is intermediate between (jutlata and insifjnk, in appearance as well as in habitat. Tracing this variety toward the Columbia Eiver, it gi-adually passes into the i'ormer, and uortlnvard into the latter. "We ha\-e uo distinctive information relative to the habits of tliis race. Melospiza nulodia, var. insignis, B.urd. KODIAK SONG SPARKOW. t Friiujilla cincrea, Gmelik, I, 178S, 922 (based on Cinereous Finch, Lath. II, 274). — Penn. Arc. Zobl. II, 68 (Unalaschka). Enibcriza cinerca, Bonap. Con.sp. 1850, 478. Melospiza insignis, Baird, Trans. Chicago Acad. I, ii, 1869, p. 319, pi. xxix, flg. 2. — Dai.l & Banni.stkr, do. j). 285. — Fin.sch, Abh. Nat. Ill, 1872, 44 (Kodiak). Sp. Char. Summer plumage (52,477 (J, Kodiak, May 24, 1868). Above browni.^h- plumbeous, outer surface of wings somewhat more brown, the greater coverts slightly rufescent. Interscapulars with medial broad but obsolete streaks of sepia-brown ; crown and upper tail-coverts with more sharply defined and narrower dusky shaft-streaks. Crown without medial light line. Beneath grayish-white, much obscured by brownish- plumbeous laterally. A whitish supraloral space, but no appreciable superciliary stripe ; a whitish maxillary stripe ; beneath it an irregular one of dusk)' sepia ; irregular streaks of dark gnzzly-sepia on breast and along sides, blended into a broad crescent across the jugulum. Wing, 3.30; tail, 3.50; bill, .48 from nostril, .28 deep at base, and .21 in the middle, the middle of the culmen being much depressed, its extremity rather abruptly decurved. Autumnal plumage (60,162, Kodiak, received from Dr. J. F. Brandt). Differs very remarkably in appearance from the preceding. The pattern of coloration is everywhere plainly plotted, there being a distinct vertical and sharply defined superciliary stripe. G-round-color above ash)', somewhai overlaid b)' rusty, except on the sides of the neck. Whole crown, outer surface of wings, and dorsal streaks, rusty rufous; black streaks on crown and upper tail-coverts obsolete. Beneath pure white medially, the markings rusty rufous. Wing, 3.30 ; tail, 3.60 ; bill, .47 and .30. Hab. Kodiak and Unalaschka. This race represents the extreme extent of variation in tlie species, and it would be difficult for a species to proceed farther from the normal standard ; indeed, the present bird is so different even in form, especially of bill, from mclodia, that, were it not for the perfect series connecting them, few natural- ists woidd hesitate to place them in different genera. H.\BiTS. Xo information has so far l)een iiublislied in reference to the nesting of this Sparrow, or of any jieculiar habits. FRINGILLID.E - THE FIXCHES. 31 Melospiza lincolni, Baird. LINCOLN'S FINCH. Frinyilla lincolni, AuD. Orn. Biog. 11, 1834, 539, pi. cxciii. — JTutt. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 569. Linaria lincolni, Rich. List. 1837. Passerculus lincolni, Bonap. List, 1838. Peuam lincolni, AuD. Synopsis, 1839, 113. — Is. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 116, pi. cL\xvii. — BoNAP. Consp. 1850, 481. — Ib. Comptes Rendus, XXVII, 1854, 920. Melospiza lincolni, Bah-.d, Birds N. Am. 1858, 482. — Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285 (Alaska). — Cooi'EK, Oni. Cal. I, 216. Passerculus zonarius, (Bp.) Sclater, Pr. Zobl. Soc. 1856, 305. Sp. Char. Genera! a.spect above that of M. melodia, but paler and less reddish. Crown dull chestnut, with a median and lateral or superciliary ash-colored stripe ; each feather above streaked centrally with black. Back with narrow streaks of black. Beneath white, with a maxillary stripe curving round behind the ear-coverts; a well-defined band across the breast, extending down the sides, and the under tail-coverts, of brownish-yellow. The maxillary stripe margined above and below with lines of black spots and a dusky line behind eye. The throat, upper part of breast, and sides of the body, with streaks of black, smallest in the middle of the former. The pectoral bands are sometimes paler. Bill above dusky ; base of lower jaw and legs yellowish. Length, 5.60 ; wing, 2.60. Hab. United States from Atlantic to Pacific, north to the Yukon River and the Mackenzie, and south through Mexico to Panama. Oaxaca (Scl. 1858, 303) ; Xalapa (ScL. 1859, 365) ; Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 18) ; Vera Cruz, winter (Su.m. M. B. S. I, 552). There is little or no difference in .specimens of this liii-d from the whole of its range, except that one from near Aspinwall is considerably smaller than usual, the streaks on the back narrower, and the color above more reddish. A young bird from Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie, is much like the adult. Habits. Lincoln's Finch was first met \vith by Mr. Audubon in Labrador, and named in honor of one of his companions, Mr. Thomas Lincoln, now residing at Dennysville, Maine, by whom tlie first specimen was procured. His attention was attracted to it by the sweet notes of its song, which, he states, surpass in ^■igo^ those of any of our American Sparrows with which he was acquainted. He describes this song as a compound of the notes of a Canary and a Woodlark of Europe. The bird was unusually wild, and was procured with great difficulty. Other specimens, afterwards obtained, did not exhibit the same degree of wildness, and they became more com- mon as the party proceeded farther north. He did not meet with its nest. He descrilies the habits of this species as resembling, in some respects, those of the Song Sparrow. It mounts, like that bird, on the topmost twig of some tall shrub to chant for whole hours at a time, or dives into the thickets and hops from branch to branch until it reaches the ground in search of those insects or berries on which it feeds. It moves swiftly away when it discovers an enemy, and, if forced to take to flight, flies low and rapidly to a consider- able distance, jerking its tail as it proceeds, and throwing itself into tlie thick- est bush it meets. Mr. Audubon found it mostly near streams, and always in the small valleys guarded from the prevalent cold winds of that country. 32 NORTH a:u£R1Cax birds. He also describes this species as eminently petulant and pugnacious. Two males would otteu pursue each other until the weaker was forced to abandon the valley, and seek refuge elsewhere. He seldom saw more than two or three pairs in a tract of several miles in extent. By the 4th of July the young had left their nests and were foUowiug their parents. As from that time the old birds ceased to sing, he inferred that they raised but one brood in a season. Before lie left Labrador these birds had all disappeared. Although first discovered on the coast of Labrador, subsequent e.\plorations have shown this bird to be far more common at the West than it is at the East, where indeed it is exceedingly rare. Xot a specimen, that I am aware of, has ever been foimd in Maine, although it probably does occasionally occur there ; and only a very few isolated indi^"iduals had been taken in Massa- chusetts l)efoi-e the spring of 1872, when they were noticed by Mr. Brewster and Mr. Henshaw in considerable numbers. These birds, seven or eight in nimiber, were shot, with two exceptions, in May, between the 14th and the 25th. Three were taken in Springfield by ilr. Allen, one in Xewburj-port by Mr. Hoxie, two in Hudson by Mr. JUlson, and two in Cambridge by ilr. Brewster. The latter were obtained, one in September and the other in October. In May, 1872, Mr. Brewster obtained six others, ilr. Allen had met with this Finch in TV"a\"ne County, X. Y., in May, where it was not uncommon, and in Xorthern Illinois, where it was quite numerous. A few have been taken near Xew York Citv, and in the neighborhood of Phila- delphia, where they are regarded as verj- rare. Professor Baird, however, frequently met with them at Carlisle, Penn. Fai-ther west, from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific, they are much more common. Mr. Eidgway states that they occasioually winter iu South- em Illinois, where they frequent retired thickets near open fields. They have been found breeding near Eacine, Wis., by Dr. Hoy, and have been met with also in Xebnxska in considerable numbers ; and, during the breeding- season, Mr. Audubon met with them on the tapper Missouri. From March to ilay Mr. Dresser found these birds very abundant in the fields near the San Antonio Eiver, and in some swampy grounds. They seemed to prefer that sort of locality, and the banks of the river, keeping among the flags and rushes. Their stomachs were found to contain small seeds. Mr. Lincecum also met with a few in Washington Countj- of the same State. It was not met with in Arizona by Dr. Coues, but Dr. Kennerly found it in the month of February from the Big Sandy to the Great Colorado River. It confined itself to the thick bushes along the streams, and when seen was generally busily hopping from twig to twig in search of food. AMien started up, its flight was very rapid and near the earth. Dr. Heermauu obtained this species, not unfrequently, both in Xorthern California aud in the Tejon Valley. On all occasions he found it in company with flocks of 8]>arro\vs, composed of several species. FREf GILLID^ — THE FINCHES. 33 Lieutenant Couch took this species at Tamaulipas, ilexico, and at Browns- ville, Southwestern Texas, in ilarch. It has also been seen in May, at the Forks of the Saskatchewan, by Capt;un Blaldston. Lincoln's Finch was met with by INIr. Eidgway in abundance only during its spring and fall migrations. Towards the last of April it was qiute common in wet brushy places in the vicinity of Carson City. It was next observed in October among the willows bordering Deep Creek, in Northern Utah. In the weedy pastures in Parley's Park it was a common species, frequenting the resorts of the Z. leucophrys. A nest, with young, was dis- covered near the camp. It was embedded in the ground, beneath a busli. Its song he did not liear, only a single chuck, almost as loud as that of the PasscrcUa schisiacea. Dr. Cooper reports this species as near San Diego about ilarch 25. Large flocks were then passing northward. During the day they kept among the grass, and were rather shy and sUent. They seemed to have a good deal of the habits of the Passercv.lus, and to differ much in their gregariousness, their migratory habits, and their general form, from the other Mcloqjizw. Dr. Cooper did not meet with any of these WkIs in the Colorado Valley, nor has he seen or Iieard of any having been found in California during the summer. The 31. lincolni has been found breeding up to high Arctic latitudes. It was met with by Mr. Kennicott at Fort Simpson and at Fort Resolution. At the latter place its nests were found between the 2d and the l-tth of Jime. They were also obtained in 3Iay, June, and July, at Fort Simpson, by Sir. B. E. Eoss, and at Yukon Eiver, Fort Eae, Xidato, and other localities in the extreme northern regions, by iles.srs. Eeid, Lockbart, Clarke, Kirkby, and DalL On Mt. Lincoln, Colorado, above eight thousand feet, Mr. Allen found this Sparrow very numerous. This Finch was found by Salvin about the reeds on the margin of Lake Duenas, Guatemala, in February, but was not common. It is common, in the winter months, near Oaxaca, ilexico, where it was taken by Mr. Boucard. Mr. Kennicott saw its nest June 14 This was on the groimd, buUt in a bunch of grass in rather an open and dry place, and containing five eggs. The female permitted him to approach very close to her, until he finally caught her on the nest with his beating-net. Another nest was placed in a bunch of grass growing in the water of a small grassy pond. Tlie nest contained four eggs and one young bird. The nest and eggs of this species had been previously discovered by Dr. Hoy, near Eacine. This is, I believe, the first instance in which it was iden- tified by a naturalist, as also the most southern point at which it has ever been found. These eggs measure .74 by .60 of an inch. Tliey liave a pale greenish-white groimd, and are thickly marked with dots and small blotches of a ferruginous-lirown, often so numerous and confluent as to disguise and partiaUy conceal the ground. 34 NOKTH AMERICAN BIRDS. Melospiza palustris, Haird. SWAMP SPAKKOW. FringUla palvstris, Wilson, Am. Orn. Ill, 1811, 49, i>l. xxii, f. 1. — Attd. Om. Biog. I, 1831, 331 ; V, 508, pi. l.xiv. Friiu/illa (Spiza) 2}alustns, Bonap. Obs. Wilson, 1825, No. 105. Passercubcs paiiislrvs, BoNAP. List, 1838. — Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 481. Ammodromri^ palustris, AuD. Syn. 1839. — Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 110, pi. clx.\v. Melospiza palustris, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 483. — Samuel.s, 323. } Fringilla georgiana. Lath. Index Orn. I, 1790, 460 (jierhaps Peucaui a-stiva/is). — Light. Verz. 1823, No. 251. Fringilla (Ammodromus) georgiana, Nutt. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 588. Sp. Char. Middle of the crown uniform chestnut ; forehead black ; superciliary streak, sides of head and back, and sides of neck, ash. A brown stripe behind the eye. Back with broad streaks of black, which are edged with rusty yellow. Beneath whitish, tinged with ashy anteriorly, especially across the breast, and washed with yellowish- brown on the sides. A few obsolete streaks across the breast, which become distinct on its sides. Wings and tail strongly tinged with rufous ; the tertials black, the rufous edgings changing abruptly to white towards the end. Length, 5.75 ; wing, 2.40. Female with the crown scarcely reddish streaked with black, and divided by a light line. Young conspicuously streaked beneath the head, above nearly uniform blackish. Hab. Eastern North America from the Atlantic to the Missouri ; north to Fort Simp- son. In autuniu tlie male of this species has the feathers of the crowu each with a liUick streak ; and the centre of the crown with an indistinct light stripe, materially changing its appearance. The forehead is usually more or less streaked with black. In the uncertainty whether the Fringilla georgiana of Latham be not rather the Peuccca cestivalis than the Swamp Sparrow, I think it best to retain Wilson's name. It certainly applies as well to the latter, which has the black sub-m.axillaTy streak, and the chin and throat more mouse-colored than in 2Mhistris. Habits. Owing to the residence of this species in localities not favoring frequent visits or careful explorations, and still more to its shy and retiring habits, our writers have not been generally well informed as to the history and general manners of this peculiar and interesting Sparrow. Its irregular distribution, its abundance only in certain and unusually restricted locali- ties, its entire absence from all the surrounding neighborhood, and its secre- tiveness wherever found, have all combined to throw doubt and obscurity over its movements. Unless purposely looked for and perseveringly hunted up, tlu; Swamp Sparrow might exist in large numbers in one's immediate neighliuiliood and yet entirely escape notice. Even now its whole story is but imporii'ctly known, and more careful investigation into its distribution and general habits will doulitless clear up several obscure points in regard to its movements. From what is now known, M-e gather that it occurs throughout the eastern portions of North America, from the Southern States, in which it passes the FRIXGILLID^ — THE FIXCIIES. 35 wintry mouths, to high northern Latitudes, where some find their way in the breeding-season, extending as far to the west at least as the Missouri liiver region. Three specimens were obtained at Fort Simpson, by 'Sh: Kennicott, in Sep- tember, whic'h indicates their probable summer presence in latitude 55°, and their near ajiproach to the Pacific coast at the extreme northwestern portion of then- distribution. Audubon also met with them in Newfoundland and in Labrador. They are known to breed as far to the south as L'eiuisvl- vauia. They have been taken in the eastern portion of Nebraska, and breed in considerable numbers in Southern Wisconsin. Further investigations in regard to its distribution will probably show it to be a much more widely dis- tributed as well as a more abundant bird than has been generally supposed. Mr. Eidgway writes me that this bird winters in Southern Illinois, and remains there very late iii the spring, but he thinks that none remain to breed. Wilson states that it arrives in Peunsyh'ania early in April, where it fre- quents low grounds and river-courses, rears two and sometimes three broods in a season, and returns to the South as the cold weather commences. Dur- ing the winter, he met with them in large numbers in the immense cypress swamps and extensive grassy flats of the Southern States, along the numer- ous ri\'ers and rice plantations. These places abounded with their favorite seeds and other means of sustenance, and appeared to be their general places of resort at this season. From the river Trent, in North Carolina, to the Savannah Elver, and even farther south, Wilson found this species very numerous. They were not found in flocks, but skulked among the reeds and grass, were shy and timorous, and seemed more attached to the water than any others of this family. In April large numbers pass through Penn- sylvania northward. Only a few remain behind, and these frecpient tlie swamps and the reedy borders of creeks and ri\-ers. He found their nests built in the ground, in tussocks of rank grass, surrounded Ijy water, with four eggs of a dirty-white ground, spotted with rufous. He has found them feeding their young as late as the 15th of August. Their food seemed to be principally grass-seeds, wild oats, and insects. He supposed them to have no "song, and that their only note was a single cheep uttered in a somewhat hoarse tone. They flirt their tails as they fly, seldom or never take to trees, but run and skulk from one low bush to another. Except in regard to their song, Wilson's account of their habits, so far as it goes, is quite accurate, although this bird really does have quite a respectable song, and one that improves as the season advances. At first it is only a succession or repetition of a few monotonous trilling notes, which might easily be mistaken for the song of the Field Sparrow, or even confounded with the feebler chant of the socialis, although not so varied as the former, and is much more sprightly and pleasing than the other. Still later its music improves, and more effort is made. Like the Song Sparrow, it 36 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. mounts some low twig, expands its tail-feathers, and gives forth a very sprightly trill that echoes through the swampy thicket with an effect which, once noticed and identified with the performer, is not likely to be ever mis- taken. Xuttall calls liiis song loud, sweet, and j)laintive. It is to my ear more sprightly tluiu pathetic, and has a peculiarly veutriloquistic effect, as if the performer were at a much greater distance tluin he really is. Their food, when they first arrive, and that which they feed to tlieir young, consists very largely of insects, principally coleopterous ones, with such few seeds as they can glean. After the breeding-season, when their young can take care of themselves, they eat almost exclusively tlie ripened seeds of the coarse water grasses and sedges. They are very devoted to their young, and often display great solicitude for their .safety, even when able to take care of themselves, and often expose themselves to dangers they carefully avoid at other times, and are thus more easily procured. At all other times they are difficult to shoot, running, as they do, through the grass and tangled thickets, and rarely rismg on the wing. They dive from thicket to thicket witli great rapielity, and even when wounded have a wonderful power of riumiiig and hiding themselves. 'Mr. Audubon met with them, during autumn and winter, among the flat sand-bars of the Mississippi, which are overgrown with rank grasses. Though not in flocks, their numbers were immense. They fed on grass-seeds and insects, often wading for the latter in shallow water in the manner of the Tringidce, and when woimded and forced into the water swimming oft' to the nearest shelter. He also met with these birds abundantly dispersed in the swamps of Cuyaga Lake, as well as among those along the Illinois Eiver in the summer, and in the winter up the Arkansas Eiver. Mr. Townsend observed these birds on the head-waters of the Upper Mis- souri, but did not meet with them beyond. In Maine, Mr. Boardman gives it as a regular summer visitant at Calais, arriving there as early as March, becoming common in May, and breeding in that locality. Professor Verrill found it in Western Maine, a summer visitant and Ijreeding, but diil not regard it as common. From my own experience, in the neigliborliood of Boston, I should have said the same as to its infrequency in Eastern Massachusetts, yet in certain localities it is a very abundant sum- mer resident, ilr. "William Brewster has found it breeding in large num- bers in the marshes of Fresh Pond, where it arrives sometimes as early as the latter part of March, and where it remains until November. In the western part of the State it is more common as a migi'atory bird, and has not been found, in any numbers, stopping to breed. Mr. Allen never met with any later than May 25. They were observed to be in comjiany with the Water Thrush, and to be in every way as aquatic in tlieir habits. In the autumn he again met with it from the last of Septenrber through October, always in bushy marshes or wet ])laces. ]\Ir. ]McIlwraith states that in the vicinity of Hamilton, Ontario, it is a common summer resident, breeding FKINGILLID.E — THE PINCHES. 37 there in marshy situations. At Lake Koskonong, in Wisconsin, Mr. Kum- lien lias also met with these birds abundantly in suitable localities, and I'uunil their nests and eggs (|uite plentiful. Mr. Eidgway has recently found this Sparrow to be a very aljuudant win- ter resident in Southern Illinois, where it inhabits swampy thickets, and where it remains until May, but is not known to breed there. They always nest on the ground, usually in a depression sheltered liy a tuft of grass. The nest is woven of hue grass-stems, but is smaller than the nest of M. mdodia. The eggs of this species, usually five in number, have an average measure- ment of .78 by .GO of an inch. Their gTOund-color is usually a light green, occasionally of a light clay, marked and blotched with reddi.sh and purpli.sh brown spots, varpng in size and number, occasionally forming a confluent ring around the larger end. Gen-US PEUCJEA, Audubon. Peticcea, AcD. SjTiopsis, 1S39. 322 (Synopsis.) (Type, FrbujiVa ccslivalis.) ScLATER & Salvis, 18G8, Vntnaa (Estivalis. Gen. Char. Bill moderate. Upper outline and commissure decidedly curved. Legs and feet with the claws small ; the tarsus about equal to the middle toe ; the lateral toes equal, their claws falling considerably short of the middle one ; the hind toe reaching about to the middle of the latter. The outstretched feet reach rather beyond the middle of the tail. The wing is very short, reaching only to the base of the tail ; the longest tertials do not exceed the secondaries, while both are not much short of the primaries ; the outer three or four quills are graduated. The tail is consider- ably longer than the wings ; it is much graduated laterally; the feathers, though long, are peculiarly narrow, linear, and ellipti- cally rounded at the ends. Color beneath plain whitish or brownish, with a more or less distinct dusky lino each side of the chin. Above with broad obsolete brown streaks or blotches. Crown uniform, or the feathers edged with lighter. Species and Varieties. CoM.MON Characters. A light siipei'ciliary stripe, with a brownish one below it from the eye along upper edge of car-coverts (not one along lower edge of ear-coverts, as in Melospiza). A narrow blackish '• bridle " along side of throat (sometimes indistinct). Crown without a distinct median stripe, and lower parts without markings. Ground-color above ashy, sometimes of a brownish cast ; dorsal region and nape with brown blotches, with or without dart centres. Crown blackish-brown streaked with ashy or jilain rufous. Beneath plain brownish-white, lightest on the abdomen, darker across jugulum and along sides. 38 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. A. Crown plain rufous ; interscapulars without distinct black centres, and tertials without whitish border. Blackish "bridle" conspicuous. Bend of wing edged •with white. 1 . P. ruficeps. Aliove olivaceous-ash, interscapulars with liroad streaks of dull rufous, the shafts scarcely blackish. Crown bright rufous. ^Ving, 2.40; tail, 2.70; bill, .29 from forehead, .20 deep; tarsus, .70; middle toe without claw, .0.5. Hah. California (and Mexico in winter?) var. ruficeps. Darker, above brownish-plumbeous, dorsal streaks scarcely rufous, and with distinctly black shaft-streaks ; crown darker rufous. Wing, 2.40 ; tail, 2.60 ; bill, .34 and .25 ; tarsus, .77 ; middle toe, .57- Hah. Mexico (Orizaba; Oaxaca), in summer . var. hoticardi.' B> Crown streaked ; interscapulars with distinct black centres ; tertials sharply bordered terminally with paler. " Bridle " obsolete ; bend of wing edged with vollnwish. 2. P. aestivalis. Above uniformly marked with broad streaks or lon- gitudinal blotches of deep rufous ; black streaks confined to interscapu- lars and crown. Tail-feathers without darker shaft-stripe, and without indications of darker bars ; the outer feathers without distinct white. Black marks on upper tail-coverts inconspicuous, longitudinal. The bluish-ash, and chestnut-rufous streaks above sharply con- trasted ; black dorsal streaks broad. Wing, 2.45 ; tail, 2.65 ; bill, .30 and .30 ; tarsus, .73 ; middle toe, .60. Hab. Southern States from Florida and Georgia to Southern Ilhnois . . var. (estiv alia. The dull ash and light rufous streaks above not .sharply defined ; black dorsal streaks narrow. Wing, 2.65 ; tail, 3.00 ; bill, .32 and .25 ; tar.sus, .80 ; middle toe, .63. Hah. Southern border of the Arizona region of Middle Province of United States . .var. arizoncK. Markings badly defined as in the last, but the rufous streaks darker (in summer plumage almost entirely black), with more black on the crown. Wing, 2.55 ; tail, 2.65 ; bill, .32 and .25 ; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .60. Hab. Mexico (Orizaba; Mirador, Colima). var. bo tier i i .'^ 3. P. cassini. Above marked everywhere with broad short streaks of pale (not reddish) brown streaks, all black medially. Tail-feathers with 1 Zmwtriekia hoiicardi, Sclatei:, 1\ Z. S. 1867, 1, pi. i, La Putbla, Mex. (scarcely (Iffniahli' as distinct from I'lificcp.s). ^ Peuccca botterii, Sclatkr, Cat. Am. B. 1S62, 116 (Zoiiotriclna b. P. Z. S. 1857, 2U), Ori- zaba. Coturniculus mexicana, L.iwr. Ann. N. Y. Lye. VIII, 1S67, 474 (Colima). This form can scarcely be defined separately from CKstivalis. The type of C. mexicanus, Lawr., is undistingiiishable from Orizaba specimens. A specimen in the worn summer plumage (44,7529, Jlirador, July) differs in having the streaks above almost wholly black, with .scarcely any rufous edge ; the crown is almost uniformly blackish. The feathers are very much worn, however, and the specimen is without doubt ref'errible to bolteri. The Peucaxi notosticta of ScLATER (P. Z. S. 1868, 322) we have not seen ; it apjiears to differ in some important respects from the fonus diagnosed above, and may, possibly, be a gooil species. Its place in our system .appears to be with section "A," but it differs from »-«/ffyw and boucardi in the median stripe on the crown, and the black streaks in the rufous of the lateral portion, the blacker streaks of the dorsal region, and some other less import.mt points of coloration. The size appears to be larger than in any of the forms given in our synopsis (wing, 2.70 ; tail, 3.00). Hab. States of Puebla and Mexico, Mex. FRINGILLID.E — THE FINCIIE8. 39 distinct blaclvish shaft-stripe, tin-owing off narrow, obsolete bars toward the edge of the feathers. Outer tail-feathers distinctly tipped (broadly) and edged with dull white. Blaclv marks on upper tail-ooverts very large, transverse. Beneath nearly uniform dull white, scarcely darker along sides and across breast ; flanks with broad streaks of blackish- brown. Wing, 2.55; tail, 2.80 ; bill, .28 and .2.3; tarsus, .68; middle toe, .55. Hob. Rio G-rande, region (San Antonio and Laredo), north to Kansas (Allen). Peucaea aestivalis, Cabanis. BACHMAN'S SPABROW. Fringilla ccsKvalis, Licht. Verz. Doubl. 1823, 25, No. 254. — BoNAP. Conspectus, 1850, 481. Peucma cesHvalis, Cabanis, Mus. Huin. 1850, 132. — Baii;d, Birds N. Am. 1858, 484. FrintjiUa badimani, AuD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 366, pi. el.vv. Ammudromus bachmani, BoN. List, 1838. Peucma bachmani, Auu. Syn. 1839. — Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 113, pi. clx.xvi. — Bon. Consp. 1850, 481 (type). Fringilla (Cstiva, NuTT. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 568. " Summer finch, Latham, Synopsis, (2ded.,) VI, 136." Nuttall. Sp. Char. All the feathers of the upper parts rather dark brownish-red or chestnut, margined with bluish-ash, which almost forms a median stripe on the crown. Inter- scapular region and upper tail-coverts with the feathers becoming black in the centre. An indistinct ashy supei'ciliary stripe. Under parts pale yellow-brownish, tinged with ashy on the sides, and with darker brownish across the upper part of the breast. A faint maxillary dusky line. Indistinct streaks of chestnut along the sides. Edge of wing yellow ; lesser coverts tinged with greenish. Innermost secondaries abruptly margined with narrow whitish. Legs yellow. Bill above dusky, yellowish beneath. Outer tail- feathers obsoletely marked with a long blotch of paler at end. Female considerably smaller. Young with rounded dusky specks on the jugulum, which is more ochraceous. Length, 6.25; wing, 2.30; tail, 2.78. Hab. Georgia; Florida; South Illinois, breeding (Ridgway). (Perhaps whole of Southern States from Florida to South Illinois.) Specimens from Southern Illinois (Wabash Co., July, 1871; coll. of E. Eidgway) are similar to Horida examples. Habits. Bachman's Finch has only been known, until very recently, as a species of a very restricted range, and confined within the limits of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Our principal, and for some time our only, knowledge of its habits was derived from the account fur- nished by Eev. Dr. Bachman to ]Mr. Audubon. That observing naturalist first met with it in the month of April, 1832, near Parker's Ferry, on the Edisto Eiver, in South Carolina. Dr. Henry Bryant afterwards met with this species at Indian Eiver, in Florida, where he olitaincMl specimens of its nests PeucfFa (Tstivalis. A^i\f 40 NOirni amkkican birds. and eggs. Dr. Alexander (Icrhardt nlso loiniil these Sparrows common at Vaniell's Station, in the northern part of Georgia. Professor Joseph Leconte has taken it near Savannah, and Mr. W. L. Jones has also obtained several specimens in Liberty (,'onnty, in the same State. After meeting witli this species on the Edisto, Dr. Bachman ascertained, n])on searching for them in the vicinity of ( 'harlestown, that they breed in small numbers on the pine Ijarrens, about six miles north of that city. He was of the opinion tliat it is Ijy no means so rare in that State as has been sujiposed, but that it is more often heard than seen. When he first heard it, the notes so closely resembled those of the Towhee Bunting that for a while he mistook them for those of that bird. Their greater softness and some slight variations at last induced liim to suspect that the bird was something different, and led him to go in pursuit. After that it was quite a common thing for him to hear as many as five or six in the course of a morn- ing's ride, but he found it almost impossible to get even a sight of the liird. This is owing, not so much to its being so wild, as to the habit it has of darting from the tall pine-trees, on which it usually sits to warble out its melodious notes, and concealing itself in the tall broom-grass that is almost invariably found in the places it frequents. As soon as it alights it runs off, in the manner of a mouse, and hides itself in the grass, and it is extremely difficult to get a sight of it afterwards. It was supposed by Dr. Bachman — correctly, as it has been ascertained ^ to breed on the ground, where it is always to be found when it is not singing. He never met with its nest. In June, 1853, he observed two pairs of these birds, each having four young. They were pretty well fledged, and were fol- lowing their parents along the low scrub-oaks of the pine lands. Dr. Bachman regarded this bird as decidedly the finest songster of the Spurn i\v family with which he was acquainted. Its notes are described as very loud for the size of the bird, and capable of being heard at a consider- able distance in the pine woods where it occurs, and where at that season it is the only singer. He also states that, by the middle of November, they have all disaj)- peared, probably migrating farther south. It is quite probable that they do not go beyond the limits of the United States, and that some remain in South Carolina during the whole of winter, as on the 6th of February, the coldest part of the year. Dr. Bachman found one of them in the long grass near Charleston. Mr. Audubon says that on his return from Florida, in June, 18.32, travel- ling through both the Carolinas, he observed many of these Finches on the sides of the roads cut through the pine woods of South Carolina. They filled the air with their melodies. He traced them as far as the boundary line of North Carolina, but saw none within the limits of that State. They were particularly abundant aljout the Great Santee liiver. This Finch, hitherto assumed to be an exclusively southeastern species, has FRINGILLIDiE — THE FINCHES. 42 recently been detected by I\rr. Eidgway in Soutbern Illinois, where it is a summer resident, and where it breeds, but is not abundant. It inhabits old fields, where, perched upon a fence-stake or an old dead tree, it is described as chanting a very deliglitful song. It was first taken on the 12th of July, 1871, on the road about half-way between Mount Carmel and Olney. The bird was then seen on a fence, and its unfamiliar appearance and fine son" at once attracted his notice as he was riding by. As several were lieard singing in the same neighborhood, it seemed common in that locality, and as a young bird was taken in its first plumage tliere is no doubt that it is a regular summer visitant of .Southern Illinois, and breeds there. Mr. Eidg- way speaks of its song as one of the finest he has ever heard, most resem- bling the sweet chant of the Field Sparrow, but is stronger, and varied by a clear, high, and very musical strain. He describes its song as resem- bling the syllables tM4e(^^ee-til-lut, lut-lut, the first being a very fine trill pitched in a very high musical key, the last syllable abrupt and metallic in tone. The food of this species. Dr. Bachman states, consists of the seeds of grasses, and also of coleopterous insects, as well as of a variety of the small berries so abundant in that part of the country. He speaks of its flight as swift, direct, and somewhat protracted, and adds that it is often out of sight before it alights. Dr. Coues did not meet with this Sparrow in South Carolina, l)ut he was informed by Professor Leconte that it occui's about Columbia and elsewhere in the State, frequenting open pine woods and old dry fields. Dr. Bryant met with its nest in Florida, April 20. It was similar, in con- struction, to that of the Savannah Sparrow, and contained five eggs. It was the only Sparrow found by him in the pine barrens near Enterprise, and was only seen occasionally, when it was a very difficult bird to shoot, as it runs round in the grass more like a mouse than a bird, and wiU not fly until almost trodden on, then moving only a few feet at a time. The nests of this bird, found liy Dr. Bryant in Florida and by Dr. Gerhardt in Northern Georgia, were all placed upon the ground and concealed in tufts of thick grass, and constructed entirely of coarse wiry grasses, with no other lining than this material. The eggs, four in number, are of a pure, almost brilliant white, of a rounded oval shape, and measure .74 by .60 of an inch. Peucsea SBstivalis var arizonae, Eidgway. ABIZONA SPARROW. Peucaia cnsmu, Baikii, Birtl.s N. Am. 1858, 486. (Los Nogales .specimen.) Sp. Char. (6,327 $, Los Nogales, Northern Sonora, June, C. B. Kennerly.) Similar to P. (estivalis, but paler ; wings and tail longer. Above liglit chestnut, all the feathers margined and tipped with bluish-gray, but the reddish prevailing. Tnter.scapular and VOL, u. G 42 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. crown fe;illiers A\ith a narrow streak ol' black, those on crown indistinct. Beneath dull while, tinged with ashy-ocliracoous across the breast and along the sides; crissum pale ochraceous. An obsolete light superciliary, and narrow dusky niaxiUar}' stripe. Bend of wing yellow; lesser coverts tinged with greenish-yellow. Length, G inches; wing, 2.65; tail, 3.00; bill, .32 from nostril, .25 deep at base ; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .63. Hab. Los Nogales, Sonora, and Southern Arizona. This race lias a considerable resemblance to F. crstivalis, but differs in some appreciable points. The brown of the upper parts is paler, and the ashy edging to the feathers appears rather less extensive. The dark brown blotches on the back are of greater extent, the black streaks on the back confined to a mere streak along the shaft. There is less of an olive tinge across the breast. The proportions of the present race differ more from those of ccstivalis than do the colors, the bill being more slender, and the wmgs and tail con- siderably longer. The resemblance to P. hottcrii (= cestivali% var. hotterii) of Sclater, from Middle IMexico (Orizaba, Colima, etc.), is %ery close ; the difference being greater in the projiortions than in the colors, the latter having a shorter wing and tail, with tliicker bill, as in var. ccstivalis. In hottcrii there is rather a predominance of the black over the rufous in the streaks above. Habits. Tliis, in its general habits, nesting, eggs, etc., probably resembles the variety ccstivalis. p'l 0 Peucsea cassini, Baird. CASSIN'S SPAEBOW, Zmwtrichia cassini, Woodhov.se, Pr. A. N. Sc. Pli. VI, April, 1S32, 60 (San Antonio). PassereuIiLS cassini, WooDHorsE, Sitgreares's Rep. Zuui and Colorado, 1853, 86 ; Birds, pi. iv. Peucma cassini, Bairi), Birds X . Am. 18.18, 4S5, pi. iv, f. 2. — Heerjlann, X, c, p. 12, pi. IT, f. 2. —Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 219 (not from Cal.l. Sp. Char. (6,329 g, Texas; compared with type of species.) Ground-color of upper parts grayish-a.*h ; the middle portion of each feather dull brown, in the form of a blotch, and with a black shaft-streak, the latter becoming modified on scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts, into transverse spots, those on the upper tail-coverts being large and conspicuous, and in the forrri of crescentic spots, the terminal margin of the feathers being lighter ashy in sharp contrast. Middle tail-feathers clear ashy, with a sharply defined .^haft-streak of blacki.«h, throwing oS" obsolete, narrow, transverse bars toward the edge ; rest of tail clear dusky-brown, the lateral feather with whole outer web, and margin of the niner, dull white, all, except the intermediate, with a large, abruptly defined, terminal space of dilute brown (decreasing in size from the outer), the margin whitish. Upper secondaries broadly and sharply margined along both edges with dull ashy-white, the enclosed portion being clear dusky brown, intensified where adjoining the whitish. A very obsolete superciliary stripe of ashy, becoming whitish over the lore ; auriculars more dingy, but without distinct stripe along upper edge. An uninterrupted but indis- tinct " bridle " along sides of throat. Lower parts dull white, without any ochraceous, but with a very faint ashy tinge over the jugulum ; flanks with broad, somewhat blended FRIXGILLIDJ-: — THE FINCHES. 43 streaks of mixed brownish and du?ieing of VOL. II. 7 50 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. no great importance. However, in the large series examined, there is no specimen of iliaca at all aberrant, and none approach in the slightest degree to any of the other forms. There can be no doubt whatever of the specific identity of the three forms presented under section " B," as is plainly shown by specimens of intermediate characters. These western forms are parallels of the western race of Melospiza ; schistacca representing M. fallax, mcgarhynckus the M. hcermanni, and towiisendi the M. guttata or nifina. Passerella iliaca, Swainson. FOX-COLOKED SPAKKOW. Fringilla iliaca, Meref.m. " Beitr. zui- besond. Gesch. der Vogel, II, 1786-87, 40, pi. x." — Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 923. — AuD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 58 ; V, 512, pi. criii. — Ib. Syn. 1839. — Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 139, pi. clxxxri. Passerella iliaca, Sw. Birds, II, 1837, 288. —BoN. List. 1838. — Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 477. — Baird, Birds N. Ara. 1858, 488. — Dall & Baxxister, Tr. Cli. Ac. I, 1869, 285. — Samuels, 325. Fringilla ni/a, Wilson, Am. Orn. Ill, 1811, 53, pi. xxiv, f. 4. — Licht. Verz. 1823, No. 248. Fringilla ferruginea, WiLSON, Catalogue, VI, 1812. — Hall's ed. Wilson, II, 255. " Emberiza praicnsis, Vieill.," Gray. Sp. Char. General aspect of upper parts foxy-red, the ground-color and the sides of neck being ashy ; the interscapular feathers each with a large blotch of fox-red ; this color glossing the top of head and nape ; sometimes faintly, sometimes more distinctly; the rump unmarked; the upper coverts and surface of the tail continu- ous fox-red. Two narrow white bands on the wing. Beneath, with under tail-coverts and axillars, clear white, the sides of head and of throat, the jugulum, breast, and sides of body, conspicuously and sharply blotched with fox-red; more triangular across breast, more linear and darker on sides. Sometimes the entire head above is continuously reddish. First quill rather less than fifth. Hind toe about equal to its claw. Length, 7.50; wing, 3..50; tail, 2.90; tarsus, .87; middle toe, without claw, .67; hind claw, .35. Hab. Eastern North America to the Mississippi, to the north along valley of tlie Mac- kenzie, almost or quite to the Arctic coast, and down the valley of the Yukon to the Pacific. Breeds throughout the interior of British America. In summer, the ash is more predominant above ; in winter, it is overlaid more or less by a wash of rufous, as described above. The young plumage we have not seen. The P. obscura, Yerrill,' may be referrible to it. 1 Passerella obscura, Verrili,, Pr. Best. N. H. See. IX, Dec. 1862, 143 (Anticosti). (Type in Museum Comp. Zoiil., Cambridge.) "Size somewhat smaller than that of P. iliaca. Legs and wings a little shorter in proportion. Claws less elongated. Bill somewhat shorter, thicker, and less acute. Color above rufous-brown, y^?^^ Passerella townsendi. FEIN GILLIDiE — THE FINCHES. 61 Habits. The Fox-colored Sjiiirrow, in its seasons of migrations, is a very conmiou bird throughout the United States east of the Mississippi Eiver. It has not been ascertained to breed in any part of the United States, though it may do so in Northeastern Maine. Mr. Boardman has not met with it near Calais, nor did I see nor could I hear of it in any part of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick that I visited. In passing north, these birds V)egin their northern movements in the middle of March, and from that time to the last of April they are gradually approaching their summer quarters. Their first appearance near Bcjstou is about the 15th of March, and they linger in that vicinity, or successive parties appear, until about the :^Oth of April. The last comers are usually in soug. On their return, the middle or last of October, they pass rapidly, and usually make no stay. In Southwestern Texas these birds were not observed by jMr. Dresser, nor in Arizona by Dr. Coues, but in the Indian Territory Dr. Woodhouse found them very abundant on tlie approach of winter. Dr. Coues speaks of them as common in South Caro- lina from November to April, but less numerous than most of the Sparrows. In the vicinity of AVashington this bird is found from October to April. 1 huxe met with small groups of them through all the winter months among the fallen leaves in retired corners of the Capitol grounds, where they were busily engaged, in the manner of a PipUo, in scratching in the earth for their food. At those periods when the ground was open, their habits were eminently similar to those of the gallinaceous birds. In March and April they were in company with the Wiiite-throated Sparrows, but passed north at least a month earlier. becoming bright rufous on tlie rump and exposed portion of tlie tail, but a shade darker than in P. iliaca ; head uniform brown, with a slight tinge of ash ; leathers of the back centred with a streak of darker brown. Wings nearly the same color as the back, with no white bands ; outer ■webs of the quills rufous, inner webs dark brown ; secondary coverts rufous, with dark brown centres ; primary coverts uniform brown. Beneath dull white, with the throat and breast thickly covered with elongated triangular spots and streaks of dark reddish-brown ; sides streaked with rufous-brown ; middle of abdomen with a few small triangular spots of dark browu ; under tail- coverts brownish-white, with a few small spots of bright rufous ; tibire dark brown. The auricu- lars are tinged with reddish-brown. Bristles at the base of the bill are numerous, e.xtending over the nostrils. Tail rather long, broad, and nearly even. Third quill longest ; second and fourth equal, and but slightly shorter ; first intermediate between the fifth and si.\th, and one fourth of an inch shorter than the third. "Length, 6.75 ; extent of wings, 10.7.5 ; wing, 3.35 ; tarsus, 1 inch. "This species differs greatly in color from P. iliaai. It is darker in all parts ; the feathers of the back are rufous-brown, centred with darker, instead of ash centred with brownish-red ; the two white bands on the wing are wanting ; the breast and throat are thickly streaked with elongated spots of dark reddish-brown, while in P. iliaca the spots are less numerous, shorter and broader, and bright rufous, an. *he central part of the throat is nearly free from spots ; the under tail-coverts are brownish-white, with i-ufous spots, instead of nearly pure white." There are some features in this bird, as described by Mr. Verrill, which seem to characterize it as different from P. UUica, although it is barely possible that it is this bird in immature dress. The streaked back at once sejiarates it from all our species excepting iliaca. Nothing is said of its habits. One specimen was killed in Anticosti, .luly 1 ; the other, August 8. The true iliaca was found on tlie island, which fact renders it still more probable that this is its young. 52 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. During their stay iu the Uuited States these birds keep in small distinctive flocks, never mini^ling, thougli often in tlie same jilaces, with other species. They are found in the edges of thickets and in moist woods. They are usu- ally silent, and only occasionally utter a call-note, low and soft. In the spring the male becomes quite musical, and is one of our sweetest and most remarkable singers. His voice is loud, clear, and melodious ; his ncites full, rich, and varied ; and his song is unequalled by any of this family tliat I have ever heard. They soon become reconciled to confinement and quite tame, and sing a good part of the year if care is taken in regard to their food. If allowed to eat to excess, they become very fat and heavy, and lose their song. Dr. Coues did not meet wnth these birds in Labrador, but ]Mr. Audubon found them there and in Newfoundland in large numbers ; and, according to the observations of Sir John Eichardson, they breed in the wooded dis- tricts of the fur countries, up to the 68th parallel of latitude. These birds were also found abundantly at Fort Simpson and Great Slave Lake by Mr. Eobert Kennieott and ]\Ir. B. 11. Ross ; at Fort Anderson, An- derson Eiver, Swan Eiver, and in various journeys, by Mr. E. MacFarlane ; at Fort Eesolution, Fort Good Hope, La Pierre House, and Fort Yukon, by Mr. Lockhart ; at Peel's Eiver, by Mi-. J. Flett ; at St. Michael's, by Mr. H. M. Bannister ; and at Nulato, by Mr. W. H. DaU. They were observed at Fort Simpson as early as May 17, and by ilr. Kennieott as late as September 17. Mr. Dall states that at Nulato he found this Sparrow in abundance. It arrived there from the 10th to the loth of May. It breeds there, and its eggs were obtained on the Yukon Eiver. In the month of August in 1867 and of July in 1868 it was abundant at the mouth of the Yukon and at St. Michael's. One was also shot at Unalaklik. The birds seemed to pre- fer thickets to the more open country. Mr. Bannister did not find it abun- dant. He shot only one specimen during the season, in an alder thicket near the fort ; and Mr. Pease, who was familiar with the species, only saw a single individual. According to the reports of both Mi-. ilacFarlane and Jlr. Kennieott, the nest of this species was found both on the ground and in trees. In one instance it was in a tree about eight feet from the ground, and in its structure was said to be similar to the nests of Tvrdits alicicc. They were nearly all found after the middle of June, a few as early as the 7th. One was found on the ground at the foot of a tuft of dwarf willows, which helped to conceal it from \iew. This was composed of coarse hay, lined with some of a finer quality, a few deer-hairs, and a small quantity of fresh and growing moss, intermingled together. In spea^dng of this nest Mr. ilac- Farlane states that all the nests of this Sparrow he had previously met with had been built in the midst of branches of pine or spruce trees, and had been similar to those of the T. alicicc, whicli, in this instance, it did not resemble. He adds that this species, though not numerous, extended quite to the borders of the wooded country, to the north and northwest of FRINGILLID.E— THE FINCHES. 53 Fort Anderson. Afterwards he observed several other nests on the ground, all of which were similar to the last, and it is by no means impossible that in certain instances these birds may ha\e occupied old nests of the T. alicioe, and used them for purposes of incubation. Eichardson states that its nests are constructed in a low bush, and are made of dry grass, hair, and feathers. He states tliat tiie eggs are five in number, of a pale mountain- green tint, and marbled with irregular spots of brown. Mr. Audubon, who foiuid several of the nests of this bird in Labrador, near the coast, describes them as large for the size of the bird, and as usually placed on the ground among moss or tall grass near the stem of a creeping fir, the branches of which usually conceal it from view. Its exterior is loosely formed of dry grasses and moss, with a carefully disposed inner layer of fine grasses, circularly arranged. The linmg consists of very delicate fibrous roots, with feathers of different kinds of water-fowl. In one instance he noted the down of the eider-duck. He found their eggs from the middle of June to the oth of July. When their nest was approached, the female affected lameness, and employed all the usual arts to decoy the intruder away. They raised but one brood in a season, and about the first of Septem- ber left Labrador for the south in small flocks, made up of members of one family. Their eggs measure from .92 to an inch in length, and .70 in breadth. They are oblong in shape. Their ground-color is a light bluish-white, thickly spotted with a rusty-brown, often so fuUy as to conceal the ground. Passerella townsendi, Xutt.vll. TOWNSEND'S SPAREOW. 1 Emberiza unalaschke.nsis, Gmel. H, 1788, hi h {ha.&tA on Aonalaschka Buntimj, L.4.TH. H, 202, 48; Uimlaschka B., Pe.vnant, .52). Passerella u. FisscH, Abh. Nat. HI, 1872, 53 (.Alaska). Fringilla toumscndi, AuD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 236, pi. ccccxxiv, f. 7. — Ib. Syn. 1839. — Ib. Birds Am. HI, 1841, 43, pi. clx.txvii. Fringilla {Passerella) townsendi, NuTT. Man. I, (2cl ed.,) 1840, 533. Passerella townsendi, Bon. Conspectus, 1850, 477. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 489. — Cooper & Sucklet, 204. — Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285. Fringilla meruloides, Vig. Zoijl. Blossom (Monterey, Cal.), 1839, 19. ? Emberisa (Zonotrichia) rufina, KlTTl.iTZ, Deukw. 1858, 200. (He compares it with P. iliaca, but says it is darker. Sitka.) Sp. Char. Above very dark olive-brown, with a tince of nifoiis, the color continuous and uniform throughout, without any trace of blotches or spots; the upper tail-coverts and outer edges of the wing and tail feather.s rather lighter and brighter. The under parts white, but thickly covered with approximating triangular blotches colored like the back, sparsest on the middle of the body and on the throat; the spots on the belly smaller. Side almost continuously like the back; tibiije and under tail-coverts similar, the latter edged with paler. Axillars brown ; paler on edges. Claws all very large and long ; the hinder claw longer than its toe. First and sixth quills about equal. Length, about 7 inches; wing, about 3.00. 54 NOKTH AMERICAN BIRDS. Passerella townxendi. IIab. Pacific coast of United States, as far south as Sacramento, and Fort Tujou ? nortli to Kodiak (and Unalaschka ?). This species differs a good deal in form from P. iliava. Tliu claws are much larger and stouter, the wing a good deal shorter and more rounded. The differences in color are very appreciable, the tints being dark sepia-brown instead of red, and perfectly uniform above, not spotted ; the under parts much more tliickly spotted. Specimens from Alaska sliow a tendency to longer and perha2:)S more slender bills. Some are rather more rufous-brown than the tj'pe ; others have a faint tinge of ashy anteriorly, although scarcely ap- preciable. This is especially noticeable in some skins from Port Tejon, tliey being almost exactly intermediate between townsendi and schistaxea, or megarhynchuA. Young birds are not materially different from the adult, except in having the white of under parts replaced by pale rusty ; the back is rather duller in color, but without spots or stripes of any kind. No. 46,62U from British Columbia has the bill much stouter than in the average. It is by no means certain, howe\'er probalile, that this bird is the E. una- laschkcnsis of Gmelin, an important objecti(jn being its absence so far in collections received by the Smithsonian Institution from that island. We therefore leave tlie question open for tlie present. H.\BiTS. The history of this western analogue of the Fox-colored Spar- row is stUl quite imperfectly known. It was first obtained in Oregon by Mr. Townsend, on the 15th of February. He describes it as a very active and a very shy bird, keeping constantly among the low bushes of worm- wood, and on the ground in tlieir vicinity. It was partially gregarious, six or eight being usually seen togethei-. Its call-note was a short, shai-p, quick chirp, and it also had occasionally a low weak warble. Dr. Gambel, referring probably to its occurrence in winter in California, speaks of this bird as an abundant resident in that State, which is not cor- rect, it being only a winter visitant, and not abundant soutli of San Francisco. He describes its habits as very different from those of any other Sparrow, and more like those of a Thrush. It is said to keep in retired bushy places, or in underwood, and was scarcely ever seen except on the ground, and then would scarcely ever be discovered but for the noise it made in scratching among the leaves. It was silent and unsuspicious, and he rarely heard it utter even its occasional cliirp. FRINGILL1D.E — THE FINCHES. 55 Dr. Cooper states that ho found this Sparrow only a winter resident in Wasliington Territory, where, iu company with otlier Sparrows, it kept con- stantly on the ground, frequenting the thickets and scratching among the fallen leaves for its food. It was most common in the interior, but in very cold weather sought tlie coast, in company with the Snowbird and other species. He observed a few lingering about the Straits of Fuca until April. After that he saw no more of them until their return southward in October. During their winter residence Dr. Cooper never heard them sing. Dr. Suck- ley found them rather abundant near Fort Steilacoom, though not so common as the Mdospiza rujlna, which they greatly resembled in habits and in gen- eral appearance. Dr. Heermann describes them as abumUmt and migratory in California, visiting that State only in winter. He speaks of them as of a solitary and quiet nature, resorting to the thickets ami underwood for its food, turning over the leaves and scratching up the ground in the manner of the Brown Thrusli, occasionally hopping backwards as if to ascertain the results of its labors. Dr. Cooper, in his Eeport on the Birds of California, reaffirms that this bird is only a winter visitant to the lower country near the Columbia, but also conjectures that it spends the summer in the Cascade Mountains, be- tween April and October. Specimens have been obtained near San Fran- cisco in winter. It seemed to him to be both a shy and a sUent bird, fre- quenting only woods or thick bushes, and while there constantly scratching among the fallen leaves, and feeding both on seeds and insects. He has seen either this bird or the P. 'iiicrjarhijnchus as far south as San Diego in ■winter. He has also noticed its arrival near San Francisco as early as Octo- ber 20. On the Spokan Plains, in British Columbia, J\lr. J. K. Lord first met A\'ith this species. They were there not uncommon in dark swampy places east of the Cascades. These birds he found remarkable for their singular habit of scratching dead leaves or decayed material of any sort with their feet, exactly as do barn-door fowls, — sending the dirt right, left, and behind. It picks up seeds, insects, larvae, or anything eatable that it thus digs out, and then proceeds to scratch for more. The long and unusually strong claws with which this bird is provided seem particularly well adapted for these habits, so unusual in a Sparrow. At almost any time, by waiting a few moments, one may be pretty sure to hear the scratching of several of these birds from under the tangle of fallen timber. Several specimens were obtained in Sitka by Bischoff and others, but without any record of their habits. 56 XORTH AMEPJCAX BIRDS. Passerella townsendi, var. schistacea, T.aikd. Passerella scliistacca, Uaihd, UinU N. Am. 1&58, 490, pi. Ixi.x, f. 3. /^' 2^^t Sp. Char. Bill slendei', the length being .34 from nostril, the depth .25 ; the upper mandible much swollen at the base ; the under yellow. Above and on the sides uniform slate- gray; the upper surface of wings, tail-feathers, and upper coverts dark brownish-rufous ; ear- coverts streaked with white. Beneath pure white, with broad triangular arrow-shaped and well-defined spots of slate-gray like the back everywhere, except along the middle of the belly ; not numerous on the throat. A hoary spot at the basfe of the bill above the loral region ; axillars nearly white. Length, 6.80 ; wing, 3.30; tail, 3.50. Had. Head-waters of Platte and middle region of United States to Fort Tejon and to Fort Crook, California. This .species is readily distinguished from P. iliaca by the slaty back and spots on the breast, tlie absence of streaks above, and the hjnger claws. From townsendi it differs in ha\"ing the head, back, sides, and spots beneath slate- colored, instead of dark reddish-brown. Tlie spotting beneath is much more sparse, the spots smaller, more triangular, and confined to the terminal portion of the feathers, instead of frequently involving the entire outer edge. The a.xillars are paler. The wings and tail are the same in both species. The young bird is quite similar ; but the spots beneath are badly defined, more numerous, and longitudinal rather than triangular. There can be little doubt, howe^■er, that this bird is a geographical race of P. townsendi. Habits. For all that we know in regard to the habits and general distri- bution of this species, we are indebted to the observations of Jlr. Ridgway, who met with it while accompanying Mr. Clarence King's geological survey. It was first obtained in July, 1856, by Lieutenant F. T. Bryan, on the Platte Eiver, and others were afterwards collected at Fort Tejon by Mr. Xantus. Mr. Ridgway found the Slate-colored Sparrow at Carson City, during its spring migrations northward, in the early part of March. At this time it was seen only among the willows along the Carson River, and was by no means common. It liad the habit of scratching among the dead leaves, on the ground in the thickets, precisely after the manner of the eastern P. iliaca. In the following September he again found it among the thickets in the Upper Humboldt Valley. In Parley's Park, among the Walisatch Moun- tains, he found it a very plentiful species in June, nesting among the wil- lows and other shrubbery along the sti'eams. There it was always found in company with the M. fallax, which in song it greatly resembles, though its other notes are quite distinct, the ordinary one being a sharp cluick. The FRINGILLIDjE — THE FINCHES. 57 nest of the two species, he adds, were also so mucli alike in inauner of con- struction and situation, and the eggs so similar, that it required a careful obser\'ation to identity a nest when one was found. The eggs from one nest of the Passerdla schistacea measure .90 by .70 of an inch, have a ground of a light mountain-green, and are profusely spotted with blotches of a rufous-brown, generally ditfused over the entire egg. Another nest of this species, obtained in Farley's Park, in the Wahsatch i\Iountains, by Mr. Kidgway, June 23, 1869, was built in a clump of willows, about two feet from the ground. The nest is two inches in height, two and a half in diameter, cavity one and a half deep, with a diameter of two. It is composed externally of coarse decayed water-grass, is lined with fine hair and finer material like the outside. The eggs, four in number, are .80 by .67 of an inch, of a very roimded oval shape, the ground-color of a pale green, blotched and marked chiefly at the larger end with brown spots of a wine- colored hue. Passerella townsendi, var. megarhynclius, P.aird. THICK-BILLED SPAEKOW. PassereUa schistacea, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1S58, p. 490 (in part ; Ft. Tojon specimens). Passerella megarhynchiis, Baikd, Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 925 (Appendix). — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 222. Pusserella schistacea, var. meyarhynchus, Kidgway, Rept. Geol. Expl. 40tli Par. but bill Sp. Char. Similar to var. schistacea in colors, size, and general proportions; enormously thick, its depth being very much greater than the distance from nostril to tip, instead of much less ; color of lower mandible rosy milk-white, instead of maize-yellow. Bill, .35 from nostril, .47 deep; wing, 3.30; tail, 3.50; tarsus, .83 ; middle toe without claw, .63 ; hind claw, 50. Hab. Sierra Nevada, from Fort Tejon north to 40° latitude (Carson City, Nevada, breeding, Ridgway). This very remarkable variety of P. townsendi is quite local in its distribu- tion, having been observed only in the Sierra Nevada region, as above indicated. The first specimens were brought from Fort Tejon by IVIr. J. Xantus, but at what season they were found there is not indicated on the labels. Eecently, specimens were procured by Mr. Eidgway at Carson City, Nev., in April, they having arrived there about the 20th of April, fre- quenting the ravines of the Sierra near the snow. At the same place the var. schistacea was found earlier in the spring, but among the willows along the streams in the Aalleys, and not met with in the mountains ; and all the individuals had passed northward before tliose of megarhynchiis arrived, 58 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. In this restricted distribution the present bird is a companion of the Melospiza melodia, var. heermanni, and the characteristics of form are the same in both as com])ared with their Middle Province and Northern repre- sentatives ; while they both difler from the latter {tovm-sendi of Passerella, and rvfina of Melospiza) in purer, lighter, and less brown colors. Habits. Dr. Cooper met with several individuals of this bird towards the summits of the Sierra Nevada, in September, 1863, but was unable to preserve any of them. So far as he was able to observe them, they had no song, and their habits were generally similar to those of the P. ioicnsendi. The Thick-billed Sparrow was found by Mr. Ridgway as a very common bird among the alder swamps in the ravines of the eastern slope of the Sien-a Nevada during the summer. Near Carson City, April 25, in a swampy thicket near the streams in the level slopes, he heard, for the first time, its beautiful song, and killed a specimen in the midst of its utterance of what, he adds, was one of the most exquisitely rich utterances he ever heard. This song, he states, resembles, in richness and volume, that of the Louisi- ana Water Thrush (Seiurus ludovicianus), qualities in which that bird is hardly equalled by any other North American bird. They were singing in all parts of that swamjiy thicket, and up the ravines as far as the snow. From the nature of the place and the character of their song, they were at first supposed to be the Water Thrush, until specimens of these ex- quisite songsters were secured. He regards this bird as second to none of our singers belonging to this family, and though in variety, sprightliness, and continuity, and also in passionate emotional character, its song is not equal to that of the Chondestes (jrammaca, yet it is far superior in power and richness of tone. Mr. Eidgway regards this bird as easily distinguishable from the P. schistacea, of which, however, it is only a variety. There is a total discrepancy in its notes, and while neither species is resident in the latitude of Carson City, through which both kinds pass in their migrations, the P. schistacea lingers in the spring only a short time, soon passing to the northward, while the P. megarhyncKus arrives later and remains through the summer. The former makes its temporary abode among the willows along the river, while the latter breeds in the shrubbeiy of the mountain ravines. Subfamily SPIZIN^. Char. Bill variable, always large, much arched, and with the culmen considerably curved ; sometimes of enormous size, and with a greater development backward of the lower jaw, which is always appreciably, sometimes considerably, broader behind than the upper jaw at its ba.se ; nostrils exposed. Tail rather variable. Bill generally black, light blue, or red. Wings .shorter than in the first group. Gape almost always nuieh more strongly bristled. Few of the species sparrow-like or plain in their appearance : usually blue, red, or black and white; except in one or two instaiic-<>>! the si'ves very different in color. FRIXGILLIDJi — TOE FINCHES. 59 The preceding diagnosis is intended to embrace the brightly colored passerine birds of North America, ditl'erent in general appearance from the common Sparrows. It is difficult to draw the line with perfect strictness, so as to separate the species from those of tlie preceding group, but the bill is always more curved, as well as larger, and the colors are brighter. They re- semble quite closely, at a superticial glance, the Voccothraustina', but may be readily distinguished by absence of the projecting tufts surrounding the base of the upper mandilile, shorter, more rounded wings, and longer tarsi. The genera may be most conveniently arranged as follows : — A. Wings decidedly longer than the tail. Eggs plain l)lue or white, unspotted. a. Feet very stout, reaching nearly to the end of the tail. Species terres- trial. Calamospiza. Bill moderate, the Roiimiissvire with a deep angle posteriorly and prominent lobe behind it; anteriorly nearly straight; commissure of lower mandible with a prominent angle. Outer toe longer than the inner, both nearly as long as the posterior. Outer four primaries about equal, and abruptly longer than the rest. Tertials nearly equal to primaries. Tail-feathers broad at tips. Color : black with white .spot on wing in ^, brownish streaks in 9. Nest on or near ground; eggs plain pale blue. Euspiza. Bill weaker, the commissure with a more shallow angle, and much less prominent sinuation behind it ; anteriorly distinctly sinuated. Outer toe shoi-ter than inner, both much shorter than the posterior one. First primary longest, the rest successively shorter. Tertials but little longer than secondaries. Tail-feathers attenuated at tips. Color: back brown streaked with black ; throat white ; jugulum yellow or ashy ; with or without black s-'poi on fore neck. A yellow or white superciliary stripe. Nest on or near ground ; eggs plain pale blue. h. Feet weaker, scarcely reachmg beyond lower tail-coverts ; species arbo- real. a. Size large (wing more than 3.50 inches). Hedymeles. Upper mandible much swollen laterally. Colors : no blue ; upper parts con.spieuously different from the lower. Wings and tail with white patches ; axillars and lining of wing yellow or red. Female streaked. Nest in a tree or bush ; eggs greenish, thickly spotted. Guiraca. Upper mandible flat laterally. Colors: ,J deep blue, with two rufous bands on wings; no white patches on wings or tail; axillars and lining of wing blue; 9 olive-brown without streaks. Nest in a bush ; eggs plain bluish-white. 6. Size very small Qi'ing less than 3.00 inches). Cyanospiza. Similar in form to Guiraca, but culmen more curved, mandible more shallow, the angle and sinuations of the commissure less conspicuous. Color: ^ more or less blue, without any bands on wing (except in C- amcena in which they are white) ; ? olive-brown. Nest in a bush ; eggs plain bluish-white (except in C. ciris, in which they have reddish spots). B. Wing and tail about equal. The smallest of American C'o7uVos