Chapter III: Front Matter (3)

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 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 mistaken. Nuttall calls this song loud, sweet, and plaintive. It is to my ear more sprightly than pathetic, and has a peculiarly ventriloquistic effect, as if the performer were at a much greater distance than he really is.

Their food, when they first arrive, and that which they feed to their 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 the 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 rising on the wing. They dive from thicket to thicket with great rapidity, and even when wounded have a wonderful power of running 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 _Tringidæ_, and when wounded and forced into the water swimming off 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 River in the summer, and in the winter up the Arkansas River.

Mr. Townsend observed these birds on the head-waters of the Upper Missouri, 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 breeding, but did not regard it as common. From my own experience, in the neighborhood of Boston, I should have said the same as to its infrequency in Eastern Massachusetts, yet in certain localities it is a very abundant summer resident. Mr. William Brewster has found it breeding in large numbers 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 migratory 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 company with the Water Thrush, and to be in every way as aquatic in their habits. In the autumn he again met with it from the last of September through October, always in bushy marshes or wet places. Mr. McIlwraith states that in the vicinity of Hamilton, Ontario, it is a common summer resident, breeding there in marshy situations. At Lake Koskonong, in Wisconsin, Mr. Kumlien has also met with these birds abundantly in suitable localities, and found their nests and eggs quite plentiful.

Mr. Ridgway has recently found this Sparrow to be a very abundant winter 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 by a tuft of grass. The nest is woven of fine grass-stems, but is smaller than the nest of _M. melodia_.

The eggs of this species, usually five in number, have an average measurement of .78 by .60 of an inch. Their ground-color is usually a light green, occasionally of a light clay, marked and blotched with reddish and purplish brown spots, varying in size and number, occasionally forming a confluent ring around the larger end.

GENUS PEUCÆA, AUDUBON.

_Peucæa_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839. (Type, _Fringilla æstivalis_.)
SCLATER & SALVIN, 1868, 322 (Synopsis.)

[Line drawing: _Peucæa æstivalis_.
10245 ♂]

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 considerably longer than the wings; it is much graduated laterally; the feathers, though long, are peculiarly narrow, linear, and elliptically rounded at the ends.

Color beneath plain whitish or brownish, with a more or less distinct dusky line each side of the chin. Above with broad obsolete brown streaks or blotches. Crown uniform, or the feathers edged with lighter.

Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. A light superciliary stripe, with a brownish one below it from the eye along upper edge of ear-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 dark centres. Crown blackish-brown streaked with ashy or plain rufous. Beneath plain brownish-white, lightest on the abdomen, darker across jugulum and along sides.

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.

Above olivaceous-ash, interscapulars with broad
streaks of dull rufous, the shafts scarcely blackish.
Crown bright rufous. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.70; bill, .29
from forehead, .20 deep; tarsus, .70; middle toe
without claw, .55. _Hab._ 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.
_Hab._ Mexico (Orizaba; Oaxaca), in summer var. _boucardi_.[7]

B. Crown streaked; interscapulars with distinct black
centres; tertials sharply bordered terminally with paler.
“Bridle” obsolete; bend of wing edged with yellowish.

2. P. æstivalis. Above uniformly marked with broad
streaks or longitudinal blotches of deep rufous; black
streaks confined to interscapulars 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 contrasted; 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 Illinois var. _æstivalis_.

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; tarsus, .80;
middle toe, .63. _Hab._ Southern border of the Arizona
region of Middle Province of United States var. _arizonæ_.

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. _botterii_.[8]

3. P. cassini. Above marked everywhere with broad short
streaks of pale (not reddish) brown streaks, all black
medially. Tail-feathers with distinct blackish
shaft-stripe, throwing off narrow, obsolete bars toward
the edge of the feathers. Outer tail-feathers distinctly
tipped (broadly) and edged with dull white. Black marks
on upper tail-coverts 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
.23; tarsus, .68; middle toe, .55. _Hab._ Rio Grande,
region (San Antonio and Laredo), north to Kansas (ALLEN).

[7] _Zonotrichia boucardi_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1867, 1, pl.
i, La Puebla, Mex. (scarcely definable as distinct from
_ruficeps_).

[8] _Peucæa botterii_, SCLATER, Cat. Am. B. 1862, 116
(_Zonotrichia b._ P. Z. S. 1857, 214), Orizaba.
_Coturniculus mexicana_, LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VIII, 1867,
474 (Colima).

This form can scarcely be defined separately from
_æstivalis_. The type of _C. mexicanus_, LAWR., is
undistinguishable from Orizaba specimens. A specimen in the
worn summer plumage (44,752♀, Mirador, 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 referrible to _botteri_.

The _Peucæa notosticta_ of SCLATER (P. Z. S. 1868, 322) we
have not seen; it appears to differ in some important
respects from the forms diagnosed above, and may, possibly,
be a good species. Its place in our system appears to be
with section “A,” but it differs from _ruficeps_ 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 important
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.

Peucæa æstivalis, CABANIS.

BACHMAN’S SPARROW.

_Fringilla æstivalis_, LICHT. Verz. Doubl. 1823, 25, No.
254.—BONAP. Conspectus, 1850, 481. _Peucæa æstivalis_,
CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1850, 132.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 484.
_Fringilla bachmani_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 366, pl. clxv.
_Ammodromus bachmani_, BON. List, 1838. _Peucæa bachmani_, AUD.
Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 113, pl. clxxvi.—BON.
Consp. 1850, 481 (type). _Fringilla æstiva_, NUTT. I, (2d ed.,)
1840, 568. “_Summer finch_, LATHAM, Synopsis, (2d ed.,) 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. Interscapular region and upper tail-coverts with the feathers becoming black in the centre. An indistinct ashy superciliary 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 R. Ridgway) are similar to Florida 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 furnished by Rev. 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 River, in South Carolina. Dr. Henry Bryant afterwards met with this species at Indian River, in Florida, where he obtained specimens of its nests and eggs. Dr. Alexander Gerhardt also found these Sparrows common at Varnell’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 County, in the same State.

After meeting with this species on the Edisto, Dr. Bachman ascertained, upon searching for them in the vicinity of Charlestown, that they breed in small numbers on the pine barrens, about six miles north of that city. He was of the opinion that it is by no means so rare in that State as has been supposed, 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 him 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 morning’s ride, but he found it almost impossible to get even a sight of the bird. 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 following their parents along the low scrub-oaks of the pine lands.

Dr. Bachman regarded this bird as decidedly the finest songster of the Sparrow 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 considerable 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 disappeared, 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, 1832, travelling 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 about the Great Santee River.

This Finch, hitherto assumed to be an exclusively southeastern species, has recently been detected by Mr. Ridgway in Southern 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 delightful 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 song at once attracted his notice as he was riding by. As several were heard singing in the same neighborhood, it seemed common in that locality, and as a young bird was taken in its first plumage there is no doubt that it is a regular summer visitant of Southern Illinois, and breeds there. Mr. Ridgway speaks of its song as one of the finest he has ever heard, most resembling 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 resembling the syllables _thééééééé-til-lūt_, _lūt-lūt_, 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, but he was informed by Professor Leconte that it occurs 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 construction, 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 will not fly until almost trodden on, then moving only a few feet at a time.

The nests of this bird, found by 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.

Peucæa æstivalis var. arizonæ, RIDGWAY.

ARIZONA SPARROW.

_Peucæa cassini_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 486. (Los Nogales specimen.)

SP. CHAR. (6,327 ♂, Los Nogales, Northern Sonora, June, C. B. Kennerly.) Similar to _P. æstivalis_, but paler; wings and tail longer. Above light chestnut, all the feathers margined and tipped with bluish-gray, but the reddish prevailing. Interscapular and crown feathers with a narrow streak of black, those on crown indistinct. Beneath dull white, tinged with ashy-ochraceous across the breast and along the sides; crissum pale ochraceous. An obsolete light superciliary, and narrow dusky maxillary stripe. Bend of wing yellow; lesser coverts tinged with greenish-yellow. Length, 6 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 has a considerable resemblance to _P. æstivalis_, 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 _æstivalis_ than do the colors, the bill being more slender, and the wings and tail considerably longer.

The resemblance to _P. botterii_ (= _æstivalis_, var. _botterii_) of Sclater, from Middle Mexico (Orizaba, Colima, etc.), is very close; the difference being greater in the proportions than in the colors, the latter having a shorter wing and tail, with thicker bill, as in var. _æstivalis_. In _botterii_ there is rather a predominance of the black over the rufous in the streaks above.

HABITS. This, in its general habits, nesting, eggs, etc., probably resembles the variety _æstivalis_.

Peucæa cassini, BAIRD.

CASSIN’S SPARROW.

_Zonotrichia cassini_, WOODHOUSE, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VI, April, 1852,
60 (San Antonio). _Passerculus cassini_, WOODHOUSE,
Sitgreaves’s Rep. Zuñi and Colorado, 1853, 85; Birds, pl. iv.
_Peucæa cassini_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 485, pl. iv, f.
2.—HEERMANN, X, c, p. 12, pl. iv, f. 2.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
219 (not from Cal.).

SP. CHAR. (6,329 ♂, Texas; compared with type of species.) Ground-color of upper parts grayish-ash; 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 form of crescentic spots, the terminal margin of the feathers being lighter ashy in sharp contrast. Middle tail-feathers clear ashy, with a sharply defined shaft-streak of blackish, throwing off obsolete, narrow, transverse bars toward the edge; rest of tail clear dusky-brown, the lateral feather with whole outer web, and margin of the inner, 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 indistinct “bridle” along sides of throat. Lower parts dull white, without any ochraceous, but with a very faint ashy tinge ever the jugulum; flanks with broad, somewhat blended streaks of mixed brownish and dusky. Bend of wing edged with light yellow. Wing, 2.55; tail, 2.80; bill, .28 from nostril and .23 deep; tarsus, .68; middle toe, .55.

_Young._ (45,277, Laredo, Texas, June 28.) Very similar, but with a few drop-shaped streaks of dark brown on the jugulum and along sides. The feathers above have a more appreciable terminal border of buff.

HAB. Rio Grande region of Southern Middle Province; Kansas, breeding (ALLEN). San Antonio, Texas, summer (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 489; eggs); ? Orizaba, temp. reg. (SUM. M. B. S. I, 551).

In the Birds of North America, the specimen characterized on p. 637 of the present work as _æstivalis_, var. _arizonæ_, was referred to _P. cassini_, those specimens which are here retained as such being considered as in quite immature plumage. A more recent examination of additional material, however, has compelled us to change our view. In consequence of the similarity of the specimen in question to _æstivalis_, as noted in the article referred to above, the general acceptation of the name _cassini_ has been that of a term designating a variety of the common species; but we have as the result of the investigation in question found it necessary to retain under the head of “_cassini_” only the typical specimens from the Rio Grande region, and refer the supposed aberrant specimen to _æstivalis_. In this Los Nogales specimen we find existing such differences in proportions and colors as are sufficient to warrant our bestowing upon it a new name, and establishing it as the Middle Province race of _æstivalis_, in this way connecting the South Atlantic and Mexican races (var. _æstivalis_ and var. _botterii_) by a more similar form than the _P. cassini_, which must be set apart as an independent form,—in all probability a good species. Several facts are favorable to this view. First, we have of the _P. cassini_ specimens which are beyond question in perfect adult plumage, and others which are undoubtedly immature; they differ from each other only in such respects as would be expected, and agree substantially in other characters, by which they are distinguished from the different styles of _æstivalis_. Secondly, the region to be filled by a peculiar race of _æstivalis_ is represented by the var. _arizonæ_, which is undoubtedly referable to that species; thus we have in one province these two different forms, which therefore are probably distinct.

The present bird is hardly less distinct from the races of _æstivalis_ than is _ruficeps_; and we would be as willing to consider all the definable forms presented in the synopsis as varieties of a single species, as to refer the present bird to _æstivalis_.

HABITS. This Finch, in its general appearance, as well as in respect to habits, nesting, and eggs, is quite similar to Bachman’s Finch. It was first met with by Dr. Woodhouse, in the expedition to the Zuñi River, when he found it in Western Texas. He shot it on the prairies near San Antonio, on the 25th of April, 1851, mistaking it for _Passerculus savanna_, which, in its habits, it seemed to him very much to resemble, but upon examination it was found to be totally distinct.

Dr. Heermann afterwards, being at Comanche Springs in Texas, had his attention attracted by the new note of a bird unfamiliar to him. It was found, after some observation, to proceed from this species. He describes it as rising with a tremulous motion of its wings some twenty feet or more, and then descending again, in the same manner, to within a few yards of the spot whence it started, and as accompanying its entire flight with a lengthened and pleasing song. The country in that neighborhood is very barren, covered with low stunted bushes, in which the bird takes refuge on being alarmed, gliding rapidly through the grass and shrubbery, and very adroitly and effectually evading its pursuer. He observed them during four or five days of the journey of his party, and after that saw no more of them. They seemed, at the time, to be migrating, though their continued and oft-repeated song also showed that they were not far from readiness for the duties of incubation.

The _Peucæa cassini_ is said, by Mr. Sumichrast, to be a resident species in the valley of Orizaba, in the State of Vera Cruz, Mexico, and to be generally distributed throughout the temperate region of that district. It is very probable, however, that he has in view the Mexican race of _P. æstivalis_ (var. _botterii_), and not the present species.

Mr. J. A. Allen, who considers this bird only a western form of _P. æstivalis_, mentions (Am. Naturalist, May, 1872) finding it quite frequently near the streams in Western Kansas, where its sweetly modulated song greets the ear with the first break of dawn, and is again heard at night till the last trace of twilight has disappeared. Mr. Allen also states, in a letter, that this bird was “tolerably common along the streams near Fort Hays, but very retiring, singing mostly after nightfall and before sunrise, during the morning twilight. When singing, it had the habit of rising into the air. I shot three one morning thus singing, when it was so dark I could not find the birds. The one I obtained does not differ appreciably from specimens from Mr. Cassin’s collection, labelled by him _Peucæa cassini_, collected in Texas.”

Mr. Ridgway regards this record of the manners of this bird, while singing, as indicating a specific difference from _P. æstivalis_. The latter, in Southern Illinois, has never been heard by him to sing at night, or in the morning, nor even on the wing; but in broad midday, in the hottest days of June, July, and August, he often heard them singing vigorously and sweetly, as they perched upon a fence or a dead tree in a field, exactly after the manner of our common _Spizella pusilla_.

Among Dr. Heermann’s notes, quoted by Mr. Dresser, is one containing the statement that he found this species not rare on the prairies near the Medina River, in Texas, where it breeds. Mr. Dresser also states that when at Howard’s Ranche, early in May, he found this bird by no means uncommon. He confirms Dr. Heermann’s account, that it is easily distinguished as it rises in the air, from a bush, with a peculiar fluttering motion of the wings, at the same time singing, and then suddenly dropping into the bushes again. He adds that, in his absence, Dr. Heermann procured the eggs of this species on the Medina, and while he was himself travelling in July towards Loredo, he found a nest which he was fully confident belonged to this bird. It was placed in a low bush not above a foot from the ground, and in its construction resembled that of the _Poospiza bilineata_. The eggs were three in number, pure white, closely agreeing with those taken by Dr. Heermann, and larger and more elongated than those of the _bilineata_.

An egg of this species, taken in Texas by Dr. H. R. Storer, the identification of which, however, was incomplete, is more oblong than the eggs of _P. æstivalis_, and smaller, measuring .72 by .58 of an inch. It is pure white also.

Peucæa ruficeps, BAIRD.

RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW.

_Ammodromus ruficeps_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. VI, Oct. 1852, 184
(California).—IB. Illust. I, v, 1854, 135, pl. xx. _Peucæa
ruficeps_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 486.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
1870, 218.

SP. CHAR. Above brownish-ashy. The crown and nape uniform brownish-chestnut, the interscapular region and neck with the feathers of this color, except around the margins. A superciliary ashy stripe, whiter at the base of the bill. Beneath pale yellowish-brown, or brownish-yellow, darker and more ashy across the breast and on the sides of body; middle of belly and chin lighter; the latter with a well-marked line of black on each side. Edge of wing white. Under tail-coverts more rufous. Legs yellow. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.35; tail, 2.85.

HAB. Coast of California, to Mexico; ? Oaxaca, March (SCL. 1859, 380); ? Vera Cruz, temperate region; resident (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552).

This plainly colored species has the bill rather slender; tail rather long, and considerably rounded; the outer feathers .40 of an inch shorter than the middle; the feathers soft, and rounded at the tip. The wing is short; the primaries not much longer than the tertials; the second, third, fourth, and fifth nearly equal; the first scarcely longer than the secondaries.

There is a blackish tinge on the forehead, separated by a short central line of white, as in _Spizella socialis_. The eyelids are whitish, and there is a short black line immediately over the upper lid. There is a faint chestnut streak back of the eye. The chestnut of the nape is somewhat interrupted by pale edgings. The blotches on the back melt almost insensibly into the colors of the margins of the feathers. The outer edges of the secondaries and tertials, and the outer surface of the tail, are yellowish-rusty.

This bird is similar in general appearance to the _P. æstivalis_, but has the head above more continuous chestnut; the black cheek-stripe more distinct, and the edge of wing whitish, not yellow, the bill more slender. A Mexican specimen has a stouter bill.

The _P. boucardi_ of Sclater (= _ruficeps_, var. _boucardi_; see table, p. 634), from Mexico, is exceedingly similar, it being very difficult to present the differences in a diagnosis. This trouble is partly the result of the insufficient series at our command, for there are such different combinations of colors, according to the season, that it is almost impossible to select the average characters of two definable forms.

HABITS. This species was first described, in 1852, by Mr. Cassin, from a specimen obtained in California by Dr. Heermann. Very little is known as to its history, and it appears to have been generally overlooked by naturalists who have studied the ornithology of that State. The extent of its distribution or of its numbers remains unknown,—a circumstance due undoubtedly to the nature of the country which it frequents.

Dr. Heermann states that in the fall of 1851 he shot on the Cosumnes River a single specimen of this bird from among a large flock of Sparrows of various kinds. In the spring of the following year, among the mountains, near the Calaveras River, he found it quite abundant. It was then flying in pairs, engaged in picking grass-seed from the ground, and when started it never extended its flight beyond a few yards. Its notes, in their character, reminded him of the ditty of our common little Chipping Sparrow (_Spizella socialis_). He obtained several specimens. Its flight seemed feeble, and when raised from the ground, from which it would not start until almost trodden on, it would fly but a short distance, and almost immediately drop again into the grass.

Dr. Cooper has only met with this species on Catalina Island, in June, where a few kept about the low bushes, feeding on the ground. They were very difficult even to get a sight of. He heard them sing a few musical notes, that reminded him of those of the _Cyanospizæ_. They flew only a short distance, and in their habits reminded him of the _Melospizæ_. Their favorite places of resort he supposes to be pine woods, as in the eastern species.

The fact that this species has been found by Mr. Sumichrast to be a permanent resident throughout all the temperate regions of Vera Cruz is a very interesting one, and is suggestive of different manners and habits from those supposed to belong to it as a bird allied with the _Ammodrami_. They are abundant, and breed there, as in the United States, but nothing is given throwing any positive light upon their general habits.

GENUS EMBERNAGRA, LESSON.

_Embernagra_, LESSON, Traité d’Ornith., 1831 (AGASSIZ). (Type,
_Saltator viridis_, VIEILLOT.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill conical, elongated, compressed; the upper outline considerably curved, the lower straight; the commissure slightly concave, and faintly notched at the end. Tarsi lengthened; considerably longer than the middle toe. Outer toe a little longer than the inner, not reaching quite to the base of the middle claw. Hind toe about as long as the middle without its claw. Wings very short, and much rounded; the tertials nearly equal to the primaries; the secondaries a little shorter; the outer four primaries much graduated, even the second shorter than any other quill. The tail is moderate, about as long as the wings, much graduated; the feathers rather narrow, linear, and elliptically rounded at the end; the outer webs more than usually broad in proportion to the inner, being more than one third as wide. The upper parts are olive-green, the under whitish.

The position of this genus is a matter of considerable uncertainty. On some accounts it would be better placed among the _Spizinæ_.

There are numerous tropical species of this genus; none of them are nearly allied, however, to the single North American species.

Embernagra rufivirgata, LAWRENCE.

TEXAS SPARROW.

_Embernagra rufivirgata_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, May, 1851,
112, pl. v, f. 2 (Texas).—SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1856,
306.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 487, pl. lv. f. 2.—IB. Mex.
Bound. II, Birds, 16, pl. xvii, f. 2. _Zonotrichia plebeja_,
LICHT. BON. Comptes Rend. 43, 1856, 413.

[Line drawing: _Embernagra rufivirgata_, Lawr.
29229 ♀]

SP. CHAR. Above uniform olivaceous-green. A stripe on each side of the head, and one behind the eye, dull brownish-rufous, an ashy superciliary stripe whiter anteriorly. Under parts brownish-white, tinged with yellowish posteriorly, and with olivaceous on the sides; white in the middle of the belly. Edge of wing, under coverts, and axillaries bright yellow. Young with the head-stripes obsolete. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.70.

HAB. Valley of the Rio Grande, and probably of Gila, southward; Mazatlan, Mexico. Oaxaca, April (SCL. 1859, 380); Cordova; Vera Cruz, temperate and hot regions, breeding (SUM. M. B. S. I, 551); Yucatan (LAWR. IX, 201).

In this species the bill is rather long; the wings are very short, and much rounded; the tertials equal to the primaries; the secondaries rather shorter; the first quill is .65 of an inch shorter than the seventh, which is longest. The tail is short; the lateral feathers much graduated; the outer half an inch shorter than the middle.

All the Mexican specimens before us have the bill stouter than those from the Rio Grande of Texas, the stripes on the head apparently better defined. The back is darker olive; the flanks brighter olive-green, not olive-gray, the wings are apparently shorter. The series is not sufficiently perfect to show other differences, if any exist.

HABITS. In regard to the habits and distribution of this species we are entirely without any information, other than that it has been met with in the valley of the Rio Grande, and at various places in Mexico. Specimens were obtained at New Leon, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch, and at Ringgold Barracks, in Texas, by Mr. J. H. Clark. The season when these birds were met with is not indicated by him.

It is stated by Mr. Sumichrast that this species is found throughout both the temperate and the hot districts of the State of Vera Cruz, Mexico. He also mentions that he has found this bird in localities quite remote from each other, and belonging both to the hot and to the temperate regions. In the latter it is found to the height of at least four thousand feet.

This species was met with by Mr. Boucard, during the winter months, at Plaza Vicente, in the hot lowlands of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.

SUBFAMILY PASSERELLINÆ.

CHAR. Toes and claws very stout; the lateral claws reaching beyond the middle of the middle one; all very slightly curved.

[Line drawing: _Passerella iliaca_.
846]

Bill conical, the outlines straight; both mandibles equal; wings long, longer than the even tail or slightly rounded, reaching nearly to the middle of its exposed portion. Hind claw longer than its digit; the toe nearly as long as the middle toe; tarsus longer than the middle toe. Brown above, either uniformly so or faintly streaked; triangular spots below.

This section embraces a single North American genus, chiefly characterized by the remarkable elongation of the lateral claws, as well as by the peculiar shape and large size of all the claws; the lateral, especially, are so much lengthened as to extend nearly as far as the middle. The only approach to this, as far as I recollect, among United States _Conirostres_, is in _Pipilo megalonyx_, and _Xanthocephalus icterocephalus_.

GENUS PASSERELLA, SWAINSON.

_Passerella_, SWAINSON, Class. Birds, II, 1837, 288. (Type,
_Fringilla iliaca_, MERREM.)

GEN. CHAR. Body stout. Bill conical, not notched, the outlines straight; the two jaws of equal depth; roof of upper mandible deeply excavated, and vaulted; not knobbed. Tarsus scarcely longer than the middle toe; outer toe little longer than the inner, its claw reaching to the middle of the central one. Hind toe about equal to the inner lateral; the claws all long, and moderately curved only; the posterior rather longer than the middle, and equal to its toe. Wings long, pointed, reaching to the middle of the tail; the tertials scarcely longer than secondaries; second and third quills longest; first equal to the fifth. Tail very nearly even, scarcely longer than the wing. Inner claw contained scarcely one and a half times in its toe proper.

_Color._ Rufous or slaty; obsoletely streaked or uniform above; thickly spotted with triangular blotches beneath.

Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Ground-color above, slaty-ash, or sepia; wings, upper tail-coverts, and tail more rufescent. Beneath, pure white, with numerous triangular spots over breast and throat, streaks along sides, and a triangular blotch on side of throat, of the same color as the wings. The pectoral spots aggregated on the middle of the breast.

A. Hind claw not longer than its digit. Back with broad
streaks of dark rufous.

1. P. iliaca. Ground-color above ash (more or less
overlaid in winter with a rufous wash); wings, dorsal
spots, upper tail-coverts, tail, auriculars, and
markings of lower parts, bright reddish-rufous. Wing,
3.50; tail, 2.90; tarsus, .87; middle toe, without claw,
.67; hind claw, .35. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North
America.

B. Hind claw much longer than its digit. Back without
streaks.

2. P. townsendi.

Head and neck above with back, scapulars, and rump,
rich sepia-brown, almost uniform with wings and tail.
Belly thickly spotted; tibiæ deep brown; supraloral
space not whitish. Wing, 3.05; tail, 2.85; tarsus,
.80; middle toe, .62; hind claw, .43. _Hab._ Pacific
Province of North America, from Kodiak south to Fort
Tejon, Cal. (in winter) var. _townsendi_.

Head and neck above, with back, scapulars, and rump,
slaty-ash, in strong contrast with the rufescent-brown
of wings and tail. Belly with only minute specks, or
immaculate; tibiæ grayish; supraloral space distinctly
white. Spots beneath clove-brown.

Bill, .34 from nostril, by .25 deep at base; wing,
3.30; tail, 3.50; tarsus, .85; middle toe, .60; hind
claw, .45. _Hab._ Middle Province of United States
var. _schistacea_.

Bill, .35 from nostril and .47 deep; wing, 3.30;
tail, 3.50; tarsus, .83; middle toe, .63; hind claw,
.50. _Hab._ Sierra Nevada, from Fort Tejon, north to
Carson City, Nev. var. _megarhynchus_.

No great violence would be done by considering all the above forms as races of one species, the characters separating _iliaca_ from the rest being of 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_; _schistacea_ representing _M. fallax_, _megarhynchus_ the _M. heermanni_, and _townsendi_ the _M. guttata_ or _rufina_.

Passerella iliaca, SWAINSON.

FOX-COLORED SPARROW.

_Fringilla iliaca_, MERREM. “Beitr. zur besond. Gesch. der Vögel,
II, 1786-87, 40, pl. x.”—GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 923.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 58; V, 512, pl. cviii.—IB. Syn.
1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 139, pl. clxxxvi. _Passerella
iliaca_, SW. Birds, II, 1837, 288.—BON. List, 1838.—IB.
Conspectus, 1850, 477.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 488.—DALL &
BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285.—SAMUELS, 325. _Fringilla
rufa_, WILSON, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 53, pl. xxiv, f. 4.—LICHT.
Verz. 1823, No. 248. _Fringilla ferruginea_, WILSON, Catalogue,
VI, 1812.—Hall’s ed. WILSON, II, 255. “_Emberiza pratensis_,
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 continuous 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 the Mackenzie, 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_, Verrill,[9] may be referrible to it.

HABITS. The Fox-colored Sparrow, in its seasons of migrations, is a very common bird throughout the United States east of the Mississippi River. 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 begin 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 Boston is about the 15th of March, and they linger in that vicinity, or successive parties appear, until about the 20th of April. The last comers are usually in song. 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 Mr. Dresser, nor in Arizona by Dr. Coues, but in the Indian Territory Dr. Woodhouse found them very abundant on the approach of winter. Dr. Coues speaks of them as common in South Carolina from November to April, but less numerous than most of the Sparrows.

In the vicinity of Washington this bird is found from October to April. I have 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 _Pipilo_, 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 White-throated Sparrows, but passed north at least a month earlier.

During their stay in the United States these birds keep in small distinctive flocks, never mingling, though often in the same places, with other species. They are found in the edges of thickets and in moist woods. They are usually 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 notes full, rich, and varied; and his song is unequalled by any of this family that 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 with these birds in Labrador, but Mr. Audubon found them there and in Newfoundland in large numbers; and, according to the observations of Sir John Richardson, they breed in the wooded districts 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. Robert Kennicott and Mr. B. R. Ross; at Fort Anderson, Anderson River, Swan River, and in various journeys, by Mr. R. MacFarlane; at Fort Resolution, Fort Good Hope, La Pierre House, and Fort Yukon, by Mr. Lockhart; at Peel’s River, by Mr. J. Flett; at St. Michael’s, by Mr. H. M. Bannister; and at Nulato, by Mr. W. H. Dall. They were observed at Fort Simpson as early as May 17, and by Mr. Kennicott 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 15th of May. It breeds there, and its eggs were obtained on the Yukon River. 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 prefer thickets to the more open country. Mr. Bannister did not find it abundant. 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 Mr. MacFarlane and Mr. Kennicott, 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 _Turdus aliciæ_. 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 view. 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 speaking of this nest Mr. MacFarlane 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. aliciæ_, which, 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 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 have occupied old nests of the _T. aliciæ_, and used them for purposes of incubation. Richardson states that its nests are constructed in a low bush, and are made of dry grass, hair, and feathers. He states that the eggs are five in number, of a pale mountain-green tint, and marbled with irregular spots of brown.

Mr. Audubon, who found 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 lining 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 5th 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 September 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 fully as to conceal the ground.

[9] _Passerella obscura_, VERRILL, Pr. Bost. N. H. Soc. IX,
Dec. 1862, 143 (Anticosti). (Type in Museum Comp. Zoöl.,
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, becoming bright rufous on the rump and exposed
portion of the tail, but a shade darker than in _P. iliaca_;
head uniform brown, with a slight tinge of ash; feathers 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 brown; under tail-coverts brownish-white, with
a few small spots of bright rufous; tibiæ dark brown. The
auriculars are tinged with reddish-brown. Bristles at the
base of the bill are numerous, extending 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 sixth, and one
fourth of an inch shorter than the third.

“Length, 6.75; extent of wings, 10.75; wing, 3.35; tarsus, 1
inch.

“This species differs greatly in color from _P. iliaca_. 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, and the central part of the throat is nearly free
from spots; the under tail-coverts are brownish-white, with
rufous 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.
iliaca_, although it is barely possible that it is this bird
in immature dress. The streaked back at once separates it
from all our species excepting _iliaca_. Nothing is said of
its habits. One specimen was killed in Anticosti, July 1;
the other, August 8. The true _iliaca_ was found on the
island, which fact renders it still more probable that this
is its young.

Passerella townsendi, NUTTALL.

TOWNSEND’S SPARROW.

_? Emberiza unalaschkensis_, GMEL. II, 1788, 875 (based on
_Aonalaschka Bunting_, LATH. II, 202, 48; _Unalaschka B._,
PENNANT, 52). _Passerella u._ FINSCH, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 53
(Alaska). _Fringilla townsendi_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 236,
pl. ccccxxiv, f. 7.—IB. Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841,
43, pl. clxxxvii. _Fringilla (Passerella) townsendi_, NUTT.
Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 533. _Passerella townsendi_, BON.
Conspectus, 1850, 477.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 489.—COOPER
& SUCKLEY, 204.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285.
_Fringilla meruloides_, VIG. Zoöl. Blossom (Monterey, Cal.),
1839, 19. _? Emberiza (Zonotrichia) rufina_, KITTLITZ, Denkw.
1858, 200. (He compares it with _P. iliaca_, but says it is
darker. Sitka.)