Chapter IV: Front Matter (4)

SP. CHAR. Above very dark olive-brown, with a tinge of rufous, 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 feathers 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; tibiæ 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.

HAB. Pacific coast of United States, as far south as Sacramento, and Fort Tejon? north to Kodiak (and Unalaschka?).

[Line drawing: _Passerella townsendi._
2874 ♀]

This species differs a good deal in form from _P. iliaca_. The 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 thickly spotted.

Specimens from Alaska show a tendency to longer and perhaps more slender bills. Some are rather more rufous-brown than the type; others have a faint tinge of ashy anteriorly, although scarcely appreciable. This is especially noticeable in some skins from Fort Tejon, they being almost exactly intermediate between _townsendi_ and _schistacea_, or _megarhynchus_.

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. 46,620 from British Columbia has the bill much stouter than in the average.

It is by no means certain, however probable, that this bird is the _E. unalaschkensis_ of Gmelin, an important objection being its absence so far in collections received by the Smithsonian Institution from that island. We therefore leave the question open for the present.

HABITS. The history of this western analogue of the Fox-colored Sparrow is still 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 wormwood, and on the ground in their vicinity. It was partially gregarious, six or eight being usually seen together. Its call-note was a short, sharp, 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 correct, it being only a winter visitant, and not abundant south 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 chirp.

Dr. Cooper states that he found this Sparrow only a winter resident in Washington Territory, where, in company with other Sparrows, it kept constantly 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 the 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. Suckley found them rather abundant near Fort Steilacoom, though not so common as the _Melospiza rufina_, which they greatly resembled in habits and in general appearance.

Dr. Heermann describes them as abundant 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 and underwood for its food, turning over the leaves and scratching up the ground in the manner of the Brown Thrush, occasionally hopping backwards as if to ascertain the results of its labors.

Dr. Cooper, in his Report 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, between April and October. Specimens have been obtained near San Francisco in winter. It seemed to him to be both a shy and a silent bird, frequenting 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. megarhynchus_ as far south as San Diego in winter. He has also noticed its arrival near San Francisco as early as October 20.

On the Spokan Plains, in British Columbia, Mr. J. K. Lord first met with 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, larvæ, 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.

Passerella townsendi, var. schistacea, BAIRD.

_Passerella schistacea_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 490, pl. lxix, f. 3.

[Line drawing: 11234 ♂]

SP. CHAR. Bill slender, 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 base of the bill above the loral region; axillars nearly white. Length, 6.80; wing, 3.30; tail, 3.50.

HAB. 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, the absence of streaks above, and the longer claws. From _townsendi_ it differs in having the head, back, sides, and spots beneath slate-colored, instead of dark reddish-brown. The 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 axillars 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, however, that this bird is a geographical race of _P. townsendi_.

HABITS. For all that we know in regard to the habits and general distribution of this species, we are indebted to the observations of Mr. 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 River, 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 had 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 Wahsatch Mountains, he found it a very plentiful species in June, nesting among the willows and other shrubbery along the streams. 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 _chuck_. The nest of the two species, he adds, were also so much alike in manner of construction and situation, and the eggs so similar, that it required a careful observation to identify a nest when one was found.

The eggs from one nest of the _Passerella 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 diffused over the entire egg.

Another nest of this species, obtained in Parley’s Park, in the Wahsatch Mountains, by Mr. Ridgway, 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 rounded 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. megarhynchus, BAIRD.

THICK-BILLED SPARROW.

_Passerella schistacea_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 490 (in part;
Ft. Tejon specimens). _Passerella megarhynchus_, BAIRD, Birds
N. Am. 1858, p. 925 (Appendix).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 222.
_Passerella schistacea_, var. _megarhynchus_, RIDGWAY, Rept.
Geol. Expl. 40th Par.

[Line drawing: 13757 ♂]

SP. CHAR. Similar to var. _schistacea_ in colors, size, and general proportions; but bill 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 distribution, having been observed only in the Sierra Nevada region, as above indicated. The first specimens were brought from Fort Tejon by Mr. J. Xantus, but at what season they were found there is not indicated on the labels. Recently, specimens were procured by Mr. Ridgway at Carson City, Nev., in April, they having arrived there about the 20th of April, frequenting 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 valleys, and not met with in the mountains; and all the individuals had passed northward before those of _megarhynchus_ arrived.

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 compared with their Middle Province and Northern representatives; while they both differ from the latter (_townsendi_ of _Passerella_, and _rufina_ 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. townsendi_.

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 Sierra 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 Louisiana 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 swampy 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 exquisite 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 grammaca_, yet it is far superior in power and richness of tone. Mr. Ridgway 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. megarhynchus_ 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 shrubbery of the mountain ravines.

SUBFAMILY SPIZINÆ.

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 base; nostrils exposed. Tail rather variable. Bill generally black, light blue, or red. Wings shorter than in the first group. Gape almost always much 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 instances the sexes very different in color.

The preceding diagnosis is intended to embrace the brightly colored passerine birds of North America, different 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 the preceding group, but the bill is always more curved, as well as larger, and the colors are brighter. They resemble quite closely, at a superficial glance, the _Coccothraustinæ_, but may be readily distinguished by absence of the projecting tufts surrounding the base of the upper mandible, 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 blue
or white, unspotted.

_a._ Feet very stout, reaching nearly to the end of the
tail. Species terrestrial.

Calamospiza. Bill moderate, the commissure 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 ♀. 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
shorter 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 spot on fore
neck. A yellow or white superciliary stripe. Nest on
or near ground; eggs plain pale blue.

_b._ Feet weaker, scarcely reaching beyond lower
tail-coverts; species arboreal.

_a. Size large (wing more than 3.50 inches)._

Hedymeles. Upper mandible much swollen laterally.
Colors: no blue; upper parts conspicuously 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: ♂ deep
blue, with two rufous bands on wings; no white patches
on wings or tail; axillars and lining of wing blue; ♀
olive-brown without streaks. Nest in a bush; eggs
plain bluish-white.

_b. Size very small (wing 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. amæna_ 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
_Conirostres_. Nest in bushes. Eggs white, spotted.

Spermophila. Bill very short and broad, scarcely
longer than high, not compressed; culmen greatly
curved. Color: chiefly black and white, or brown and
gray.

Phonipara. Bill more triangular, decidedly longer than
deep, much compressed; culmen only slightly curved, or
perfectly straight. Colors: dull olive-green and
blackish, with or without yellow about the head.

C. Wing much shorter than the tail.

_a._ Head crested. Prevailing color red. Bill red or
whitish.

Pyrrhuloxia. Bill pyrrhuline, very short, and with the
culmen greatly convex; shorter than high. Hind claw
less than its digit; not much larger than the middle
anterior one. Tarsus equal to the middle toe. Nest in
bush or low tree; eggs white, spotted with lilac and
olive.

Cardinalis. Bill coccothraustine, very large; culmen
very slightly convex. Wings more rounded. Feet as in
the last, except that the tarsus is longer than the
middle toe. Nest in bush or low tree; eggs white,
spotted with lilac and olive.

_b._ Head not crested. Colors black, brown, or olive,
without red. Bill dusky, or bluish.

Pipilo. Bill moderate; culmen and commissure curved.
Hind claw very large and strong; longer than its
digit. Tarsus less than the middle toe. Nest on ground
or in low bush; eggs white sprinkled with red, or pale
blue with black dots and lines round larger end.

GENUS CALAMOSPIZA, BONAP.

_Calamospiza_, BONAP. List, 1838. (Type, _Fringilla bicolor_,
TOWNS.)
_Corydalina_, AUDUBON, Synopsis, 1839. (Same type.)

[Line drawing: _Calamospiza bicolor._
5720 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill rather large, much swollen at the base; the culmen broad, gently but decidedly curved; the gonys nearly straight; the commissure much angulated near the base, then slightly sinuated; lower mandible nearly as deep as the upper, the margins much inflected, and shutting under the upper mandible. Nostrils small, strictly basal. Rictus quite stiffly bristly. Legs large and stout. Tarsi a little longer than the middle toe; outer toe rather longer than the inner, and reaching to the concealed base of the middle claw; hind toe reaching to the base of the middle claw; hind claw about as long as its toe. Claws all strong, compressed, and considerably curved. Wings long and pointed; the first four nearly equal, and abruptly longest; the tertials much elongated, as long as the primaries. Tail a little shorter than the wings, slightly graduated; the feathers rather narrow and obliquely oval, rounded at the end.

_Color._ _Male_, black, with white on the wings. _Female_, brown above, beneath white, with streaks.

This genus is well characterized by the large swollen bill, with its curved culmen; the large strong feet and claws; the long wings, a little longer than the tail, and with the tertials as long as the primaries; the first four quills about equal, and abruptly longest; the tail short and graduated.

The only group of North American _Spizellinæ_, with the tertials equal to the primaries in the closed wing, is _Passerculus_. This, however, has a differently formed bill, weaker feet, the inner primaries longer and more regularly graduated, the tail-feathers more acute and shorter, and the plumage streaked brownish and white instead of black.

Calamospiza bicolor, BONAP.

LARK BUNTING; WHITE-WINGED BLACKBIRD.

_Fringilla bicolor_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, 1837, 189.—IB.
Narrative, 1839, 346.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 19, pl. cccxc.
_Calamospiza bicolor_, BONAP. List, 1838.—IB. Conspectus,
1850, 475.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 492.—HEERM. X, c, 15.
_Corydalina bicolor_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 130.—IB. Birds Am.
III, 1841, 195, pl. cci.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 347.—COOPER,
Orn. Cal. 1, 225. _Dolichonyx bicolor_, NUTTALL, Manual, I, (2d
ed.,) 1840, 203.

SP. CHAR. _Male_ entirely black; a broad band on the wing (covering the whole of the greater coverts), with the outer edges of the quills and tail-feathers, white. Length, about 6.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 3.20; tarsus, 1.00; bill above, .60.

_Female_ pale brown, streaked with darker above; beneath white, spotted and streaked rather sparsely with black on the breast and sides. Throat nearly immaculate. A maxillary stripe of black, bordered above by white. Region around the eye, a faint stripe above it, and an obscure crescent back of the ear-coverts, whitish. A broad fulvous white band across the ends of the greater wing-coverts; edge of wing white. Tail-feathers with a white spot at the end of the inner web.

_Young._ Similar to the female; a faint buff tinge prevalent beneath, where the streaks are narrower; dark streaks above broader, the feathers bordered with buffy-white.

HAB. High Central Plains to the Rocky Mountains; southwesterly to Valley of Mimbres and Sonora; San Antonio, Texas, winter (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 490). Fort Whipple, Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 84). Parley’s Park, Utah (RIDGWAY).

HABITS. This peculiar species, known by some writers as the Lark Bunting, and by others as the White-winged Blackbird, was first described by Townsend in 1837. He met with it when, in company with Mr. Nuttall, he made his western tour across the continent, on the 24th of May, soon after crossing the north branch of the Platte River. The latter writer regarded it as closely allied to the Bobolink, and described it as a _Dolichonyx_. He describes the birds as gregarious, consorting with the Cowbirds, and, at the time he met with them, uttering most delightful songs. Towards evening they sometimes saw these birds in all directions around them, on the hilly grounds, rising at intervals to some height, hovering and flapping their wings, and, at the same time, giving forth a song which Mr. Nuttall describes as being something like _weet-weet-wt-wt-wt_, notes that were between the hurried warble of the Bobolink and the melody of a Skylark. It is, he says, one of the sweetest songsters of the prairies, is tame and unsuspicious, and the whole employment of the little band seemed to be an ardent emulation of song.

It feeds on the ground, and, as stated by Mr. Townsend, may be seen in flocks of from sixty to a hundred together. It was, so far as their observations went, found inhabiting exclusively the wide grassy plains of the Platte. They did not see it to the west of the Black Hills, or the first range of the Rocky Mountains.

To Mr. Nuttall’s account Mr. Townsend adds that this bird is strictly gregarious, that it feeds on the ground, around which it runs in the manner of the Grass Finch, to which, in its habits, it seems to be somewhat allied. Mr. Townsend adds that, as their caravan moved along, large flocks of these birds, sometimes to the number of sixty or a hundred individuals, were started from the ground, and the piebald appearance of the males and females promiscuously intermingled presented a very striking and by no means unpleasing effect. While the flock was engaged in feeding, some of the males were observed to rise suddenly to considerable height in the air, and, poising themselves over their companions with their wings in constant and rapid motion, continued nearly stationary. In this situation they poured forth a number of very lively and sweetly modulated notes, and, at the expiration of about a minute, descended to the ground and moved about as before. Mr. Townsend also states that he met with none of these birds west of the Black Hills.

Mr. Ridgway also mentions that though he found these birds very abundant on the plains east of the Black Hills, he met with only a single specimen to the westward of that range. This was at Parley’s Park, among the Wahsatch Mountains.

Dr. Gambel, in his paper on the Birds of California, states that he met with small flocks of this handsome species in the bushy plains, and along the margins of streams, during the winter months. And Dr. Heermann states that he also found this species numerous in California, New Mexico, and Texas. Arriving in the last-named State in May, he found this species there already mated, and about to commence the duties of incubation.

Mr. Dresser found these birds common near San Antonio during the winter. In December he noticed several flocks near Eagle Pass. They frequented the roads, seeking the horse-dung. They were quite shy, and when disturbed the whole flock would go off together, uttering a low and melodious whistle. In May and June several were still about near Howard’s Rancho, and on his return from Houston, in June, he succeeded in shooting one in its full summer plumage, when its specific name is peculiarly appropriate. He does not, however, think that, as a general thing, any of them remain about San Antonio to breed.

They breed in great numbers on the plains of Wyoming Territory, and probably also in Colorado, Montana, and Dakota. The Smithsonian collection embraces specimens obtained in July from the Yellowstone, from Platte River, Pole Creek, the Black Hills, and Bridger’s Pass, indicating that they breed in these localities; also specimens from Texas, New Mexico, Sonora, and Espia, in Mexico, but none from California.

Dr. Kennerly, who met with these birds both in Sonora and at Espia, on the Mexican Boundary Survey, states that he observed them in the valley of the river early in the morning, in very large flocks. During the greater part of the day they feed on the hills among the bushes. When on the wing they keep very close together, so that a single discharge of shot would sometimes bring down twenty or thirty. Mr. J. H. Clark, on the same survey, also states that he sometimes found them occurring in flocks of hundreds. The greatest numbers were seen near Presidio del Norte. Great varieties of plumage were observed in the same flock. The food seemed to be seeds almost exclusively. They were very simultaneous in all their movements. Stragglers were never observed remaining behind after the flock had started. They are, he states, the most absolutely gregarious birds he has ever met with.

Dr. Coues, who regarded this bird as one highly characteristic of the prairie fauna, writes me that he met with it in great numbers in Kansas, soon after leaving Fort Riley, and saw it every day until he reached the Raton Mountains in New Mexico. “For two or three days, in fact, from Fort Larned to the mountains,” he writes, “I scarcely saw anything else. This was the first week in June, and most of the birds seemed to be paired and nesting, though occasionally a dozen or more were seen together, flocking like the Blackbirds that they strongly recall. They were in full song, and proved delightful vocalists. Sometimes they warble from some spray or low bush offering a stand a little above the level flower-beds of the prairie, but oftener they mount straight up, hovering high in the air on tremulous wings, pouring forth their melodious strains until, seemingly exhausted, they sink back to the ground. At such times it is interesting to watch two rival males, each straining every nerve to mount higher than the other, and sing more acceptably to its mate hidden in the verdure below. This habit of rising on the wing to sing, so famed in the case of the Skylark, seems not confined to particular species, but to be a forced practice of a number of different birds residing in open level regions, that do not afford the elevated perches usually chosen by woodland songsters for their performances. The ordinary flight of this species is altogether of a different character, being a low gliding motion, overtopping the weeds and bushes. That the birds were nesting at this time is rendered still more probable by the fact that the males noticed as we passed along were out of all proportion, in numbers, to the females seen. They were very heedless of approach, and any number could have been readily destroyed. I never saw any at Fort Whipple, or elsewhere in Arizona, though Dr. Heermann says that they are abundant in the southern portions of the Territory, and specimens are recorded from Lower California.”

Mr. Allen found the Lark Bunting one of the few birds that seemed strictly confined to the arid plains near Fort Hays, in Kansas. He met with it in great abundance, but only on the high ridges and dry plateaus, where they seemed to live in colonies. He describes them as very wary, and very tenacious of life, often flying long distances, even after having been mortally wounded. They seemed to delight to fly in strong winds, when most other birds kept in shelter. They sing while on the wing, hovering in the wind and shaking the tail and legs after the well-known manner of the Yellow-breasted Chat. Its song seemed to him to strongly resemble that of the Chat, with which, at such times, its whole demeanor strikingly accorded.

Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds collected in the survey on the 32d parallel, states that he first observed these birds on approaching the Pimos villages. They were associated with large flocks of Sparrows, gleaning grain and grass-seed upon the ground. When started up they flew but a short distance before they resumed their occupation. After crossing the San Pedro he again found them in large flocks. At Fort Fillmore, in Mesilla Valley, it was also quite common and associated with the Cowbird and Blackbird, searching for grain among the stable offals. He again met with them in Texas, in the month of April, most of them still retaining their winter coat. He describes the tremulous fluttering motion of the wings with which the male accompanies its song while on the wing as very much after the manner of the Bobolink, and he speaks of their song as a disconnected but not an unmusical chant. He found their nests on the ground, made of fine grasses, lined with hair, and in one instance he found the eggs spotted with faint red dashes.

At Gilmer, in Wyoming Territory, their nests were found by Mr. Durkee built on the ground, and composed of dry grasses very loosely arranged. The eggs, four or five in number, are of a uniform and beautiful light shade of blue, similar to those of the _Euspiza americana_. They measure .90 by .70 of an inch, are of a rounded-oval shape, and, so far as I have observed, are entirely unspotted, although eggs with a few reddish blotches are said to have been met with.

GENUS EUSPIZA, BONAP.

_Euspiza_, BONAP. List, 1838. (Type, _Emberiza americana_, GMELIN.)
_Euspina_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. (Same type.)

[Line drawing: _Euspiza americana_, Bonap.
1459 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill large and strong, swollen, and without any ridges; the lower mandible nearly as high as the upper; as broad at the base as the length of the gonys, and considerably broader than the upper mandible; the edges much inflexed, and shutting much within the upper mandible; the commissure considerably angulated at the base, then decidedly sinuated. The tarsus barely equal to the middle toe; the lateral toes nearly equal, not reaching to the base of the middle claw; the hind toe about equal to the middle one without its claw. The wings long and acute, reaching nearly to the middle of the tail; the tertials decidedly longer than the secondaries, but much shorter than the primaries; first quill longest, the others regularly graduated. Tail considerably shorter than the wings, though moderately long; nearly even, although slightly emarginate; the outer feathers scarcely shorter. Middle of back only striped; beneath without streaks.

This genus comes nearer to _Calamospiza_, but has shorter tertials, more slender bill, weaker and more curved claws, etc.

Species.

E. americana. Top and sides of head light slate; forehead tinged with greenish-yellow. A superciliary stripe, a maxillary spot, sides of breast, and middle line of breast and belly, yellow. Chin white, throat black, shoulders chestnut. Female with the black of the throat replaced by a crescent of spots. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States; south to New Grenada.

E. townsendi. Body throughout (including the jugulum), dark ash, tinged with brownish on the back and wings. Superciliary and maxillary stripe, chin, throat, and middle of belly, white. A maxillary line and a pectoral crescent of black spots. No chestnut shoulders. _Hab._ Chester Co., Pennsylvania.

Euspiza americana, BONAP.

BLACK-THROATED BUNTING.

_Emberiza americana_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 872.—WILSON, Am.
Orn. III, 1811, 86, pl. iii, f. 2.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838,
579, pl. ccclxxxiv.—IB. Syn. 1839, 101.—IB. Birds Am. III,
1841, 58, pl. clvi.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 341. _Fringilla
(Spiza) americana_, BONAP. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 85. _Euspiza
americana_, BONAP. List, 1838 (type).—IB. Conspectus, 1850,
469.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 494.—SAMUELS, 327. _Euspina
americana_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133 (type). _Fringilla
flavicollis_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 926. “_Emberiza mexicana_,
LATHAM,” Syn. I, 1790, 412 (Gray). _Passerina nigricollis_,
VIEILLOT. _Yellow-throated Finch_, PENNANT, Arc. Zoöl. II, 374.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Sides of the head and sides and back of the neck ash; crown tinged with yellowish-green and faintly streaked with dusky. A superciliary and short maxillary line, middle of the breast, axillaries, and edge of the wing yellow. Chin, loral region, patch on side of throat, belly, and under tail-coverts white. A black patch on the throat diminishing to the breast, and ending in a spot on the upper part of the belly. Wing-coverts chestnut. Interscapular region streaked with black; rest of back immaculate. Length, about 6.70; wing, 3.50.

_Female_ with the markings less distinctly indicated; the black of the breast replaced by a black maxillary line and a streaked collar in the yellow of the upper part of the breast.

HAB. United States from the Atlantic to the border of the high Central Plains, south to Panama and New Granada. Xalapa (SCL. 1857, 205); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 18); Turbo, N. G. (CASSIN, P. A. N. S. 1860, 140); Panama (LAWR. VII, 1861, 298); Nicaragua, Graytown (LAWR. VIII, 181); Veragua (SALV. 1867, 142); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 103); Vera Cruz, winter (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552).

Among adult males, scarcely two individuals exactly alike can be found. In some the black of the throat is continued in blotches down the middle of the breast, while in others it is restricted to a spot immediately under the head. These variations are not at all dependent upon any difference of habitat, for specimens from remote regions from each other may be found as nearly alike as any from the same locality. Some specimens from Central America are more deeply colored than North American ones, owing, no doubt, to the freshness of the plumage.

HABITS. The history of the Black-throated Bunting has, until very recently, been much obscured by incorrect observations and wrong descriptions. Evidently this bird has been more or less confounded with one or two other species entirely different from it. Thus Wilson, Audubon, and Nuttall, in speaking of its nest and eggs, give descriptions applicable to _Coturniculus passerinus_ or to _C. henslowi_, but which are wholly wrong as applied to those of this bird. Nuttall, whose observations of North American birds were largely made in Massachusetts, speaks of this bird being quite common in that State, where it is certainly very rare, and describes, as its song, notes that have no resemblance to those of this Bunting, but which are a very exact description of the musical performances of the Yellow-winged Sparrow.

It is found in the eastern portion of North America, from the base of the Black Hills to the Atlantic States, and from Massachusetts to South Carolina. I am not aware that on the Atlantic it has ever been traced farther south than that State, but farther west it is found as far at least as Southwestern Texas. During winter it is found in Central America, and in Colombia, South America.

In Massachusetts it is extremely rare. Mr. Hopkins found it breeding in Williamstown, and sent me its eggs. I have also met with its nest and eggs, in a low meadow near the sea, in Hingham. In both of these instances the nest was on the ground. A specimen was shot in Newton by Mr. John Thaxter, June 26, 1857, that had all the appearance of being then in the process of incubation. Throughout Pennsylvania, and in the vicinity of Washington, these birds are quite common.

Wilson states that they are very common in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where they make their appearance in the middle of May, and where they seem to prefer level fields covered with rye-grass, clover, or timothy. They are described as more conspicuous for the quantity than for the quality of their song. This consists of three notes, sounding like _chip-chip-chē-chē-chē_. Of this unmusical ditty they are by no means parsimonious, and for nearly three months after their first arrival, every level field of grain or grass resounds with their quaint serenade. In their shape and manners, Wilson states, they bear a close resemblance to the _Emberiza citrinella_ of Europe. They become silent by September, and in the course of that month depart for the southwest. It is a rare bird in South Carolina, but is very abundant in Texas, where it is also resident, and undoubtedly breeds. Audubon states that he was surprised to see how numerous they were in every open piece of ground throughout that State, especially those covered with tufts of grass. They are, he states, not so common in Ohio, and quite rare in Kentucky. They are especially abundant in the open lands of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska; and they have been found breeding as far to the west as Wyoming Territory, near to the base of the eastern range of the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Allen found this species one of the most abundant birds of Western Iowa, characterizing it as eminently a prairie species, and one of the few inhabitants of the wide open stretches.

Mr. Dresser found, early in May, numbers of these birds in the mesquite thickets near the San Antonio and Medina Rivers, and, as he found them equally numerous there in July, he naturally infers that they breed in that neighborhood. Dr. Heermann obtained some eggs which he had no doubt belonged to this species, though he was unable to secure the parent.

It has also been found in Western Texas and in the Indian Territory by Mr. J. H. Clark, in Texas by Dr. Lincecum, at the Kiowa agency by Dr. Palmer, and on the Yellowstone by Dr. Hayden.

This bird is not gregarious, always moving in pairs, and although, as they are preparing for their migrations, they congregate in particular localities, they always keep somewhat apart in family groups, and do not mingle promiscuously as do many others of this family. They are, at all times, unsuspicious and easily approached, and when fired at will often return to the same field from which they were startled. They are very partial to certain localities, and are rarely to be met with in sandy regions.

Mr. Audubon states that the notes of this species very closely resemble those of the _Emberiza miliaria_ of Europe. Its unmusical notes are almost continuously repeated from sunrise to sunset. When the female is startled from her nest she creeps quietly away through the grass, and then hides herself, making no complaint, and not showing herself even if her treasures are taken from her. Their nests are constructed of coarse grasses and stems, lined with finer and similar materials. They are, in certain localities, placed on the ground, but more frequently, in many parts of the country, they are built in positions above the ground. This is almost invariably the case where they nest among the tall coarse grasses of the prairies. My attention was first called to this peculiarity by Dr. J. W. Velie, then of Rock Island, Ill. He informed me that in no instance had he found the nest of this species on the ground, but always raised a few inches above it. It was usually constructed of the tops of the red-top grasses, worked in among a bunch of thick grass, so as to make the nest quite firm. The meadows in which Dr. Velie found these nests were quite dry, so that there was no necessity for their thus building clear from the ground in order to escape being wet. I was afterwards informed by the late Mr. Robert Kennicott that his experience in regard to the nests of these birds had been invariably the same. Dr. P. R. Hoy, of Racine, is confident that these birds in Wisconsin never nest on the ground, or else very rarely, as he has never noticed their doing so. He writes that during one season he visited and made notes of nineteen different nests. Ten of these were built in gooseberry-bushes, four on thorn-bushes, three among blackberry-brambles, one on a raspberry-bush, and one on a wild rose. None were within a foot of the ground, and some were six feet from it. They have two broods in a season.

On the other hand, Mr. Ridgway informs me that in Southern Illinois the nest of this species is always placed on the ground, usually in a meadow, and that he has never found its nest placed anywhere else than on the ground, in a tuft of grass or clover. Professor Baird has had a similar experience in Pennsylvania. Mr. B. F. Goss found them nesting both in bushes and on the ground at Neosho Falls, Kansas.

The eggs of this species are of a uniform light blue color, similar in shade to the eggs of the common Bluebird, as also to those of the _Calamospiza bicolor_. They vary considerably in size, the smallest measuring .80 of an inch in length by .60 in breadth, while the larger and more common size is .90 by .70 of an inch.

Euspiza townsendi, BONAP.

TOWNSEND’S BUNTING.

_Emberiza townsendi_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 183; V, 90, pl.
cccc.—IB. Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 62, pl.
clvii.—NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 528. _Euspiza
townsendi_, BON. List, 1838.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 495.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Upper parts, head and neck all round, sides of body and forepart of breast, slate-blue; the back and upper surface of wings tinged with yellowish-brown; the interscapular region streaked with black. A superciliary and maxillary line, chin and throat, and central line of under parts from the breast to crissum, white; the edge of the wing, and a gloss on the breast and middle of belly, yellow. A black spotted line from the lower corner of the lower mandible down the side of the throat, connecting with a crescent of streaks in the upper edge of the slate portion of the breast. Length, 5.75; wing, 2.86; tail, 2.56.

HAB. Chester County, Penn. But one specimen known (in the Mus. Smith.).

It is still a question whether this is a distinct species, or only a variety of _E. americana_. There is, however, little ground for the last supposition, although its rarity is a mystery.

The original type specimen of this species, collected by Dr. J. K. Townsend, still continues to be the only one known, and has been presented by its owner, Dr. E. Michener, to the Smithsonian Institution.

HABITS. Only a single specimen of this apparently well-marked species has been observed, and nothing is known as to its history. The bird was shot by Mr. J. K. Townsend, in an old field grown up with cedar-bushes, near New Garden, Chester Co., Penn., May 11, 1833.

GENUS HEDYMELES, CABANIS.

_? Goniaphea_, BOWD. “Excurs. in Madeira, 1825,” Agassiz. (Type,
_Loxia ludoviciana_, according to Gray.)
_Habia_, REICHENB. Av. Syst. Nat. 1850, pl. xxviii. (Type, _L.
ludoviciana_; not _Habia_ of LESSON, 1831).
_Hedymeles_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 153. (Same type.)

[Line drawing: _Hedymeles melanocephalus._
1496 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill very large, much swollen; lower mandible scarcely deeper than the upper; feet almost coccothraustine, tarsi and toes very short, the claws strong and much curved, though blunt. First four primaries longest, and nearly equal, abruptly longer than the fifth. Tail broad, perfectly square. _Colors_: Black, white, and red, or black, cinnamon, yellow, and white, on the male; the females brownish, streaked, with the axillars and lining of the wing yellow.

There seems to be abundant reason for separating this genus from _Guiraca_; the latter is, in reality, much more nearly related to _Cyanospiza_, it being impossible to define the dividing line between them.

Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. ♂. Head and upper parts (except rump) deep black. Two broad bands across coverts, a large patch on base of primaries, and terminal half of inner webs of tail-feathers, pure white. Breast carmine or cinnamon; axillars and lining of wing carmine or gamboge. ♀. Black replaced by ochraceous-brown; other parts more streaked.

H. ludovicianus. Rump and lower parts white; lining of
wing, and patch on breast, rosy carmine. No nuchal collar.
_Female._ Lining of wing saffron-yellow; breast with
numerous streaks. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North
America, south, in winter, to Ecuador.

H. melanocephalus. Rump and lower parts cinnamon-rufous;
lining of wing and middle of abdomen gamboge-yellow. A
nuchal collar of rufous. _Female._ Lining of wing
lemon-yellow; breast without streaks; abdomen tinged with
lemon-yellow.

Crown continuous black. No post-ocular rufous stripe.
_Hab._ Mountains of Mexico, and Central Rocky Mountains
of United States var. _melanocephalus_.

Crown divided by a longitudinal rufous stripe; a
distinct post-ocular stripe of the same. _Hab._ Western
Province of United States, south, in winter, to Colima
var. _capitalis_.

Hedymeles ludovicianus, SWAINSON.

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK.

_Loxia ludoviciana_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 306.—WILSON, Am.
Orn. II, 1810, 135, pl. xvii, f. 2. _Guiraca ludoviciana_,
SWAINSON, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 438.—BONAP. List, 1838.—IB.
Consp. 1850, 501.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 497.—SAMUELS,
328. _Fringilla ludoviciana_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 166; V,
513, pl. cxxvii. _Pyrrhula ludoviciana_, SAB. Zoöl. App.
Franklin’s Narr. _Coccothraustes ludoviciana_, RICH. List, Pr.
Br. Ass. 1837. _Coccoborus ludovicianus_, AUD. Syn. 1839,
133.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 209, pl. 205.—MAX. Cab. J. VI,
1858, 267. “_Goniaphea ludoviciana_, BOWDICH.” _Hedymeles
ludoviciana_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 153. _Fringilla
punicea_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 921 (male). _Loxia
obscura_, GMELIN, I, 1788, 862. _Loxia rosea_, WILSON, Am. Orn.
pl. xvii, f. 2. _Coccothraustes rubricollis_, VIEILLOT, Galerie
des Ois. I, 1824, 67, pl. lviii.

SP. CHAR. Upper parts generally, with head and neck all round, glossy black. A broad crescent across the upper part of the breast, extending narrowly down to the belly, axillaries, and under wing-coverts, carmine. Rest of under parts, rump and upper tail-coverts, middle wing-coverts, spots on the tertiaries and inner great wing-coverts, basal half of primaries and secondaries, and a large patch on the ends of the inner webs of the outer three tail-feathers, pure white. Length, 8.50 inches; wing, 4.15.

_Female_ without the white of quills, tail, and rump, and without any black or red. Above yellowish-brown streaked with darker; head with a central stripe above, and a superciliary on each side, white. Beneath dirty white, streaked with brown on the breast and sides. Under wing-coverts and axillars saffron-yellow.

In the male the black feathers of the back and sides of the neck have a subterminal white bar. There are a few black spots on the sides of the breast just below the red.

The young male of the year is like the female, except in having the axillaries, under wing-coverts, and a trace of a patch on the breast, light rose-red.

The depth of the carmine tint on the under parts varies a good deal in different specimens, but it is always of the same rosy hue.

HAB. Eastern United States to the Missouri plains; south to Ecuador. Honduras (MOORE, P. Z. S. 1859, 58); Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 365); Bogota (SCL. 1855, 154); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 301); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 17); Cuba (CAB. J. VI, 9); Ecuador (SCL. 1860, 298); Costa Rica (CAB. J. 61, 71); (LAWR. IX, 102); Panama (LAWR. VII, 1861, 297); Vera Cruz, winter (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552); Yucatan (LAWR. Ann. IX, 210).

HABITS. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak, during the summer months, appears to have a widely extended area of distribution, though nowhere a very abundant species, and one of somewhat irregular occurrence. It is found as far to the east as Nova Scotia, to the north as Selkirk Settlement and the valley of the Saskatchewan, and to the west as Nebraska. It winters in great numbers in Guatemala. In the last-named country, while abundant in the Vera Paz, it was not found at Dueñas, but was a common cage-bird in the city of Guatemala. It was also found common at Herradura, in Colombia, South America, by Mr. C. W. Wyatt.

This bird was noticed on a single occasion near San Antonio by Mr. Dresser, but was not observed by Dr. Woodhouse in Texas, or in the Indian Territory. Sumichrast did not meet with it in Vera Cruz. At St. Stephens, N. B., Mr. Boardman found this species a regular summer visitant, but rare, nor did Mr. Verrill find it common in the western part of Maine. In Massachusetts this bird becomes more common, but is nowhere very abundant. It has been met with in various places in the eastern part of the State, but rarely, and only in restricted localities. In the western part of the State it is more numerous, as well as throughout the whole of the Connecticut Valley. At Springfield, Mr. Allen notes it as a summer visitant, breeding in the open woods, but not abundant. He is of the opinion that during the past twenty-five years this bird has increased in numbers in all parts of the State. Mr. Allen found this bird quite common in Southern Indiana, in Northern Illinois, and in Western Iowa, where he found it frequent in the groves along the streams. Dr. Coues mentions it as rare and only migratory in South Carolina. Mr. McIlwraith gives it as a summer resident in the vicinity of Hamilton, Canada, where it is very generally distributed throughout the open woods, arriving there the second week in May. It is also found throughout Vermont, in favorable situations in open woods, on the borders of streams. It is not uncommon in the vicinity of Randolph, where it regularly breeds.

Wilson, who enjoyed but few opportunities of studying the habits of this species, states that it eagerly feeds on the ripe fruit of the sour gum-tree. He was also aware of its fine song, its value as a caged bird, and that it frequently sings during the night.

Sir John Richardson met with a single specimen of this bird near the Saskatchewan during his first expedition with Sir John Franklin, but did not afterwards meet with it. He states that it frequents the deep recesses of the forests, and there sings a clear, mellow, and harmonious song.

Nuttall appears to have seen little or nothing of this bird, except in confinement. He describes it as thriving very well in a cage, and as a melodious and indefatigable warbler, frequently passing the greater part of the night in singing, with great variety of tones. It is said, while thus earnestly engaged, to mount on tiptoe, as if seemingly in an ecstasy of enthusiasm and delight at the unrivalled harmony of its own voice. These notes, he adds, are wholly warbled, now loud and clear, now with a querulous and now with a sprightly air, and finally lower and more pathetic. In Mr. Nuttall’s opinion it has no superior in song, except the Mocking-Bird.

Mr. Say met with these birds in the spring, on the banks of the Missouri, and afterwards, on the 5th of August, at Pembina in the 49th degree of latitude.

This bird arrives in Eastern Massachusetts about the 15th of May, and leaves in September. It nests during the first week in June.

Mr. Audubon states that he has frequently observed this species, early in the month of March, in the lower parts of Louisiana, making its way eastward, and has noticed the same circumstance both at Henderson, Ky., and at Cincinnati, O. At this period it passes at a considerable height in the air. He never saw it in the maritime parts of Georgia or Carolina, but they have been procured in the mountainous parts of those States. On the banks of the Schuylkill, early in May, he has observed this bird feeding on the tender buds of the trees. When in Texas, in 1837, Mr. Audubon also found it very abundant in April.