Chapter V: Front Matter (5)

Dr. Bachman, quoted by Audubon, states that, having slightly wounded a beautiful male of this species, he kept it three years in confinement. It very soon became quite tame, fed, in an open room, on moistened bread. It was at once reconciled to live in a cage, and fed readily on various kinds of food, but preferred Indian meal and hemp-seed. It was also very fond of insects, and ate grasshoppers and crickets with peculiar relish. It watched the flies with great apparent interest, and often snatched at and secured the wasps that ventured within its cage. During bright moonshiny nights it sang sweetly, but not loudly, remaining in the same position on its perch. When it sang in the daytime it was in the habit of vibrating its wings, in the manner of the Mocking-Bird. It was a lively and a gentle companion for three years, but suffered from cold in severe wintry weather, and finally died from this cause. It would frequently escape from its cage, and never exhibited the least desire to leave him, but always returned to the house at night. It sang about eight weeks, and the rest of the year had only a faint _chuck_.

This Grosbeak builds in low trees on the edge of woods, frequently in small groves on the banks of streams. Their nests are coarsely built, with a base composed of waste stubble, fragments of leaves, and stems of plants. These are intermingled with and strengthened by twigs and coarser stems. They have a diameter of eight inches, and a height of three and a half. The upper portion of the nest is usually composed of dry _usnea_ mosses, mingled with a few twigs, and lined with finer twigs. Its cavity is three inches in diameter and one in depth, being quite shallow for so large a nest.

The eggs bear some resemblance to those of the _Pyrangæ_, but are usually much larger, though they vary greatly in size. Their ground-color is usually a light but well-marked shade of verdigris-green, varying occasionally to a greenish-white, and are marked, more or less, over their entire surface, with blotches of reddish-brown. They vary in length from 1.05 to .90 of an inch, and from .78 to .60.

During incubation, and in the presence of its mate, this Grosbeak is a persistent and enthusiastic singer, and, at times, carries his love of song so far as to betray his nest. This is more especially so when he relieves his mate, takes her place on the nest, and then, apparently oblivious of the danger of lifting up his voice in song when upon so responsible a duty, attracts, by his melody, the oölogist to his treasures.

Dr. Hoy, of Racine, supplies some interesting information in regard to the habits and nesting of this species. On the 15th of June, within six miles of that city, he found seven nests, all within a space of not over five acres, and he was assured that each year they resort to the same locality and nest thus socially. Six of these nests were in thorn-trees, all were within six to ten feet from the ground, and all were in the central portion of the top. Three of the four parent birds sitting on the nests were males, and this he was told was usually the case. When a nest was disturbed, all the neighboring Grosbeaks gathered around and appeared equally interested. Both nest and eggs so closely resemble those of the Tanagers that it is difficult to distinguish them. Their position is, however, usually different, the Grosbeaks generally nesting in the central portion of a small tree, the Tanagers’ being placed on a horizontal limb.

Hedymeles melanocephalus, SWAINSON.

BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.

_Guiraca melanocephala_, SW. Syn. Mex. Birds Philos. Mag. I, 1827,
438.—BON. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. 1850, 502.—BAIRD, Birds N.
Am. 1858, 498.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 206. _Coccothraustes
melanocephala_, RICH. List, Pr. Brit. Ass. for 1836, 1837.
_Fringilla melanocephala_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 519, pl.
ccclxxiii. _Coccoborus melanocephalus_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839,
133.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 214, pl. 206.—HEERM. X, S, 51
(nest).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 228. _Goniaphea melanocephala_,
SCLATER? _Hedymeles melanocephala_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851,
153. _Fringilla xanthomaschalis_, WAGLER, Isis, 1831, 525.
_Pitylus guttatus_, LESSON, Rev. Zoöl. II, 1839, 102.
_? Guiraca tricolor_, LESSON, Rev. Zoöl. II, 1839, 102.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Head above and on the sides, with chin, back, wings, and tail, black. A well-marked collar on the hind neck all round (and in var. _capitalis_ a more or less distinct median stripe on crown, and one behind the eye), edges of interscapular feathers, rump, and under parts generally pale brownish-orange, almost light cinnamon. Middle of belly, axillaries, and under wing-coverts, yellow. Belly just anterior to the anus, under tail-coverts, a large blotch at the end of the inner webs of first and second tail-feathers, a band across the middle and greater wing-coverts, some spots on the ends of the tertiaries, the basal portions of all the quills, and the outer three primaries near the tips, white. Length nearly 8 inches; wing, 4.25; tail, 3.50.

_Female_ has the chin, sides of throat, and superciliary stripe white; the black markings replaced by olivaceous-brown; the cinnamon markings paler, and almost white; the white of wings more restricted; that of tail wanting. Usually there are few or no streaks beneath as in _ludovicianus_ (faint ones on flanks); in young males, however, they are more appreciable. The lemon or gamboge yellow axillars and under coverts in all ages and stages separate this species from _H. ludovicianus_, the female and young of which have those regions of a saffron or fulvous yellow.

HAB. High Central Plains from Yellowstone to the Pacific. Table-lands of Mexico. Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 365); Orizaba (SCL. 1857, 213); Vera Cruz, Alpine and plateau, breeding (SUM. M. B. S. I, 551).

This bird, in its range of habitat, appears to be represented by two varieties, which, however, run into each other, so that it is often difficult to determine to which variety specimens from intermediate regions should be referred.

Taking the series from Eastern Mexico (Orizaba and Mirador) and northward along the Rocky Mountains of the United States, we find the black of the head continuous, sharply defined by a gently curved outline behind, and without a trace of either the vertex or post-ocular stripes. This is the true _melanocephalus_, as restricted, and may be regarded as the Rocky Mountain form. The most western specimen is 11,241, from Fort Bridger; the most northern (19,355), from Stinking River, Northern Wyoming. All specimens from the Pacific coast eastward to the western base of the Rocky Mountains, including Cape St. Lucas and Western Mexico south to Colima, differ from the Rocky Mountain series in having the posterior outline of the black hood ragged, and irregularly indented by the rufous of the nape, which always extends in a quite broad stripe toward the eye, along the side of the occiput, and quite frequently forms a conspicuous median vertex stripe, though the latter feature is sometimes not distinct. These differences are observable only in the males, and, although apparently slight, are yet sufficiently constant to justify distinguishing them as races. The Rocky Mountain form being the true _melanocephalus_, the name _capitalis_ is proposed for the western one.

HABITS. This bird occurs from the high Central Plains to the Pacific, and from the northern portions of Washington Territory to the table-lands of Mexico. Mr. Ridgway found this species abundant, during the summer months, in all the fertile wooded districts along the entire route of the survey. At Sacramento it was common in the willow copses, and was observed in the greatest numbers, in May, in the rich valley of the Truckee, in company with Bullock’s Oriole, the Louisiana Tanager, and other species, feeding upon the buds of the “grease-wood.” It principally inhabits the willows along the rivers, and the shrubbery skirting the streams of the mountain cañons. In its manners and notes Mr. Ridgway regards this bird as an exact counterpart of the eastern species, the _Hedymeles ludovicianus_, its song being by no means superior. The peculiar and very odd _click_ of the _ludovicianus_ is said to be equally characteristic of this bird. Mr. Ridgway met with its nests in willows, about ten feet from the ground. He had evidence that the male bird assists the female in the duties of incubation.

This bird, though a common summer resident in the Great Salt Lake Valley, had all migrated, according to Mr. Allen, by the 1st of September. It is well known there as the Peabird, from its fondness for green peas, of which it is very destructive.

According to Dr. Cooper, this Grosbeak arrives in California, near San Diego, about April 12. It is numerous during the summer throughout the mountains both of the coast and of the Sierra Nevada, and extends its migrations at least as far as Puget Sound. It is often kept in confinement on account of its loud, sweet song. In the Coast Mountains, in May, its music is said to be delightful, the males vying with each other from the tops of the trees, and making the hills fairly ring with their melody.

Dr. Cooper found a nest of this bird, May 12, at the eastern base of the Coast Range. It was built in a low horizontal branch of an alder, and consisted of a few sticks and weeds, very loosely put together, with a lining of grass and roots. The eggs, three in number, he describes as of a pale bluish-white ground, thickly spotted with brown, more densely near the larger end. Their size he gives as .95 by .70 of an inch.

Dr. Cooper also states that they frequent the ground in search of food, but also live much on trees, feeding on their buds. They are not gregarious, assembling only in family groups in the fall. They do not fly high, nor do they make any noise in flying.

He has observed these birds at Santa Cruz April 12, or as early as he saw them at San Diego, three hundred and fifty miles farther south, and has found a young bird fledged as early as May 23.

Dr. Coues speaks of this bird as an abundant summer resident of Arizona, where it arrives by the first of May, and remains until the latter part of September. He speaks of it as frequenting the thick brush of the ravines and the cottonwood and willow copses of the river-bottoms. Its call-note resembles that of _Lophortyx gambeli_. Its song, he says, is superb,—a powerful, but melodious succession of clear, rich, rolling notes, reminding one somewhat of the _Icterus baltimore_.

Dr. Suckley speaks of this bird being sparingly found in the vicinity of Fort Steilacoom, Puget Sound, where he obtained two specimens.

Dr. Heermann speaks of the song of this bird as clear and musical, and as very closely resembling that of our _Turdus migratorius_. He describes its nests as formed with very little care, of twigs loosely thrown together, and lined with roots, placed in the branches of bushes. The eggs, four in number, he describes as of a greenish-blue ground, marked with irregular spots of umber-brown, varying in intensity of shade.

The song of the western species is described by Mr. Nuttall as fully equal, if not superior, to that of the Rose-breasted. He met with it on the central table-lands of the Rocky Mountains, along the upper branches of the Colorado River, where he found it frequenting the thick groves of the streams, and where, throughout its dense forests, the powerful song and the inimitable voice of this “most delightful Finch” cheered that naturalist amidst the wildest desolation of that “forest primeval,” where this superb vocalist made the woods echo and re-echo to its untiring song. These notes, greatly resembling those of its eastern relative, may be heard from early dawn almost even to the close of the following night. These are described as loud, varied, high-toned, and melodious, rising and falling with the sweetest cadence, fascinating the listener most powerfully with sensations of a pleasing sadness, its closing note seeming like a shrill cry of appealing distress, and then sinking faintly on the ear. It is described as very shy and retiring in its habits, and can be but very rarely observed closely while thus engaged in song. On these occasions the bird is said to sit up conspicuously on a lofty bough, near the summit of the tree, his throat swelling with the excitement, and seeming to take a great delight in the sound of his own music.

Mr. Sumichrast found this bird on the Plateau of Mexico, and also in the alpine regions of Vera Cruz. It was found to the height of 8,300 feet, and never lower than 4,000.

The eggs of this species are of an oblong-oval shape, one end but slightly more rounded than the other, and measure 1.10 of an inch in length by .65 in breadth. They have a bluish-green ground, blotched and splashed with markings of a rusty-brown, for the most part more numerous about the larger end.

GENUS GUIRACA, SWAINSON.

_Guiraca_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, Nov. 1827, 350. (Type, _Loxia
cærulea_, L.)
_Coccoborus_, SWAINSON, Class. Birds, II, 1837, 277. (Same type.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill very large, nearly as high as long; the culmen slightly curved, with a rather sharp ridge; the commissure conspicuously angulated just below the nostril, the posterior leg of the angle nearly as long as the anterior, both nearly straight. Lower jaw deeper than the upper, and extending much behind the forehead; the width greater than the length of the gonys, considerably wider than the upper jaw. A prominent knob in the roof of the mouth. Tarsi shorter than the middle toe; the outer toe a little longer, reaching not quite to the base of the middle claw; hind toe rather longer than to this base. Wings long, reaching the middle of the tail; the secondaries and tertials nearly equal; the second quill longest; the first less than the fourth. Tail very nearly even, shorter than the wings.

The single North American species of this genus has no near relative in tropical America; indeed, no other species at present known can be said to be strictly congeneric.

In all essential details of external structure, and in every respect as to habits and nidification, the type of the genus (_G. cærulea_) is much more like the species of _Cyanospiza_ than those of _Hedymeles_, with which latter it has usually been included.

Guiraca cærulea, SWAINSON.

BLUE GROSBEAK.

_Loxia cærulea_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 306.—WILSON, Am. Orn.
III, 1811, 78, pl. xxiv, f. 6.—? WAGLER, Isis, 1831, 525.
_Guiraca cærulea_, SWAINSON, Birds Mex. in Phil. Mag. I, 1827,
438.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 499.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 230.
_Fringilla cærulea_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 140; V, 508, pl.
cxxii. _Coccoborus cæruleus_, SW. Birds II, 1837, 277.—AUD.
Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 204, pl. cciv.—CABANIS,
Mus. Hein. 1851, 152.—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. Brem. 1870, 339
(Mazatlan). _Cyanoloxia cærulea_, BP. Conspectus, 1850, 502.
_Goniaphæa cærulea_, BP. _Blue Grosbeak_, PENNANT, Arc. Zoöl.
II, 1785, 351.

SP. CHAR. Brilliant blue; darker across the middle of the back. Space around base of the bill and lores, with tail-feathers, black. Two bands on the wing across the tips of the middle and secondary coverts, with outer edges of tertiaries, reddish-brown, or perhaps chestnut. Feathers on the posterior portion of the under surface tipped narrowly with grayish-white. Length, 7.25; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.80.

_Female_ yellowish-brown above, brownish-yellow beneath; darkest across the breast. Wing-coverts and tertials broadly edged with brownish-yellow. Sometimes a faint trace of blue on the tail. The young resembles the female.

HAB. More southern United States from Atlantic to Pacific, south to Costa Rica. Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 365); Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 378); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 301); Cuba (CAB. J. IV, 9); Vera Paz (SALVIN, Ibis, III, 352); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 102); Vera Cruz, winter (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552); Yucatan (LAWR. IX, 200).

The species described as _Cyanospiza parellina_ in the Birds of North America, but which so far has not been actually detected north of Mexico, is a miniature _Guiraca_, more related, however, to the _G. concreta_ than to _cærulea_. It is easily distinguished from the latter by more lobed bill, darker back and under parts, absence of rufous wing-bands, and inferior size. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.50.

Males from the Pacific coast region (California, Colima, etc.) have tails considerably longer than eastern specimens, while those from California are of a much lighter and less purplish blue, the difference being much the same as between _Sialia sialis_ and _S. azurea_.

Autumnal and winter males have the feathers generally, especially on the back and breast, tipped with light brown, obscuring somewhat the blue, though producing a beautiful appearance.

HABITS. The Blue Grosbeak, though more a bird of the Southern States, is also one both of an extended and of an irregular distribution. It was even met with one year in the vicinity of Calais, Me., although none have been known to occur in any part of the country between that point and New York City. It is found from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast.

The extent to which it is distributed throughout California is inferred, rather than known. Dr. Cooper noticed one at Fort Mohave, May 6, and afterwards saw many more frequenting the trees and bushes along the river, and singing a lively song, which he compares with that of the _Carpodacus frontalis_. He also saw them at Los Angeles and at Santa Barbara, and states that they were found at Pit River, in the extreme northeastern part of the State, by Dr. Newberry. They were observed to frequent the banks of streams crossing the great interior plains and deserts, where there was little vegetation except a few bushes.

The Blue Grosbeak was only met with by Mr. Ridgway and his party at Sacramento. It does not occur—or, if so, it was not seen—in the interior so far to the north as the route of Mr. King’s survey. At Sacramento it was found frequenting the same localities as the _Cyanospiza amæna_, and appeared to be characteristic of the cottonwood copses. Their nests were found between the 18th and the 29th of June, and were all in similar situations. These were built in small cottonwood-trees, on the edge of the copse, and were all about six feet from the ground.

Mr. John Burroughs, in one of his charming popular essays[10] on the general habits of our birds, refers to their occasional preference, in sites for their nests, of the borders of frequented roadsides, and mentions finding a nest of the Blue Grosbeak among the trees that line one of the main streets and fashionable drives leading out of Washington City, less than half a mile from the boundary. There, he states, this bird, which, according to Audubon’s observations, is shy and recluse, affecting remote marshes and the borders of large ponds of stagnant water, had placed its nest in the lowest twig of the lowest branch of a large sycamore immediately over a great thoroughfare, and so near the ground that a person standing in a cart or sitting on a horse could have reached it with his hand. The nest was composed mainly of fragments of newspaper and stalks of grass, and though so low, was remarkably well concealed by one of the peculiar clusters of twigs and leaves which characterize this tree. The nest contained young when he discovered it, and though the parent birds were much annoyed by his loitering about beneath the tree, they paid but little attention to the stream of vehicles that was constantly passing. It was a source of wonder to him when the birds could have built it, as they are so much shyer when building than at other times. They must have worked mostly in the early morning, when they could have the place all to themselves. The same observer also noticed another pair of Blue Grosbeaks that had built their nest in a graveyard within the city limits. This was placed in a low bush, and the male continued to sing at intervals till the young were ready to fly. The song of this bird he describes as a rapid, intricate warble, like that of the Indigo Bird, though stronger and louder. Indeed, these two birds so much resemble each other in color, form, voice, manner, and general habits, that, were it not for the difference in size,—the Grosbeak being nearly as large again as the Indigo Bird,—he thinks it would be a hard matter to tell them apart. The females of both birds are clad in the same reddish-brown suits, as are also the young during the first season.

The nest of this species has also been found built in a tree within the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington.

The only time I ever met with this species was at Carlisle, Penn., in June, 1843. The previous month Professor Baird had found its nest in a low tree, in open ground, and we found these birds still frequenting the same grounds, where we found another nest containing three eggs. It was in a low thorn-tree on the edge of a wood, but standing out in open ground. The nest was about five feet from the ground.

The Smithsonian specimens are from Carlisle, Penn., obtained in April, May, and August; from Georgia, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Mexico, etc. Mr. Lawrence enumerates this among the birds found near New York City. Mr. Dresser found it common near Matamoras in July and August. It was breeding there, though, owing to the lateness of the season, he was unable to procure any of its eggs. Dr. Coues speaks of it as generally distributed in Arizona, but nowhere very common. A single specimen was taken near Fort Whipple, August 10. Turnbull regarded it as a rare straggler to the southern counties of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, arriving there in the middle of May. Dr. Woodhouse found it common in the Indian Territory and Texas. Lieutenant Couch mentions seeing this bird first near Monterey, the male always preceding the female. He speaks of them as exceedingly tame. Mr. J. H. Clark states that this bird was not often seen, and, when observed, was generally solitary, preferring the dark ravines and the cañons on the mountain-sides. It is not mentioned by Sumichrast as a bird of Vera Cruz, but was found during the winter months at Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard.

Mr. O. Salvin states (Ibis, III, p. 352) that he found this species, though not of very common occurrence, pretty generally distributed, in winter, throughout Vera Paz. He met with it on the Plains of Salamà, and all the collections from the warmer districts to the northward of Coban contained specimens. It was found by Mr. George H. White near Mexico.

Wilson speaks of this bird as retired and solitary, and also as a scarce species, and as having but few notes, its most common one being a loud _chuck_. He was, however, aware that at times they have a few low sweet-toned notes. He mentions their being kept in Charleston in cages, but as seldom singing in confinement. He fed a caged bird of this species on Indian corn, which it easily broke with its powerful bill; also on hemp-seed, millet, and berries. He speaks of them as timid, watchful, silent, and active.

Mr. Audubon was, apparently, somewhat at fault in regard to the peculiarities of this species. His accounts of the eggs of the _Pyranga æstiva_ are entirely inapplicable to that species, and, so far as I know, apply to no other bird than the Blue Grosbeak, to which they exactly correspond. He makes no mention and gives no description of the eggs of the latter. His statements as to the nest appear to be correct.

Dr. Bachman kept several of these birds in an aviary; two of these mated, took possession of the nest of a Cardinal Grosbeak, which they drove off, and laid two eggs that were unfortunately destroyed. In the aviary these birds were silent. Mr. Audubon kept one, in confinement, with him in Edinburgh. It had been raised from the nest. This bird frequently sang in the night, and before dawn. It was extremely tame, coming out or going into its cage at pleasure, perching on the head-dress of Mrs. Audubon, or on the heads of other members of the family, alighting on the table and feeding on almost anything given to it. If a gold or silver coin was thrown upon the table he would go to it, take it up in his bill, and apparently toss it about with pleasure. After bathing he would go to the fire and perch on the fender to dry himself. He would attack other birds, if put into the cage with him. In feeding he sometimes held his food in his claws like a Hawk.

The eggs of this bird are of a uniform light-blue color, and most resemble those of the _Sialia arctica_, but are larger and of a lighter color. Their color is quite fugitive, and readily fades into a dull white upon even a slight exposure to light. They are of an oval shape, equally rounded at either end, and measure .98 of an inch in length by .65 in breadth.

[10] Atlantic Monthly, XXIII, p. 707.

GENUS CYANOSPIZA, BAIRD.

_Passerina_, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816. Not of LINNÆUS, used in Botany.
_Spiza_, BONAPARTE, Synopsis, 1828. Not of 1825.
_Cyanospiza_, BAIRD. (Type, _Tanagra cyanea_, L.)

[Line drawing: _Cyanospiza amœna._
2645 ♂]

GEN. CHAR. Bill deep at the base, compressed; the upper outline considerably curved; the commissure rather concave, with an obtuse, shallow lobe in the middle. Gonys slightly curved. Feet moderate; tarsus about equal to middle toe; the outer lateral toe barely longer than the inner, its claw falling short of the base of the middle; hind toe about equal to the middle without claw. Claws all much curved, acute. Wings long and pointed, reaching nearly to the middle of the tail; the second and third quills longest. Tail appreciably shorter than the wings; rather narrow, very nearly even.

The species of this genus are all of very small size and of showy plumage, usually blue, red, or green, in well-defined areas. The females plain olivaceous or brownish; paler beneath.

Species.

A. Head all round uniform blue; eyelids not different,
commissure distinctly sinuated.

_a._ Lower parts blue; no white bands on wing.

1. C. cyanea. Entirely deep ultramarine-blue, more
purplish on the head, somewhat greenish posteriorly.
_Female_ dull umber above, grayish-white beneath, the
breast with obsolete darker streaks. _Hab._ Eastern
Province of United States, south, in winter, to
Panama.

_b._ Lower parts white, the breast rufous. One broad and
distinct, and a narrower, more obsolete white band on
the wing.

2. C. amœna. Head and neck, all round, and rump,
bright greenish-blue; back, wings, and tail more
dusky; a narrow white collar between rufous of the
breast and blue of the throat. _Female_ grayish-brown
above, the rump tinged with blue. Beneath dull
whitish, the breast and jugulum more buffy. _Hab._
Western Province of United States.

B. Head party-colored; eyelids different from adjoining
portions. Commissure hardly appreciably sinuated, or even
concave.

_a._ Back and breast similar in color. Upper mandible
much less deep than lower, the commissure concave.

3. C. versicolor. Back and breast dark wine-purple,
occiput and throat claret-red, forehead and rump
purplish-blue. Eyelids purplish-red. _Female_
fulvous-gray above, uniform pale fulvous below. _Hab._
Northern Mexico, and adjacent borders of United
States; Cape St. Lucas.

_b._ Back and breast very different in color. Upper
mandible scarcely less deep than the lower, the
commissure straight, or slightly sinuated.

4. C. ciris. Lower parts vermilion-red. Back green,
crown blue; rump dull red; eyelids red. _Female_ dull
green above, light olivaceous-yellow below. _Hab._
Gulf States of United States, and whole of Middle
America.

5. C. leclancheri.[11] Lower parts gamboge-yellow.
Back blue, crown green, rump blue; eyelids yellow.
_Female_ not seen. _Hab._ Southern Mexico.

[11] _Cyanospiza leclancheri. Spiza leclancheri_, LAFR. Mag.
Zoöl. 1841, pl. xxii.—LESS. R. Z. 1842, 74.

Cyanospiza cyanea, BAIRD.

INDIGO BIRD.

_Tanagra cyanea_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 315. _Emberiza cyanea_,
GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 876. _Fringilla cyanea_, WILSON, I,
1810, 100, pl. vi, f. 5.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 377; V, 503,
pl. lxxiv. _Passerina cyanea_, VIEILL. Dict. _Spiza cyanea_,
BON. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. 1850, 474.—AUD. Syn. 1839,
109.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 96, pl. clxx. _Cyanospiza
cyanea_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 505.—SAMUELS, 330. _?
Emberiza cyanella_, GM. I, 1788, 887. _? Emberiza cærulea_, GM.
Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 876. _Indigo Bunting_, and _Blue Bunting_,
PENNANT and LATHAM.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Blue, tinged with ultramarine on the head, throat, and middle of breast; elsewhere with verdigris-green. Lores and anterior angle of chin velvet-black. Wing-feathers brown, edged externally with dull bluish-brown. _Female._ Brown above; whitish, obscurely streaked or blotched with brownish-yellow, beneath; tinged with blue on shoulders, edges of larger feathers, and on rump. Immature males similar, variously blotched with blue. Very young birds streaked beneath. Length, about 5.75 inches; wing, nearly 3.00.

HAB. Eastern United States to the Missouri; south to Guatemala. Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 379); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 304); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I. 17); Cuba (CAB. J. IV, 8); Costa Rica (CAB. JOUR. 1861, 4; LAWR. IX, 103); Vera Cruz, winter (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552).

In this species, which may be considered the type of the genus, the tail is slightly emarginate; the second quill is longest, the first shorter than the fourth.

HABITS. The common Indigo Bird of the Eastern States is found in nearly uniform and tolerable abundance in various parts of the United States, from the valley of the Missouri to the Atlantic, and from Florida to New Brunswick. It is a summer visitant, but rare, in Eastern Maine, but is common in the western part of the State, where it arrives early in May, and where it breeds. Mr. Allen speaks of it as not very common in the vicinity of Springfield, Mass., arriving there about the middle of May, and breeding in gardens, orchards, and the edges of woods, and making its nests in bushes. It leaves there about the middle of September.

In the eastern part of the State it is very unequally distributed. In certain localities it has not been met with, but in other favorite places it seems to be quite common, and to be on the increase. In the gardens of Brookline and Roxbury they are comparatively quite abundant. Mr. Maynard gives May 10 as the earliest date of their coming. He also states that in the autumn they are found in flocks, and frequent roadsides, high sandy fields, and rocky pastures, which I have never noticed. According to Dr. Coues, it is common and breeds as far south as Columbia, S. C., and, according to Mr. McIlwraith, it is a common summer resident in the neighborhood of Hamilton, Canada West. Specimens have been procured as far west as Fort Riley in Kansas. It passes the winter in Guatemala, where it is quite abundant, though a very large proportion of specimens received from there, in collections, are immature birds. It was not found in Vera Cruz by Mr. Sumichrast, nor is it given by Mr. Allen as found by him in Western Iowa, while it was common both in Northern Illinois and in Indiana. It was, however, found by Mr. Allen, in Kansas, in considerable numbers, near Leavenworth, in the spring of 1871. It was not met with by Mr. Dresser in Southwestern Texas, though Dr. Woodhouse found it quite common in the prairies of that State, where its pleasant song was heard in the timber on their edges, or in the thickets on the borders of the streams in the Indian Territory, where it was quite abundant. It was not observed on the Mexican Boundary Survey.

These birds were found, by Mr. Boucard, abundant throughout the State of Oaxaca, Mexico, having been taken both among the mountains near Totontepec, and among the hot lowlands near Plaza Vicente.

According to Wilson, this bird is not noticed in Pennsylvania much, if any, earlier than its first appearance in New England, and it leaves at about the same time. He observed it in great abundance both in South Carolina and Georgia.

In manners it is active and sprightly, and its song is vigorous and pleasant. It is considered a better singer than either the _ciris_ or the _amœna_. It usually stations itself, in singing, on some high position, the top of a tree or of a chimney, where it chants its peculiar and charming song for quite a space of time. Its song consists of a repetition of short notes, at first loud and rapid, but gradually less frequent, and becoming less and less distinct. It sings with equal animation both in May and July, and its song may be occasionally heard even into August, and not less during the noonday heat of summer than in the cool of the morning. Nuttall describes its animated song as a lively strain, composed of a repetition of short notes. The most common of its vocal expressions sounds like _tshe-tshe-tshe_, repeated several times. While the female is engaged in the cares of incubation, or just as the brood has appeared, the song of the male is said to be much shortened. In the village of Cambridge, Nuttall observed one of this species regularly chanting its song from the point of a forked lightning-rod, on a very tall house.

The Indigo Bird usually builds its nest in the centre of a low thick bush. The first nest I ever met with was built in a thick sumach that had grown up at the bottom of a deep excavation, some fifteen feet below the surface, and but two feet above the base of the shrub. This same nest was occupied five successive summers. It was almost wholly built of matting that the birds had evidently taken from the ties of our grapevines. Each year the nest was repaired with the same material. Once only they had two broods in one season. The second brood was not hatched out until September, and the family was not ready to migrate until after nearly all its kindred had assembled and gone. This nest, though principally made of bare matting, was very neatly and thoroughly lined with hair. Other nests are made of coarse grasses and sedges, and all are usually lined in a similar manner.

Audubon and Wilson describe the eggs of this bird as blue, with purplish spots at the larger end. All that I have ever seen are white, with a slight tinge of greenish or blue, and unspotted. I have never been able to meet with a spotted egg of this bird, the identification of which was beyond suspicion. They are of a rounded-oval shape, one side is only a little more pointed than the other. They measure .75 of an inch in length by .58 in breadth. They resemble the eggs of _C. amœna_, but are smaller, and are not so deeply tinged with blue.

Cyanospiza amœna, BAIRD.

LAZULI FINCH.

_Emberiza amœna_, SAY, Long’s Exped. II, 1823, 47. _Fringilla
(Spiza) amœna_, BONAP. Am. Orn. I, 1825, 61, pl. vi, f. 5.
_Fringilla amœna_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 64, 230, pls.
cccxcviii and ccccxxiv. _Spiza amœna_, BONAP. List, 1838.—AUD.
Syn. 1839, 109.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 100, pl. clxxi.—MAX.
Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 283.—HEERM. X, s, 46. _Cyanospiza amœna_,
BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 504.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 205.—COOPER,
Orn. Cal. 1, 233.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Upper parts generally, with the head and neck all round, greenish-blue; the interscapular region darker. Upper part of breast pale brownish-chestnut extending along the sides and separated from the blue of the throat by a faint white crescent; rest of under parts and axillars white. A white patch on the middle wing-coverts, and an obscurely indicated white band across the ends of the greater coverts. Loral region black. Length, about 5.50; wing, 3.90; tail, 2.60.

_Female._ Brown above, tinged with blue on rump and tail; whitish beneath, tinged with buff on the breast and throat; faint white bands on wings.

HAB. High Central Plains to the Pacific.

This species is about the size of _C. cyanea_; the bill exactly similar. The females of the two species are scarcely distinguishable, except by the faint traces of one or two white bands on the wings in _amœna_. Sometimes both the throat and the upper part of the breast are tinged with pale brownish-buff.

HABITS. The Lazuli Finch was first obtained by Mr. Say, who met with it in Long’s expedition. It was observed, though rarely, along the banks of the Arkansas River during the summer months, as far as the base of the Rocky Mountains. It was said to frequent the bushy valleys, keeping much in the grass, after its food, and seldom alighting on either trees or shrubs.

Townsend, who found this rather a common bird on the Columbia, regarded it as shy and retiring in its habits, the female being very rarely seen. It possesses lively and pleasing powers of song, which it pours forth from the upper branches of low trees. Its nests were usually found placed in willows along the margins of streams, and were composed of small sticks, fine grasses, and buffalo-hair.

Mr. Nuttall found the nest of this bird fastened between the stem and two branches of a large fern. It was funnel-shaped, being six inches in height and three in breadth.

This bird possibly occurs quite rarely, as far east as the Mississippi, as I have what is said to be its egg taken from a nest near St. Louis. It only becomes abundant on the plains. Mr. Ridgway found it very generally distributed throughout his route, inhabiting all the bushy localities in the fertile districts. He regarded it as, in nearly every respect, the exact counterpart of the eastern _C. cyanea_. The notes of the two birds are so exactly the same that their song would be undistinguishable but for the fact that in the _amœna_ it is appreciably weaker. He found their nests usually in the low limbs of trees, near their extremity, and only a few feet from the ground. Mr. J. A. Allen found this species common in Colorado, more so among the foot-hills than on the plains, but does not appear to have met with it in Kansas.

This species, Mr. Lord states, visits Vancouver Island and British Columbia early in the summer, arriving at the island in May, and rather later east of the Cascades. The song of the male is said to be feeble, and only now and then indulged in, as if to cheer his more sombre partner during incubation. The nest, he adds, is round and open at the top, composed of various materials worked together, lined with hair, and placed in a low bush, usually by the side of a stream.

The Lazuli Finch was met with in large numbers, and many of their nests procured, by Mr. Xantus, in the neighborhood of Ft. Tejon, California. Indeed, it is a very abundant species generally on the Pacific coast, and is found at least as far north as Puget Sound, during the summer. It arrives at San Diego, according to Dr. Cooper, about April 22, and remains there until October. A male bird, kept in a cage over winter, was found to retain its blue plumage. It is a favorite cage-bird in California, where it is absurdly known as the Indigo Bird. During the summer months, according to Dr. Cooper, there is hardly a grove in the more open portions of the State uninhabited by one or more pairs of this beautiful species. Although the female is very shy and difficult to obtain, except on the nest, the male is not timid, and frequently sings his lively notes from the top of some bush or tree, continuing musical in all weathers and throughout the summer. He describes its song as unvaried, as rather monotonous, and closely resembling that of _C. cyanea_.

Their nest, he adds, is usually built in a bush, not more than three or four feet from the ground, formed of fibrous roots, strips of bark, and grass, with a lining of vegetable down or hair, and securely bound to the surrounding branches. The eggs, five in number, he describes as white, faintly tinged with blue. At Santa Barbara he found them freshly laid May 6.

These birds are never gregarious, though the males come in considerable flocks in the spring, several days before the females. They travel at night, arriving at Santa Cruz about April 12. A nest found by Dr. Cooper, May 7, in a low bush close to a public road, was about three feet from the ground. It was very strongly built, supported by a triple fork of the branch, and was composed of blades of grass firmly interwoven, and lined with horsehair and cobwebs. It measured three inches in height and three and three fourths in width. The cavity was two inches deep and one and three fourths wide.

In Arizona Dr. Coues found this bird a summer resident, but not abundant.

At Puget Sound this bird arrives about May 15. Dr. Suckley states that in Oregon it was observed returning from the south, in large flocks, in one instance of several hundred individuals.

The eggs of the Lazuli, when fresh, are of a light blue, which on the least exposure soon fades into a bluish-white. They are almost exactly oval in shape, and measure .75 by .60 of an inch. One end is somewhat more rounded, but the difference is slight.

Cyanospiza versicolor, BAIRD.

VARIED BUNTING.

_Spiza versicolor_, BON. Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1837, 120.—IB. Conspectus
Av. 1850, 475.—CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 148. _Carduelis
luxuosus_, LESSON, Rev. Zoöl. 1839, 41. _Cyanospiza
versicolor_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 503, pl. lvi, f.
2.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 234.

SP. CHAR. Posterior half of hood, with throat, dark brownish-red; interscapular region similar, but darker. Forepart of hood, lesser wing-coverts, back of the neck, and rump, purplish-blue; the latter purest blue; the belly reddish-purple, in places tinged with blue, more obscure posteriorly. Feathers of wing and tail dark-brown, edged with dull bluish. Loral region and narrow frontal band black. Feathers on side of rump white at base. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.38.

_Female._ Yellowish-brown; paler beneath, and lightest behind. No white on wing. Tail with a bluish gloss.

HAB. Northern Mexico, and Cape St. Lucas. Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 365); Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 379); Orizaba (SCL. 1857, 214); (SUM. M. B. S. I, 551; breeding); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 17).

The bill is stouter and more swollen to the end, and the mandible is much more curved than that of _C. cyanea_; and its perfectly concave commissure, without any shallow lobe in the middle, and the much more arched ridge, would almost separate the two generically. The wing is shorter and more rounded, the fourth quill longest, then the third, second, and fifth. The first is only a little longer than the seventh. The tail is decidedly rounded; rather more so than in _C. cyanea_.

The female is very similar to those of _C. amœna_ and _cyanea_. The former has whitish bands on the wing; the latter differs in shape of bill, and has the first quill but little less than the second, or longest; not shorter than the sixth. In 34,033 ♂, Cape St. Lucas (June 26), the colors are much brighter than in any other of the collection. The whole occiput is bright scarlet, and the forehead nearly pure light blue, neither having scarcely a tinge of purple.

Autumnal and winter males have the bright tints very slightly obscured by grayish-brown tips to the feathers, especially on the back. The female in autumn is much more brown above and more rusty beneath than in spring.

HABITS. This beautiful species has only doubtful claims to a place in our fauna. It is a Mexican species, and may occasionally cross into our territory. It was met with at Boquillo, in the Mexican State of New Leon, by Lieutenant Couch. It was procured in Guatemala by Dr. Van Patten and by Salvin, and is given by Bonaparte as from Peru. It is also found at Cape St. Lucas, where it is not rare, and where it breeds.

This bird is also found at Orizaba, according to Sumichrast, but is quite rare in the State of Vera Cruz. Its common name is _Prusiano_. Its geographical distribution he was not able satisfactorily to ascertain.

Among the memoranda of Mr. Xantus made at Cape St. Lucas, we find the following in connection with this species: 517, nest and three eggs of _Cyanospiza versicolor_; obtained May 5 on a myrtle hanging down from very high perpendicular bluffs, off the Trajoles, at Cape St. Lucas. 1535, nest and eggs of the same found on a vine ten feet high.

Specimens of this species were taken by Mr. Boucard at Oaxaca, Mexico, during the winter months.

Cyanospiza ciris, BAIRD.

NONPAREIL; PAINTED BUNTING.

_Emberiza ciris_, LINN. Kong. Sv. Vet. Akad. Hand. 1750, 278; tab.
vii, f. 1.—IB. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 313.—WILSON, Am. Orn. III,
1811, 68, pl. xxiv, f. 1, 2. _Passerina ciris_, VIEILLOT, Gal.
Ois. I, 1824, 81, pl. lxvi. _Fringilla ciris_, AUD. Orn. Biog.
I, 1832, 279; V, 517, pl. liii. _Spiza ciris_, BON. List,
1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850, 476.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 108.—IB.
Birds Am. III, 1841, 93, pl. clxix. _Cyanospiza ciris_, BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 503.—IB. Mex. Bound. II, Birds, 17, pl.
xviii, f. 2.—HEERM. X, c, p. 14. _? Fringilla mariposa_,
SCOPOLI, Annals Hist. Nat. I, 1769, 151. _Painted Finch_,
CATESBY, PENNANT.

SP. CHAR. _Male._ Head and neck all round ultramarine-blue, excepting a narrow stripe from the chin to the breast, which, with the under parts generally, the eyelids, and the rump (which is tinged with purplish), are vermilion-red. Edges of chin, loral region, greater wing-coverts, inner tertiary, and interscapular region, green; the middle of the latter glossed with yellow. Tail-feathers, lesser wing-coverts, and outer webs of quills, purplish-blue. Length, about 5.50 inches; wing, 2.70.

_Female._ Clear dark green above; yellowish beneath. _Young_, like female.

HAB. South Atlantic and Gulf States to the Pecos River, Texas; south into Middle America to Panama; S. Illinois (RIDGWAY); Honduras (SCL. 1858, 358); Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 379); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 304); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 17); Honduras (SCL. II, 10); Cuba (CAB. J. IV, 8); Veragua (SALV. 1867, 142); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 102); Vera Cruz, winter (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552); Yucatan (LAWR. IX, 200).

Tail very slightly emarginated and rounded; second, third, and fourth quills equal; first rather shorter than the fifth.

The female is readily distinguishable from that of _C. cyanea_ by the green instead of dull brown of the back, and the yellow of the under parts.

Specimens of this species from all parts of its range appear to be quite identical.

HABITS. The Nonpareil or Painted Bunting of the Southern and Southeastern States has a somewhat restricted distribution, not being found any farther to the north on the Atlantic Coast than South Carolina and Georgia, and probably only in the more southern portions of those States. It has been traced as far to the west as Texas. It was also met with at Monterey, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch, and in winter by Mr. Boucard, at Plaza Vicente, Oaxaca.

Mr. Dresser found it very common both at Matamoras and at San Antonio, breeding in both places. Dr. Coues did not meet with it in Columbia, S. C., and considers it as confined to the low country, and as rare even there. It breeds about the city of Charleston, S. C., from which neighborhood I have received its eggs in considerable numbers, from Dr. Bachman. It is also found in the lower counties of Georgia, and breeds in the vicinity of Savannah. It was not met with by Dr. Gerhardt in the northern portion of that State. Dr. Woodhouse found it quite abundant in all parts of Texas, where he tells us the sweet warblings of this beautiful and active little Finch added much to the pleasures of his trip across the prairies. Its favorite places of resort appeared to be small thickets, and when singing it selected the highest branches of a bush.

In the Report on the birds of the Mexican Boundary Survey, Lieutenant Couch met with this species among the low hedges in the suburbs of Pesqueria Grande. Mr. J. H. Clark observed that the individuals of this species diminished as they proceeded westward. The male was almost always seen alone, flying a long distance for so small a bird. Their nests, he adds, were built of very fine grass, in low bushes, and resting in the crotch of the twigs. Males were never seen about the nest, but the females were so gentle as to allow themselves to be taken off the nest, which was deliberately done on more than one occasion.

Dr. Kennerly reports having often listened to the melodious warblings of this beautiful Finch in the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas, where he found it very abundant among the thick mesquite-bushes, in the month of July. It was deservedly a great favorite there, both on account of the beauty of its plumage and its notes.

Wilson found this bird one of the most numerous summer birds of Lower Louisiana, where it was universally known among the French inhabitants as _Le Pape_. Its gay dress and its docility of manners procured it many admirers. Wilson also states that he met with these birds in the low countries of all the Southern States, in the vicinity of the sea and along the borders of the large rivers, particularly among the rice plantations. He states that a few were seen near the coast in North Carolina, but they were more numerous in South Carolina, and still more so in Georgia, especially the lower parts. At Natchez, on the Mississippi, they were comparatively scarce, but below Baton Rouge, on the levee, they appeared in great numbers. Around New Orleans they were warbling from almost every fence. Their notes very much resemble those of the Indigo Bird, but lack their energy, and are more feeble and concise.

Wilson met with these birds very generally in the houses of the French inhabitants of New Orleans. In the aviary of a wealthy French planter near Bayou Fourche, he found two pairs of these birds so far reconciled to their confinement as to have nests and hatch out their eggs. Wilson was of the opinion that with the pains given to the Canary these birds would breed with equal facility. Six of them, caught only a few days before his departure, were taken with him by sea. They soon became reconciled to their cage, and sang with great sprightliness. They were very fond of flies, and watched with great eagerness as the passengers caught them for their benefit, assembling in the front of the cage and stretching their heads through the wires to receive them.

These birds, he states, arrive in Louisiana from the South about the middle of April, and build early in May. They reach Savannah about the 20th of April. Their nests are usually fixed in orange hedges or in the lower branches of the trees. He often found them in common bramble and blackberry bushes. They are formed exteriorly of dry grass intermingled with the silk of caterpillars, with hair and fine rootlets. Some nests had eggs as late as the 25th of June, which were probably a second brood. The food of this bird consists of rice, insects, and various kinds of seeds. They also feed on the seeds of ripe figs.

A single specimen of this species was detected by Mr. Ridgway in Southern Illinois between Olney and Mount Carmel, on the 10th of June. It is therefore presumed to be a rare summer resident in that locality.

The Nonpareil is possessed of a very pugnacious disposition, and, according to Mr. Audubon, the bird-dealers of New Orleans take advantage of this peculiarity in a very ingenious manner to trap them. A male bird is stuffed and set up in an attitude of defence on the platform of a trap-cage. The first male bird of this species that notices it is sure to make an attack upon it, and is at once trapped. So pertinacious are they that even when thus imprisoned the captive repeats its attack upon its supposed rival. They feed almost immediately upon being caught, and usually thrive in confinement, Audubon mentioning one that had been caged for ten years.

This bird is very easily made to breed in confinement. Dr. Bachman has had a single pair thus raise three broods in a season.

The eggs of this species measure .80 by .65 of an inch, and do not at all resemble the eggs of the _cyanea_ or _amœna_. They have a dull or pearly-white ground, and are very characteristically marked with blotches and dots of purplish and reddish brown.

GENUS SPERMOPHILA, SWAINSON.

_Spermophila_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, Nov. 1827, 348. (Type,
_Pyrrhula falcirostris_, TEMM. Sufficiently distinct from
_Spermophilus_, F. CUV. 1822.)
_Sporophila_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 148. (Type, _Fringilla
hypoleuca_, LICHT.)

[Line drawing: _Spermophila moreleti._
30524 ♂]