NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.

Subfamily PASSERELLINÆ.

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

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

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

[Pg 49] Genus PASSERELLA, Swainson.

Passerella, Swainson, Class. Birds, II, 1837, 288. (Type, Fringilla iliaca, Merrem.)

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

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

Species and Varieties.

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

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

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

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

2. P. townsendi.

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

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

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

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

No great violence would be done by considering all the above forms as races of one species, the characters separating iliaca from the rest being of [Pg 50] no great importance. However, in the large series examined, there is no specimen of iliaca at all aberrant, and none approach in the slightest degree to any of the other forms. There can be no doubt whatever of the specific identity of the three forms presented under section “B,” as is plainly shown by specimens of intermediate characters. These western forms are parallels of the western race of Melospiza; schistacea representing M. fallax, megarhynchus the M. heermanni, and townsendi the M. guttata or rufina.

Passerella iliaca, Swainson.

FOX-COLORED SPARROW.

Fringilla iliaca, Merrem. “Beitr. zur besond. Gesch. der Vögel, II, 1786-87, 40, pl. x.”—Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 923.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 58; V, 512, pl. cviii.—Ib. Syn. 1839.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 139, pl. clxxxvi. Passerella iliaca, Sw. Birds, II, 1837, 288.—Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 477.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 488.—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285.—Samuels, 325. Fringilla rufa, Wilson, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 53, pl. xxiv, f. 4.—Licht. Verz. 1823, No. 248. Fringilla ferruginea, Wilson, Catalogue, VI, 1812.—Hall’s ed. Wilson, II, 255. “Emberiza pratensis, Vieill.,” Gray.

Sp. Char. General aspect of upper parts foxy-red, the ground-color and the sides of neck being ashy; the interscapular feathers each with a large blotch of fox-red; this color glossing the top of head and nape; sometimes faintly, sometimes more distinctly; the rump unmarked; the upper coverts and surface of the tail continuous fox-red. Two narrow white bands on the wing. Beneath, with under tail-coverts and axillars, clear white, the sides of head and of throat, the jugulum, breast, and sides of body, conspicuously and sharply blotched with fox-red; more triangular across breast, more linear and darker on sides. Sometimes the entire head above is continuously reddish. First quill rather less than fifth. Hind toe about equal to its claw. Length, 7.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.90; tarsus, .87; middle toe, without claw, .67; hind claw, .35.

Hab. Eastern North America to the Mississippi, to the north along valley of the Mackenzie, almost or quite to the Arctic coast, and down the valley of the Yukon to the Pacific. Breeds throughout the interior of British America.

In summer, the ash is more predominant above; in winter, it is overlaid more or less by a wash of rufous, as described above.

The young plumage we have not seen. The P. obscura, Verrill,[9] may be referrible to it.

[Pg 51] Habits. The Fox-colored Sparrow, in its seasons of migrations, is a very common bird throughout the United States east of the Mississippi River. It has not been ascertained to breed in any part of the United States, though it may do so in Northeastern Maine. Mr. Boardman has not met with it near Calais, nor did I see nor could I hear of it in any part of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick that I visited. In passing north, these birds begin their northern movements in the middle of March, and from that time to the last of April they are gradually approaching their summer quarters. Their first appearance near Boston is about the 15th of March, and they linger in that vicinity, or successive parties appear, until about the 20th of April. The last comers are usually in song. On their return, the middle or last of October, they pass rapidly, and usually make no stay. In Southwestern Texas these birds were not observed by Mr. Dresser, nor in Arizona by Dr. Coues, but in the Indian Territory Dr. Woodhouse found them very abundant on the approach of winter. Dr. Coues speaks of them as common in South Carolina from November to April, but less numerous than most of the Sparrows.

In the vicinity of Washington this bird is found from October to April. I have met with small groups of them through all the winter months among the fallen leaves in retired corners of the Capitol grounds, where they were busily engaged, in the manner of a Pipilo, in scratching in the earth for their food. At those periods when the ground was open, their habits were eminently similar to those of the gallinaceous birds. In March and April they were in company with the White-throated Sparrows, but passed north at least a month earlier.

[Pg 52] During their stay in the United States these birds keep in small distinctive flocks, never mingling, though often in the same places, with other species. They are found in the edges of thickets and in moist woods. They are usually silent, and only occasionally utter a call-note, low and soft. In the spring the male becomes quite musical, and is one of our sweetest and most remarkable singers. His voice is loud, clear, and melodious; his notes full, rich, and varied; and his song is unequalled by any of this family that I have ever heard. They soon become reconciled to confinement and quite tame, and sing a good part of the year if care is taken in regard to their food. If allowed to eat to excess, they become very fat and heavy, and lose their song.

Dr. Coues did not meet with these birds in Labrador, but Mr. Audubon found them there and in Newfoundland in large numbers; and, according to the observations of Sir John Richardson, they breed in the wooded districts of the fur countries, up to the 68th parallel of latitude.

These birds were also found abundantly at Fort Simpson and Great Slave Lake by Mr. Robert Kennicott and Mr. B. R. Ross; at Fort Anderson, Anderson River, Swan River, and in various journeys, by Mr. R. MacFarlane; at Fort Resolution, Fort Good Hope, La Pierre House, and Fort Yukon, by Mr. Lockhart; at Peel’s River, by Mr. J. Flett; at St. Michael’s, by Mr. H. M. Bannister; and at Nulato, by Mr. W. H. Dall. They were observed at Fort Simpson as early as May 17, and by Mr. Kennicott as late as September 17. Mr. Dall states that at Nulato he found this Sparrow in abundance. It arrived there from the 10th to the 15th of May. It breeds there, and its eggs were obtained on the Yukon River. In the month of August in 1867 and of July in 1868 it was abundant at the mouth of the Yukon and at St. Michael’s. One was also shot at Unalaklik. The birds seemed to prefer thickets to the more open country. Mr. Bannister did not find it abundant. He shot only one specimen during the season, in an alder thicket near the fort; and Mr. Pease, who was familiar with the species, only saw a single individual.

According to the reports of both Mr. MacFarlane and Mr. Kennicott, the nest of this species was found both on the ground and in trees. In one instance it was in a tree about eight feet from the ground, and in its structure was said to be similar to the nests of Turdus aliciæ. They were nearly all found after the middle of June, a few as early as the 7th. One was found on the ground at the foot of a tuft of dwarf willows, which helped to conceal it from view. This was composed of coarse hay, lined with some of a finer quality, a few deer-hairs, and a small quantity of fresh and growing moss, intermingled together. In speaking of this nest Mr. MacFarlane states that all the nests of this Sparrow he had previously met with had been built in the midst of branches of pine or spruce trees, and had been similar to those of the T. aliciæ, which, in this instance, it did not resemble. He adds that this species, though not numerous, extended quite to the borders of the wooded country, to the north and northwest of [Pg 53] Fort Anderson. Afterwards he observed several other nests on the ground, all of which were similar to the last, and it is by no means impossible that in certain instances these birds may have occupied old nests of the T. aliciæ, and used them for purposes of incubation. Richardson states that its nests are constructed in a low bush, and are made of dry grass, hair, and feathers. He states that the eggs are five in number, of a pale mountain-green tint, and marbled with irregular spots of brown.

Mr. Audubon, who found several of the nests of this bird in Labrador, near the coast, describes them as large for the size of the bird, and as usually placed on the ground among moss or tall grass near the stem of a creeping fir, the branches of which usually conceal it from view. Its exterior is loosely formed of dry grasses and moss, with a carefully disposed inner layer of fine grasses, circularly arranged. The lining consists of very delicate fibrous roots, with feathers of different kinds of water-fowl. In one instance he noted the down of the eider-duck. He found their eggs from the middle of June to the 5th of July. When their nest was approached, the female affected lameness, and employed all the usual arts to decoy the intruder away. They raised but one brood in a season, and about the first of September left Labrador for the south in small flocks, made up of members of one family.

Their eggs measure from .92 to an inch in length, and .70 in breadth. They are oblong in shape. Their ground-color is a light bluish-white, thickly spotted with a rusty-brown, often so fully as to conceal the ground.

Passerella townsendi, Nuttall.

TOWNSEND’S SPARROW.

? Emberiza unalaschkensis, Gmel. II, 1788, 875 (based on Aonalaschka Bunting, Lath. II, 202, 48; Unalaschka B., Pennant, 52). Passerella u. Finsch, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 53 (Alaska). Fringilla townsendi, Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 236, pl. ccccxxiv, f. 7.—Ib. Syn. 1839.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 43, pl. clxxxvii. Fringilla (Passerella) townsendi, Nutt. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 533. Passerella townsendi, Bon. Conspectus, 1850, 477.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 489.—Cooper & Suckley, 204.—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285. Fringilla meruloides, Vig. Zoöl. Blossom (Monterey, Cal.), 1839, 19. ? Emberiza (Zonotrichia) rufina, Kittlitz, Denkw. 1858, 200. (He compares it with P. iliaca, but says it is darker. Sitka.)

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.

[Pg 54] Hab. Pacific coast of United States, as far south as Sacramento, and Fort Tejon? north to Kodiak (and Unalaschka?).

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.

[Pg 55] 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.

[Pg 56] Passerella townsendi, var. schistacea, Baird.

Passerella schistacea, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 490, pl. lxix, f. 3.

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 [Pg 57] 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. I, 222. Passerella schistacea, var. megarhynchus, Ridgway, Rept. Geol. Expl. 40th Par.

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.

[Pg 58] 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.

[Pg 59] 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.

[Pg 60] 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.)

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.

[Pg 61] 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 [Pg 62] 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 [Pg 63] 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 [Pg 64] 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.

[Pg 65] Genus EUSPIZA, Bonap.

Euspiza, Bonap. List, 1838. (Type, Emberiza americana, Gmelin.)

Euspina, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. (Same type.)

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.

[Pg 66] 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.

[Pg 67] 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 [Pg 68] 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 [Pg 69] 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.)

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.

[Pg 70] 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.

[Pg 71] 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.

[Pg 72] 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.

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 [Pg 73] 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. Br. 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. I, 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.

[Pg 74] 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 [Pg 75] 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.

[Pg 76] 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 [Pg 77] 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).

[Pg 78] 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 [Pg 79] 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 [Pg 80] 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.

[Pg 81] 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.)

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 [Pg 82] 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.

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, [Pg 83] 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 [Pg 84] 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 [Pg 85] 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 [Pg 86] 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, [Pg 87] 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 [Pg 88] 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 [Pg 89] 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 [Pg 90] 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.)

Gen. Char. Bill very short and very much curved, as in Pyrrhula, almost as deep as long; the commissure concave, abruptly bent towards the end. Tarsus about equal to middle toe; inner toe rather the longer (?), reaching about to the base of the middle one; hind toe to the middle of this claw. Wings short, reaching over the posterior third of the exposed part of the tail; the tertiaries gradually longer than the secondaries, neither much shorter than the primaries, which are graduated, and but little different in length, the first shorter than the sixth, the second and fourth equal. The tail is about as long as the wings, rounded, all the feathers slightly graduated, rather sharply acuminate and decidedly mucronate. Smallest of American passerine birds.

The essential characters of this genus are the small, very convex bill, as high as long; the short broad wings, with the quills differing little in length, the outer ones graduated; the tail as long as the wings, widened towards the end, and slightly graduated, with the acuminate and mucronate tip to the feathers.

Many species of the genus occur in Middle and South America, although none not readily distinguishable from the single North American one.

[Pg 91] Spermophila moreleti, Pucheran.

LITTLE SEED-EATER.

Spermophila moreleti, (Pucheran,) Bonap. Conspectus, 1850, 497.—Sclater, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1856, 302.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 506, pl. liv, f. 2, 3.—Ib. Mex. Bound. II, Birds, 17, pl. xvi, f. 2, 3. Sporophila moreleti, Cab. Mus. Hein. 1851, 150.—Ib. Journ. für. Orn. IX, 1861, 4 (with synonomy). Spermophila albigularis, (Spix,) Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyceum, V, Sept. 1851, 124 (Texas. Not of Spix).

Sp. Char. The top and sides of the head, back of the neck, a broad band across the upper part of the breast extending all round, the middle of the back, the wings and tail, with the posterior upper coverts, black. The chin, upper throat and neck all round, but interrupted behind, the rump, with the remaining under and lateral portions of the body, white; the latter tinged with brownish-yellow. Two bands on the wing, across the greater and middle coverts, with the concealed bases of all the quills, also white. Length, about 4 inches; wing, 2.05; tail, 1.90.

Female. Dull yellow; olivaceous above, brownish-yellow beneath. Wings and tail somewhat as in the male.

Hab. Rio Grande of Texas; south to Costa Rica. Xalapa (Scl. 1859, 365); Oaxaca (Scl. 1859, 378); Cordova (Scl. 1856, 302); Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 17; Salv. Ibis, I, 468; nest); Costa Rica (Cab. J. 1861, 4); Vera Cruz, winter, alpine region, breeding (Sum. M. B. S. I, 551).

The specimen upon which the preceding description of the male has been based is the only one in full plumage we have seen, and was kindly lent by Mr. P. L. Sclater. It was collected in Honduras. Some of the feathers of the back have grayish tips. The specimen described by Mr. Lawrence as S. albigularis, though male, is, in most respects, like the female, except that the wings and tail are darker, the color of the upper part grayer, and the interscapular feathers blotched with black. The black of the head is strongly indicated, the feathers, however, all with gray margins. In this and another, a little further advanced, from San Diego, Mexico, (4096,) there is a very faint indication of the black pectoral band, and there is no trace of the whitish of the rump.

Habits. This pretty little tropical form of Sparrow can only rest a claim to be included in our fauna by its occasional presence on the Rio Grande in Texas. It is found throughout Mexico and Central America.

Mr. Sumichrast found it throughout the State of Vera Cruz, except only in the elevated or alpine regions. Its common name was Frailecito. It was abundant throughout the hot and the temperate regions as well as the plateau.

This species was first met with near the Lake of Peten, in Guatemala, by [Pg 92] M. Morelet, and was described from his specimens in the Paris Museum by Prince Bonaparte. Mr. Salvin found it a not uncommon species about Dueñas, where it is generally to be found amongst the tall weeds on the edge of the lake. It was also found at Belize. From a letter of Mr. Salvin, published in the Ibis of 1859 (p. 468), we quote the following in reference to the nest of this species, which is all the information we have in relation to this diminutive Sparrow: “A day or two ago I found two nests of Spermophila moreleti, and took one rotten dried-up egg from one with a young one in it. Nothing could be more different than this nest and that of S. bicolor, so well described by Mr. Newton. That of S. moreleti, instead of the loose domed structure of S. bicolor, with a large side-entrance, composed entirely of one material, is one of the neatest nests you ever saw,—a beautiful, open, transparent nest, composed of fine roots and fibres, and lined with horsehair. It is not placed resting on a branch, but is suspended like a Reed Warbler’s (Salicaria arundinacea), by several small twigs. The eggs, too, differ materially.” Mr. Salvin gives no description of these eggs.

This bird was found a resident during the winter months, and in May also, at Plaza Vicente, in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. This is in the low or hot lands of that region.

Genus PHONIPARA, Bonap.

Phonipara, Bonaparte, 1850. (Type, Loxia canora, Gm.)

Gen. Char. Size very small. Wing considerably longer than the tail, but much rounded; third or fourth quill longest; first about equal to seventh. Tail very slightly rounded, the feathers broad. Bill very short and deep, but the depth through the base less than the culmen; culmen but slightly, or not appreciably, curved; bill much compressed. Feet stout; tarsi longer than the middle toe; outer toe longer than the inner, its claw just reaching the base of the middle claw; hind toe with the claw very large, and strongly curved. Among the least of American Fringillidæ.

The introduction of this genus into the North American fauna is the result of Mr. Maynard’s indefatigable labors in the exploration of Florida. The species are principally West Indian, a single race alone belonging to the continental portion of Middle America.

Species and Varieties.

Common Characters. Sexes very different. Above olive-green, beneath blackish or whitish. ♂. Head and breast black, the former with or without yellow patches. ♀ with the yellow and black indicated only, or wanting. Length, about 4.00.

[Pg 93] A. Head without any yellow.

1. P. zena. Culmen decidedly curved. Above dull grayish olive-green. ♂. Head and lower parts, especially anteriorly, dull black, mixed with whitish posteriorly. ♀. Head and beneath ashy. Wing, about 2.00; tail, 1.75. Hab. West Indies (Cuba, Hayti, Porto Rico, St. Bartholomew, Jamaica, etc.); also Key West, Florida (Maynard).

B. Head with yellow patches.

2. P. pusilla. Culmen perfectly straight. Above rather bright olive-green. ♂, a supraloral stripe, a patch on chin, and upper part of throat, with edge of wing, bright yellow; forehead, lores, and jugulum black. ♀ with the black and yellow only indicated, or wanting.

Whole crown, cheeks, breast, and upper part of abdomen black. Hab. Middle America, from Mirador to Panama, and southward … var. pusilla.[12]

Only isolated spots, covering forehead, lore, and base of lower jaw, and patch on jugulum, black. Hab. West Indies. (Porto Rico, Hayti, Jamaica, Cuba, etc.) … var. olivacea.[13]

3. P. canora.[14] Culmen decidedly curved. Above bright olive-green; beneath pale ashy, whitish on anal region. A bright yellow broad crescent across the lower part of the throat, curving upward and forward, behind and over the auriculars, to above the eye. ♂. Lores, auriculars, and chin, and a band across the jugulum, black. ♀. Chin, etc., chestnut-brown; no black on jugulum. Hab. Cuba.

Phonipara zena, Bryant.

THE BLACK-FACED FINCH.

Fringilla zena, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, (ed. 10,) 1758, 183 (based on Passer bicolor bahamensis, Catesby, Carol. I, tab. 37, Bahamas).—Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. X, 1865, 254. Fringilla bicolor, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, (ed. 12,) 1766, 324 (same original as zena). Spermophila bicolor, Gosse (Jamaica). Phonipara bicolor, Newton (St. Croix). ? Tiaris omissa, Jardine, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1847, 332 (Tobago). Phonipara omissa, Sclater. Phonipara marchi, Baird, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. Nov. 1863, 297 (Jamaica). Fringilla zena, var. marchi, Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 43. Fringilla (Phonipara) zena, var. portoricensis, Bryant, Pr. Bost. Soc. X, 1865, 254 (Porto Rico).

Sp. Char. Male adult (627, Bryant coll.; Inagua). Above dull olive-green, the head and lower parts black, the two colors blending insensibly into each other; feathers of the middle of the abdomen and crissum edged with whitish. Wing, 2.10; tail, 1.80, culmen, .35; tarsus, .63; middle toe, .50.

Female adult (983, Bryant coll.; Inagua). Above dull olive-green, beneath ashy, whitish on the abdomen and crissum; no black. Wing, 2.10.

Male juv. (981, Bryant coll.; Inagua). Like the adult female, but the head anteriorly, the chin, throat, and jugulum medially, black. Wing, 2.05.

Hab. West Indies (Bahamas; Jamaica, Porto Rico; St. Croix, Tobago?).

[Pg 94] Quite a large series of this species from the various West Indian Islands show a considerable variation in the amount of black in male birds; nothing characteristic of the different islands, however, for, in specimens from each, individuals are to be found agreeing in every respect with the stages described above.

Habits. The Black-faced Finch of Jamaica and other West India Islands claims a place in the fauna of the United States as an occasional visitant of Florida; of how common occurrence on that peninsula we cannot determine. It was taken there in the spring of 1871 by Mr. Maynard, and is possibly an accidental rather than a regular visitant. It is found in many of the West India Islands, though being resident in their several places of abode, they naturally exhibit certain characteristics as of distinct races. The eggs of the St. Croix bird differ considerably from those of the Jamaica one.

The Messrs. Newton, in their account of the birds of St. Croix, mention this bird as having a Bunting-like song, heard always very early in the morning. It is said to frequent the curing-houses, hopping on the uncovered sugar-hogsheads, and making a plentiful meal therefrom. It is very sociable, and feeds in small flocks, mostly on the ground among the guinea-grass. The crops of those dissected were usually found to contain small seeds. They build domed nests in low bushes, thickets of bamboo, or among creepers against the side of a house, seldom more than four feet from the ground, composed entirely of dry grass, the interior being lined with finer materials of the same. The opening is on one side, and is large for the size of the nest. They breed from the middle of May to the end of July. The eggs are white, spotted with red, especially at the larger end. The usual number of eggs is three, very rarely four. Their measurement is .65 by .50 of an inch.

In Jamaica Mr. March speaks of it as the most common of the Grass Finches, of which there are three other species, and as nesting at all seasons of the year in low trees and bushes. Near homesteads, in building their domed nests, they make use of shreds, scraps of cloth, bits of cotton, and other trash. Their eggs, he says, are three and sometimes even six in number; and he mentions their varying both as to dimensions and coloring, which may explain the difference between the eggs from St. Croix and Jamaica. Those from the latter place measure .72 by .50 of an inch, and the markings are more of a brown than a red color.

Mr. Hill adds that the Grass Finch very frequently selects a shrub on which the wasps have built, fixing the entrance close to their cells.

Mr. Gosse states that the only note of this species is a single harsh guttural squeak, difficult either to imitate or to describe.

[Pg 95] Genus PYRRHULOXIA, Bonap.

Pyrrhuloxia, Bonaparte, Conspectus, 1850, 500. (Type, Cardinalis sinuatus, Bon.)

Gen. Char. The bill is very short and much curved, the culmen forming an arc of a circle of 60 degrees or more, and ending at a right angle with the straight gonys; the commissure abruptly much angulated anterior to the nostrils in its middle point; the lower jaw very much wider than the upper, and wider than the gonys is long; anterior portion of commissure straight. Tarsus longer than middle toe; outer lateral toes longer, not reaching the base of the middle; wing considerably rounded, first quill longer than secondaries. Tail much longer than the wing, graduated; the feathers broad, truncate. Head crested.

Color. Gray, with red feathers and patches.

The essential character of this genus lies in the greatly curved, very short, and broad bill, something like that of Pyrrhula. In other respects like Cardinalis, but with less graduated wing, and longer and broader tail.

Pyrrhuloxia sinuata, Bonap.

TEXAS CARDINAL.

Cardinalis sinuatus, Bp. Pr. Zoöl. Soc. Lond. V, 1837, 111 (Mexico).—Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1851, 116.—Cassin, Illust. I, VII, 1854, 204, pl. xxxiii. Pyrrhuloxia sinuata, Bon. Consp. 1850, 500.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 508.—Heerm. X, c. 16.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 236.

Sp. Char. Head with an elongated, pointed crest, springing from the crown. Upper parts generally pale ashy-brown; hood, sides of neck, and under parts of body, rather paler. Long crest-feathers, bill all round including lores and encircling the eye, wing and tail, dark crimson. Chin and upper part of throat, breast, and median line of the belly, under tail-coverts, tibia, edge and inner coverts of the wings, bright carmine-red. Bill yellowish. Length, about 8.50; wing, 3.75; tail, 4.50.

[Pg 96] Female similar, with the under part brownish-yellow; middle of belly and throat only tinged with red.

Hab. Valley of the Rio Grande of Texas and westward; Cape St. Lucas; Mazatlan, Mexico.

The wing is considerably rounded, the fourth and fifth quills longest; the first as long as the secondaries, the second longer than the seventh. The tail is long, graduated on the sides, the outer about half an inch shorter than the middle. The feathers are very broad to the end and obliquely truncate. They are rather broader than in Cardinalis virginianus. The crest is narrower and longer, and confined to the middle of the crown; it extends back about 1.80 inches from the base of the bill.

The carmine of the breast is somewhat hidden by grayish tips to the feathers; that of the throat is streaked a little with darker. The exposed surfaces of the wing-coverts and of secondaries and tertials are like the back. The tail-feathers are tipped with brownish.

Specimens from Cape St. Lucas are very much smaller than any others, measuring only, wing, 3.30; tail, 3.80. The crest is dull carmine, instead of dark wine-purple; the red tinge on wing and tail much fainter, and the sides, as well as the gray tints everywhere, more brownish; there is none of that dark burnt-carmine tint to the red of lores and cheeks observable in all the Texas specimens. No. 49,758, Camp Grant, Arizona, is like the Cape St. Lucas birds in colors, except that the crest is dusky, but the proportions are those of the Rio Grande series.

Habits. The Texan Cardinal was originally described as a bird of Mexico by Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte in the Proceedings of the Zoölogical Society of London. It has since been ascertained to inhabit the southern central portions of our country, its range of extension northerly bringing it within the limits of the United States. In Texas, on the Rio Grande, it is resident throughout the year, or of but limited migration in the coldest weather. It was not observed by Dr. Coues in Arizona, but is said to occur in the southern portion of that Territory. It was found breeding at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. Xantus. It is not named by Sumichrast among the birds of Vera Cruz.

Its habits are said to be of the same general character with those of our common Cardinal.

The specimens from which this bird was first described were procured in the vicinity of the city of Mexico. The first obtained within the limits of [Pg 97] the United States were observed by Captain McCown of the U. S. Army, at Ringgold Barracks, in Texas. Since then it has been procured by several of the naturalists accompanying the government expeditions. It was obtained in New Leon, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch; in Texas, by Major Emory; in Texas and at El Paso, by Lieutenant Parke.

When first seen, in March, in the State of Tamaulipas, by Lieutenant Couch, it was in flocks, very shy and difficult of approach. It did not occur much in open fields, but seemed to prefer the vicinity of fences and bushes. It was often seen in company with the common Cardinal.

Dr. Kennerly found this bird quite abundant in the vicinity of El Paso, but did not observe it elsewhere. It kept generally in flocks of from three to six, frequenting the hedges and fruit-trees in the vicinity of houses. It became very restless when approached, flying from branch to branch and from tree to tree, uttering its peculiar note with great vehemence.

Dr. Heermann met with the first specimen of this bird in a dry cañon, a little to the east of the crossing of San Pedro River. It was perched on a bush, seemed wearied and lost, and was probably a wanderer. No more were seen until he reached El Paso. There he found it everywhere among the hedges and trees, and continued to meet with it occasionally on his road, until his party left civilization behind. It erects its crest as it moves actively about in search of food, and utters at intervals a clear, plaintive whistle, varied by a few detached notes.

Mr. Dresser considers this species rather a straggler from Mexico than as a Texan bird. Near Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras he found it abundant, but it became scarce as soon as he travelled a few miles into Texas. He saw none north or east of the Leona. He was told that quantities breed near Eagle Pass, and he saw not a few in cages that had been reared from the nest. He found it a shy bird, and difficult to shoot. When followed, it flies about uneasily, perching on the top of some high bush, and erecting its long crest, uttering a clear, plaintive whistle. Sometimes it would take to the thick brushwood and creep through the bushes so that it was impossible to get a shot at it. On the Lower Rio Grande it was of uncommon occurrence. He noticed a single pair near Matamoras in August, 1864.

Captain McCown, in his account of this species, published by Cassin, writes that, so far as seen on the Rio Grande, this handsome species appeared to have a strong partiality for damp and bushy woods. So far as he observed, it never ventured far from the river. He was under the impression that this bird remains in Texas all the year, having met with it so late in the fall and again so early in the spring, that, if not constantly resident, its migrations must be very limited. He describes it as a gay, sprightly bird, generally seen in company with others of the same species, frequently erecting its crest and calling to its mate or comrades. It is rather shy, and not easily approached. In its voice and general habits it appeared to him very similar to the common species.

[Pg 98] The eggs of this species are of an oval shape, one end being only a little less rounded than the other. Their average measurement is one inch in length by .80 in breadth. Their ground-color is a dull chalky-white, over which are distributed well-defined blotches of a light umber-brown, and also a number of indistinct markings of purple. The spots are pretty uniform in these colors, but vary greatly in size and distribution. In some eggs they largely consist of fine dots, in others they are in bold blotches. In some the brown is more confluent and the effect that of a deeper shade.

Genus CARDINALIS, Bonap.

Cardinalis, Bonaparte, Saggio di una distribuzione metod. dei Animagli Vertebrati, 1831 (Agassiz). (Type, Loxia cardinalis, Linn.)

Gen. Char. Bill enormously large; culmen very slightly curved, commissure sinuated; lower jaw broader than the length of the gonys, considerably wider than the upper jaw, about as deep as the latter. Tarsi longer than middle toe; outer toe rather the longer, reaching a little beyond the base of the middle one; hind toe not so long. Wings moderate, reaching over the basal third of the exposed part of the tail. Four outer quills graduated; the first equal to the secondaries. Tail long, decidedly longer than the wings, considerably graduated; feathers broad, truncated a little obliquely at the end, the corners rounded. Colors red. Head crested.

The essential characters of this genus are the crested head; very large and thick bill extending far back on the forehead, and only moderately curved above; tarsus longer than middle toe; much graduated wings, the first primary equal to the secondary quills; the long tail exceeding the wings, broad and much graduated at the end.

Of this genus, only two species are known, one of them being exclusively South American, the other belonging to North America, but in different regions modified into representative races. They may be defined as follows.

[Pg 99] Species and Varieties.

Common Characters. Male. Bright vermilion-red, more dusky purplish on upper surface; feathers adjoining base of bill black for greater or less extent. Female. Above olivaceous, the wings, tail, and crest reddish; beneath olivaceous-whitish, slightly tinged on jugulum with red.

C. virginianus. Culmen nearly straight; commissure with a slight lobe; upper mandible as deep as the lower, perfectly smooth. Bill red. Black patch covering whole throat, its posterior outline convex. Female. Lining of wing deep vermilion. Olivaceous-gray above, the wings and tail strongly tinged with red; crest only dull red, without darker shaft-streaks. Beneath wholly light ochraceous. No black around bill.

A. Crest-feathers soft, blended. Rump not lighter red than back.

a. Black of the lores passing broadly across forehead. Crest brownish-red. Bill moderate.

Culmen, .75; gonys, .41; depth of bill, .54. Feathers of dorsal region broadly margined with grayish. Wing, 4.05; tail, 4.50; crest, 1.80. Hab. Eastern Province of United States, south of 40°. Bermudas … var. virginianus.

b. Black of the lores not meeting across forehead; crest pure vermilion. Bill robust.

Culmen, .84; gonys, .47; depth of bill, .70. Feathers of dorsal region without grayish borders; red beneath more intense; wing, 3.60; tail, 4.20; crest, 2.00. Hab. Eastern Mexico (Mirador; Yucatan; “Honduras”) … var. coccineus.[15]

Culmen, .82; gonys, .47; depth of bill, .65. Feathers of dorsal region with distinct gray borders; red beneath lighter. Wing, 4.00; tail, 5.00; crest, 2.00. Hab. Cape St. Lucas, and Arizona; Tres Marias Islands. (Perhaps all of Western Mexico, north of the Rio Grande de Santiago.) … var. igneus.

B. Crest-feathers stiff, compact. Rump decidedly lighter red than the back.

Culmen, .75; gonys, .41; depth of bill, .57. Dorsal feathers without grayish margins; red as in the last. Wing, 3.40; tail, 3.80; crest, 2.00. Hab. Western Mexico; Colima. “Acapulco et Realejo.” … var. carneus.[16]

C. phœniceus.[17] Culmen much arched; commissure arched; upper mandible not as deep as lower, and with grooves forward from the nostril, parallel with the curve of the culmen. Bill whitish-brown. Black patch restricted to the chin, its posterior outline deeply concave.

[Pg 100] Crest-feathers stiff and compact. No black above, or on lores; crest pure vermilion; rump light vermilion, much lighter than the back, which is without gray edges to feathers. Culmen, .75; gonys, .39; height of bill, .67; wing, 3.50; tail, 3.90; crest, 2.20. Female. Lining of wing buff; above ashy-olivaceous, becoming pure ash on head and neck, except their under side. Crest-feathers vermilion with black shafts; no red tinge on wings, and only a slight tinge of it on tail. Forepart of cheeks and middle of throat white; rest of lower part deep ochraceous. Black around bill as in the male. Hab. Northern South America; Venezuela; New Granada.

Cardinalis virginianus, Bonap.

REDBIRD; CARDINAL GROSBEAK.

Coccothraustes virginiana, Brisson, Orn. III, 1760, 253. Loxia cardinalis, Linn. Syst. I, 1766, 300.—Wilson, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 38, pl. vi, f. 1, 2. Coccothraustes cardinalis, Vieill. Dict. Fringilla (Coccothraustes) cardinalis, Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 79. Fringilla cardinalis, Nutt. Man. I, 1832, 519.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 336; V, 514, pl. clix. Pitylus cardinalis, Aud. Syn. 1839, 131.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 198, pl. cciii. Cardinalis virginianus, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Consp. 1850, 501.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 509.—Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 268. Grosbec de Virginie, Buff. Pl. enl. 37.

Sp. Char. A flattened crest of feathers on the crown. Bill red. Body generally bright vermilion-red, darker on the back, rump, and tail. The feathers of the back and rump bordered with brownish-gray. Narrow band around the base of the bill, extending to eyes, with chin and upper part of the throat black.

Female of a duller red, and this only on the wings, tail, and elongated feathers of the crown. Above light olive; tinged with yellowish on the head; beneath brownish-yellow, darkest on the sides and across the breast. Black about the head only faintly indicated. Length, 8.50; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.50; culmen, .75; depth of bill, .58; breadth of upper mandible, .35. (28,286 ♂, Mount Carmel, Southern Illinois.)

Hab. More southern portions of United States to the Missouri. Probably along valley of Rio Grande to Rocky Mountains.

The bill of this species is very large, and shaped much as in Hedymeles ludovicianus. The central feathers of the crest of the crown are longer than the lateral; they spring from about the middle of the crown, and extend back about an inch and a half from the base of the bill. The wings are much rounded, the fourth longest, the second equal to the seventh, the first as long as the secondaries. The tail is long, truncate at the end, but graduated on the sides; the feathers are broad to the end, truncated obliquely at the end.

[Pg 101] Most North American specimens we have seen have the feathers of the back edged with ashy; the more northern the less brightly colored, and larger. Mexican skins (var. coccineus) are deeper colored and without the olivaceous. In all specimens from eastern North America the frontal black is very distinct.

Specimens from the Eastern Province of United States, including Florida and the Bermudas, are all alike in possessing those features distinguishing the restricted var. virginianus from the races of Mexico, namely, the wide black frontal band, and distinct gray edges to dorsal feathers, with small bill. Specimens from Florida are scarcely smaller, and are not more deeply colored than some examples from Southern Illinois. Rio Grande skins, however, are slightly less in size, though identical in other respects.

Habits. The Cardinal Grosbeak, the Redbird of the Southern States, is one of our few birds that present the double attraction of a brilliant and showy plumage with more than usual powers of song. In New England and the more northern States it is chiefly known by its reputation as a cage-bird, both its bright plumage and its sweet song giving it a high value. It is a very rare and only an accidental visitor of Massachusetts, though a pair was once known to spend the summer and to rear its brood in the Botanical Gardens of Harvard College in Cambridge. It is by no means a common bird even in Pennsylvania. In all the Southern States, from Virginia to Mexico, it is a well-known favorite, frequenting gardens and plantations, and even breeding within the limits of the larger towns and cities. A single specimen of this bird was obtained near Dueñas, Guatemala, by Mr. Salvin.

The song of this Grosbeak is diversified, pleasant, and mellow, delivered with energy and ease, and renewed incessantly until its frequent repetitions somewhat diminish its charms. Its peculiar whistle is not only loud and clear, resembling the finest notes of the flageolet, but is so sweet and so varied that by some writers it has been considered equal even to the notes of the far-famed Nightingale of Europe. It is, however, very far from being among our best singers; yet, as it is known to remain in full song more than two thirds of the year, and while thus musical to be constant and liberal in the utterance of its sweet notes, it is entitled to a conspicuous place among our singing birds.

In its cage life the Cardinal soon becomes contented and tame, and will live many years in confinement. Wilson mentions one instance in which a Redbird was kept twenty-one years. They sing nearly throughout the year, or from January to October. In the extreme Southern States they are more or less resident, and some may be found all the year round. There is another remarkable peculiarity in this species, and one very rarely to be met with among birds, which is that the female Cardinal Grosbeak is an excellent singer, and her notes are very nearly as sweet and as good as those of her mate.

[Pg 102] This species has been traced as far to the west in its distribution as the base of the Rocky Mountains, and into Mexico at the southwest. In Mexico it is also replaced by a very closely allied variety, and at Cape St. Lucas by still another. It is given by Mr. Lawrence among the birds occurring near New York City. He has occasionally met with it in New Jersey and at Staten Island, and, in one instance, on New York Island, when his attention was attracted to it by the loudness of its song.

It is given by Mr. Dresser as common throughout the whole of Texas during the summer, and almost throughout the year, excepting only where the P. sinuata is found. At Matamoras it was very common, and may be seen caged in almost every Mexican hut. He found it breeding in great abundance about San Antonio in April and May.

Mr. Cassin states that the Cardinal Bird is also known by the name of Virginia Nightingale. He adds that it inhabits, for the greater part, low and damp woods in which there is a profuse undergrowth of bushes, and is particularly partial to the vicinity of watercourses. The male bird is rather shy and careful of exposing himself.

Wilson mentions that in the lower parts of the Southern States, in the neighborhood of settlements, he found them more numerous than elsewhere. Their clear and lively notes, even in the months of January and February, were, at that season, almost the only music. Along the roadsides and fences he found them hovering in small groups, associated with Snowbirds and various kinds of Sparrows. Even in Pennsylvania they frequent the borders of creeks and rivulets during the whole year, in sheltered hollows, covered with holly, laurel, and other evergreens. They are very fond of Indian corn, a grain that is their favorite food. They are also said to feed on various kinds of fruit.

The males of this species, during the breeding season, are described as very pugnacious, and when confined together in the same cage they fight violently. The male bird has even been known to destroy its mate. In Florida Mr. Audubon found these birds mated by the 8th of February. The nest is built in bushes, among briers, or in low trees, and in various situations, the middle of a field, near a fence, or in the interior of a thicket, and usually not far from running water. It has even been placed in the garden close to the planter’s house. It is loosely built of dry leaves and twigs, with a large proportion of dry grasses and strips of the bark of grapevines. Within, it is finished and lined with finer stems of grasses wrought into a circular form. There are usually two, and in the more Southern States three, broods in a season.

Mr. Audubon adds that they are easily raised from the nest, and have been known to breed in confinement.

The eggs of this species are of an oblong-oval shape, with but little difference at either end. Their ground-color appears to be white, but is generally so thickly marked with spots of ashy-brown and faint lavender tints as to [Pg 103] permit but little of its ground to be seen. The eggs vary greatly in size, ranging from 1.10 inches to .98 of an inch in length, and from .80 to .78 in breadth.

Cardinalis virginianus, var. igneus, Baird.

CAPE CARDINAL.

Cardinalis igneus, Baird, Pr. Ac. Sc. Phila. 1859, 305 (Cape St. Lucas).—Elliot, Illust. N. Am. Birds, I, xvi.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 238. Cardinalis virginianus, Finsch, Abh. Nat. Brem. 1870, 339.

Sp. Char. Resembling virginianus, having, like it, the distinct grayish edges to feathers of the dorsal region. Red lighter, however, and the top of head, including crest, nearly pure vermilion, instead of brownish-red. Black of the lores not passing across the forehead, reaching only to the nostril. Wing, 4.00; tail, 5.00; culmen, .83; depth of bill, .66; breadth of upper mandible, .38. (No. 49,757 ♂, Camp Grant, 60 miles east of Tucson, Arizona).

Female distinguishable from that of virginianus only by more swollen bill, and more restricted dusky around base of bill. Young: bill deep black.

Hab. Cape St. Lucas; Camp Grant, Arizona; Tres Marias Islands (off coast of Mexico, latitude between 21° and 22° north). Probably Western Mexico, from Sonora south to latitude of about 20°.

In the features pointed out above, all specimens from Arizona and Tres Marias, and of an exceedingly large series collected at Cape St. Lucas, differ from those of other regions.

No specimens are in the collection from Western Mexico as far south as Colima, but birds from this region will, without doubt, be found referrible to the present race.

Habits. There appears to be nothing in the habits of this form of Cardinal, as far as known, to distinguish it from the Virginia bird; the nest and eggs, too, being almost identical. The latter average about one inch in length, and .80 in breadth. Their ground-color is white, with a bluish tint. Their markings are larger, and more of a rusty than an ashy brown, and the purple spots are fewer and less marked than in C. virginianus.

The memoranda of Mr. John Xantus show that in one instance a nest of this bird, containing two eggs, was found in a mimosa bush four feet from the ground; another nest, with one egg, in a like situation; a third, containing three eggs, was about three feet from the ground; a fourth, with two eggs, was also found in a mimosa, but only a few inches above the ground.

[Pg 104] Genus PIPILO, Vieillot.

Pipilo, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816 (Agassiz). (Type, Fringilla erythrophthalma, Linn.)

Gen. Char. Bill rather stout; the culmen gently curved, the gonys nearly straight; the commissure gently concave, with a decided notch near the end; the lower jaw not so deep as the upper; not as wide as the gonys is long, but wider than the base of the upper mandible. Feet large, the tarsus as long as or a little longer than the middle toe; the outer lateral toe a little the longer, and reaching a little beyond the base of the middle claw. The hind claw about equal to its toe; the two together about equal to the outer toe. Claws all stout, compressed, and moderately curved; in some western specimens the claws much larger. Wings reaching about to the end of the upper tail-coverts; short and rounded, though the primaries are considerably longer than the nearly equal secondaries and tertials; the outer four quills are graduated, the first considerably shorter than the second, and about as long as the secondaries. Tail considerably longer than the wings, moderately graduated externally; the feathers rather broad, most rounded off on the inner webs at the end.

The colors vary; the upper parts are generally uniform black or brown, sometimes olive; the under white or brown; no central streaks on the feathers. The hood sometimes differently colored.

In the large number of species or races included in this genus by authors, there are certain differences of form, such as varying graduation of tail, length of claw, etc., but scarcely sufficient to warrant its further subdivision. In coloration, however, we find several different styles, which furnish a convenient method of arrangement into groups.

[Pg 105] Few genera in birds exhibit such constancy in trifling variations of form and color, and as these are closely connected with geographical distribution, it seems reasonable to reduce many of the so-called species to a lower rank. In the following synopsis, we arrange the whole of North American and Mexican Pipilos into four sections, with their more positive species, and in the subsequent discussion of the sections separately we shall give what appear to be the varieties.

Species.

A. Sides and lower tail-coverts rufous, in sharp contrast with the clear white of the abdomen. Tail-feathers with whitish patch on end of inner webs.

a. Head and neck black, sharply defined against the white of breast. Rump olive or blackish.

Black or dusky olive above.

1. P. maculatus. White spots on tips of both rows of wing-coverts, and on scapulars. No white patch on base of primaries. Hab. Mexico, and United States west of the Missouri. (Five races.)

2. P. erythrophthalmus. No white spots on wing-coverts, nor on scapulars. A white patch on base of primaries. Hab. Eastern Province of United States. (Two races.)

Bright olive-green above.

3. P. macronyx.[18] Scapulars and wing-coverts (both rows) with distinct greenish-white spots on tips of outer webs.

4. P. chlorosoma.[19] Scapulars and wing-coverts without trace of white spots. Hab. Table-lands of Mexico. (Perhaps these are two races of one species, macronyx.)

[Pg 106] b. Head and neck ashy, paler on jugulum, where the color fades gradually into the white of breast. Rump and upper tail-coverts bright rufous.

5. P. superciliosa.[20] An obsolete whitish superciliary stripe. Greater wing-coverts obsoletely whitish at tips; no other white markings on upper parts, and the tail-patches indistinct. Hab. Brazil. (Perhaps not genuine Pipilo.)

B. Sides ashy or tinged with ochraceous; lower tail-coverts ochraceous, not sharply contrasted with white on the abdomen, or else the abdomen concolor with the side. Head never black, and upper parts without light markings (except the wing in fuscus var. albicollis).

a. Wings and tail olive-green.

6. P. chlorurus. Whole pileum (except in young) deep rufous, sharply defined. Whole throat pure white, immaculate, and sharply defined against the surrounding deep ash; a maxillary and a short supraloral stripe of white. Anterior parts of body streaked in young. Hab. Western Province of United States.

b. Wings and tail grayish-brown.

7. P. fuscus. A whitish or ochraceous patch covering the throat contrasting with the adjacent portions, and bounded by dusky specks. Lores and chin like the throat. Hab. Mexico, and United States west of Rocky Mountains. (Five races.)

8. P. aberti. Throat concolor with the adjacent portions, and without distinct spots. Lores and chin blackish. Hab. Colorado region of Middle Province, United States. (Only one form known.)

SECTION I.

Head black.

Pipilo erythrophthalmus.

After a careful study of the very large collection of Black-headed Pipilos (leaving for the present the consideration of those with olive-green bodies) in the Smithsonian Museum, we have come finally to the conclusion that all the species described as having the scapulars and wing-coverts spotted with white—as arcticus, oregonus, and megalonyx, and even including the differently colored P. maculatus of Mexico—are probably only geographical races of one species, representing in the trans-Missouri region the P. erythrophthalmus of the eastern division of the continent. It is true that specimens may be selected of the four races capable of accurate definition, but the transition [Pg 107] from one to the other is so gradual that a considerable percentage of the collection can scarcely be assigned satisfactorily; and even if this were possible, the differences after all are only such as are caused by a slight change in the proportion of black, and the varying development of feet and wings.

Taking maculatus as it occurs in the central portion of its wide field of distribution, with wing-spots of average size, we find these spots slightly bordered, or at least often, with black, and the primaries edged externally with white only towards the end. The exterior web of lateral tail-feather is edged mostly with white; the terminal white patches of outer feather about an inch long; that of inner web usually separated from the outer by a black shaft-streak. In more northern specimens the legs are more dusky than usual. The tail is variable, but longer generally than in the other races. The claws are enormously large in many, but not in all specimens, varying considerably; and the fourth primary is usually longest, the first equal to or shorter than the secondaries. This is the race described as P. megalonyx, and characterizes the Middle Province, between the Sierra Nevada of California and the eastern Rocky Mountains, or the great interior basin of the continent; it occurs also near the head of the Rio Grande.

On the Pacific slope of California, as we proceed westward, we find a change in the species, the divergence increasing still more as we proceed northward, until in Oregon and Washington the extreme of range and alteration is seen in P. oregonus. Here the claws are much smaller, the white markings restricted in extent so as to form quite small spots bordered externally by black; the spots on the inner webs of tail much smaller, and even bordered along the shaft with black, and the outer web of the lateral entirely black, or with only a faint white edging. The concealed white of the head and neck has disappeared also.

Proceeding eastward, on the other hand, from our starting-point, we find another race, in P. arcticus, occupying the western slope of the Missouri Valley and the basin of the Saskatchewan, in which, on the contrary, the white increases in quantity, and more and more to its eastern limit. The black borders of the wing-patches disappear, leaving them white externally; and decided white edgings are seen for the first time at the bases of primaries, as well as near their ends, the two sometimes confluent. The terminal tail-patches are larger, the outer web of the exterior feather is entirely white except toward the very base, and we thus have the opposite extreme to P. oregonus. The wings are longer; the third primary longest; the first usually longer than the secondaries or the ninth quill.

Finally, proceeding southward along the table-lands of Mexico, and especially on their western slope, we find P. maculatus (the first described of all) colored much like the females of the more northern races, except that the head and neck are black, in decided contrast to the more olivaceous back. The wing formula and pattern of markings are much like megalonyx, the claws more like arcticus. Even in specimens of megalonyx, from the southern [Pg 108] portion of its area of distribution, we find a tendency to an ashy or brownish tinge on the rump, extending more or less along the back; few, if any indeed, being uniformly black.

As, however, a general expression can be given to the variations referred to, and as they have an important geographical relationship, besides a general diagnosis, we give their characters and distribution in detail.

The general impression we derive from a study of the series is that the amount of white on the wing and elsewhere decreases from the Missouri River to the Pacific, exhibiting its minimum in Oregon and Washington, precisely as in the small black Woodpeckers; that in the Great Basin the size of the claws and the length of tail increases considerably; that the northern forms are entirely black, and the more southern brown or olivaceous, except on the head.

The following synopsis will be found to express the principal characteristics of the species and their varieties, premising that P. arcticus is more distinctly definable than any of the others. We add the character of the green-bodied Mexican species to complete the series.

Synopsis of Varieties.

I. P. erythrophthalmus.

1. Wing, 3.65; tail, 4.20. Outer tail-feather with terminal half of inner web white. Iris bright red, sometimes paler. Hab. Eastern Province United States. (Florida in winter.) … var. erythrophthalmus.

2. Wing, 2.90; tail, 3.75. Outer tail-feather with only terminal fourth of inner web white. Iris white. Hab. Florida (resident) … var. alleni.

II. P. maculatus.

A. Interscapulars with white streaks.

a. Outer webs of primaries not edged with white at the base.

1. Above olive-brown, the head and neck, only, continuous black; back streaked with black. White spots on wing-coverts not bordered externally with black. Wing, 3.25; tail, 4.00; hind claw, .44. Hab. Table-lands of Mexico … var. maculatus.[21]

2. Above black, tinged with olive on rump, and sometimes on the nape. White spots as in last. Inner web of lateral tail-feathers with terminal white spot more than one inch long; outer web broadly edged with white. Wing, 3.45; tail, 4.10; hind claw, .55. Female less deep black than male, with a general slaty-olive cast. Hab. Middle Province of United States, from Fort Tejon, California, to Upper Rio Grande, and from Fort Crook to Fort Bridger … var. megalonyx.

3. Above almost wholly black, with scarcely any olive tinge, and this only on rump. White spots restricted, and with a distinct black external border. White terminal spot on inner web of lateral tail-feather less than one inch long; outer web almost wholly black. Wing, 3.40; tail, 3.90; hind claw, .39. Female deep umber-brown, instead of black. Hab. Pacific Province of United States, south to San Francisco; West Humboldt Mountains … var. oregonus.

[Pg 109] b. Outer webs of primaries distinctly edged with white at base.

4. Above black, except on rump, which is tinged with olivaceous. White spots very large, without black border. Inner web of lateral tail-feather with terminal half white, the outer web almost wholly white. Wing, 3.50; tail, 3.90; hind claw, .39. Female umber-brown, replacing black. Hab. Plains between Rocky Mountains and the Missouri; Saskatchewan Basin … var. arcticus.

B. Interscapulars without white streaks.

5. Above dusky olive; white spots on scapulars and wing-coverts small, and without black edge. Tail-patches very restricted (outer only .40 long). No white on primaries. Wing, 2.85; tail, 3.10. Female scarcely different. Hab. Socorro Island, off west coast of Mexico … var. carmani.[22]

Pipilo erythrophthalmus, Vieillot.

GROUND ROBIN; TOWHEE; CHEWINK.

Fringilla erythrophthalma, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 318.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 151; V, 511, pl. xxix. Emberiza erythrophthalma, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 874.—Wilson, Am. Orn. VI, 1812, 90, pl. liii. Pipilo erythrophthalmus, Vieill. Gal. Ois. I, 1824, 109, pl. lxxx.—Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 487.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 124.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 167, pl. cxcv.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 512.—Samuels, 333. Pipilo ater, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. XXXIV, 1819, 292. Towhee Bird, Catesby, Car. I, 34. Towhee Bunting, Latham, Syn. II, I, 1783, 199.—Pennant, II, 1785, 359.

Sp. Char. Upper parts generally, head and neck all round, and upper part of the breast, glossy black, abruptly defined against the pure white which extends to the anus, but is bounded on the sides and under the wings by light chestnut, which is sometimes streaked externally with black. Feathers of throat white in the middle. Under coverts similar to sides, but paler. Edges of outer six primaries with white at the base and on the middle of the outer web; inner two tertiaries also edged externally with white. Tail-feathers black; outer web of the first, with the ends of the first to the third, white, decreasing from the exterior one. Outermost quill usually shorter than ninth, or even than secondaries; fourth quill longest, fifth scarcely shorter. Iris red; said to be sometimes paler, or even white, in winter. Length, 8.75; wing, 3.75; tail, 4.10. Bill black, legs flesh-color. Female with the black replaced by a rather rufous brown.

Hab. Eastern United States to the Missouri River; Florida (in winter).

The tail-feathers are only moderately graduated on the sides; the outer about .40 of an inch shorter than the middle. The outer tail-feather has the terminal half white, the outline transverse; the white of the second is about half as long as that of the first; of the third half that of the second. The chestnut of the sides reaches forward to the black of the neck, and is visible when the wings are closed.

[Pg 110] A young bird has the prevailing color reddish-olive above, spotted with lighter; beneath brownish-white, streaked thickly with brown.

The description above given may be taken as representing the average of the species in the Northern and Middle States. Most specimens from the Mississippi Valley differ in having the two white patches on the primaries confluent; but this feature is not sufficiently constant to make it worthy of more than passing notice, for occasionally western specimens have the white spaces separated, as in the majority of eastern examples, while among the latter there may, now and then, be found individuals scarcely distinguishable from the average of western ones.

In Florida, however, there is a local, resident race, quite different from these two northern styles, which are themselves not enough unlike to be considered separately. This Florida race differs in much smaller size, very restricted white on both wing and tail, and in having a yellowish-white instead of blood-red iris. Further remarks on this Florida race will be found under its proper heading (p. 708), as P. erythrophthalmus, var. alleni.

Specimens of erythrophthalmus, as restricted, from Louisiana, as is the case with most birds from the Lower Mississippi region, exhibit very intense colors compared with those from more northern portions, or even Atlantic coast specimens from the same latitude.

Habits. The Ground Robin, Towhee, Chewink, Charee, or Joreet, as it is variously called, has an extended distribution throughout the eastern United States, from Florida and Georgia on the southeast to the Selkirk Settlements on the northwest, and as far to the west as the edge of the Great Plains, where it is replaced by other closely allied races. It breeds almost wherever found, certainly in Georgia, and, I have no doubt, sparingly in Florida.

This bird was not observed in Texas by Mr. Dresser. It has been found in Western Maine, where it is given by Mr. Verrill as a summer visitant, and where it breeds, but is not common. It arrives there the first of May. It is not given by Mr. Boardman as occurring in Eastern Maine. In Massachusetts it is a very abundant summer visitant, arriving about the last of April, and leaving about the middle of October. It nests there the last of [Pg 111] May, and begins to sit upon the eggs about the first of June. It is slightly gregarious just as it is preparing to leave, but at all other times is to be met with only in solitary pairs.

The Ground Robin is in many respects one of the most strongly characterized of our North American birds, exhibiting peculiarities in which all the members of this genus share to a very large degree. They frequent close and sheltered thickets, where they spend a large proportion of their time on the ground among the fallen leaves, scratching and searching for worms, larvæ, and insects. Though generally resident in retired localities, it is far from being a shy or timid bird. I have known it to show itself in a front yard, immediately under the windows of a dwelling and near the main street of the village, where for hours I witnessed its diligent labors in search of food. The spot was very shady, and unfrequented during the greater part of the day. It was not disturbed when the members of the family passed in or out.

The call-note of this bird is very peculiar, and is variously interpreted in different localities. It has always appeared to me that the Georgian jo-rēēt was at least as near to its real notes as tow-hēē. Its song consists of a few simple notes, which very few realize are those of this bird. In singing, the male is usually to be seen on the top of some low tree. These notes are uttered in a loud voice, and are not unmusical. Wilson says its song resembles that of the Yellow-Hammer of Europe, but is more varied and mellow. Nuttall speaks of its notes as simple, guttural, and monotonous, and of its voice as clear and sonorous. The song, which he speaks of as quaint and somewhat pensive, he describes as sounding like t’sh’d-wĭtee-tĕ-tĕ-tĕ-tĕ-tĕ.

Wilson says this bird is known in Pennsylvania as the “Swamp Robin.” If so, this is a misnomer. In New England it has no predilection for low or moist ground; and I have never found it in such situations. Its favorite haunts are dry uplands, near the edges of woods, or high tracts covered with a low brushwood, selecting for nesting-places the outer skirts of a wood, especially one of a southern aspect. The nest is sunk in a depression in the ground, the upper edges being usually just level with the ground. It is largely composed of dry leaves and coarse stems as a base, within which is built a firmer nest of dry bents well arranged, usually with no other lining. It is generally partially concealed by leaves or a tuft of grass, and is not easily discovered unless the female is seen about it.

Dr. Coues says these Buntings are chiefly spring and autumnal visitants near Washington, only a few breeding. They are very abundant from April 25 to May 10, and from the first to the third week of October, and are partially gregarious. Their migrations are made by day, and are usually in small companies in the fall, but singly in the spring. Wilson found them in the middle districts of Virginia, and from thence south to Florida, during the months of January, February, and March. Their usual food is obtained among the dry leaves, though they also feed on hard seeds and gravel. They are not known to commit any depredations upon harvests. They may be [Pg 112] easily accustomed to confinement, and in a few days will become quite tame. When slightly wounded and captured, they at first make a sturdy resistance, and bite quite severely. They are much attached to their young, and when approached evince great anxiety, the female thrusting herself forward to divert attention by her outcries and her simulated lameness.

The eggs of this species are of a rounded-oval shape, and have a dull-white ground, spotted with dots and blotches of a wine-colored brown. These usually are larger than in the other species, and are mostly congregated about the larger end, and measure .98 of an inch in length by .80 in breadth.

Pipilo erythrophthalmus, var. alleni, Coues.

WHITE-EYED CHEWINK; FLORIDA CHEWINK.

Pipilo alleni, Coues, American Naturalist, V, Aug. 1871, 366.

Sp. Char. Similar to erythrophthalmus, but differing in the following respects: White spaces on wings and tail much restricted, those on inner webs of lateral tail-feathers only .50 to .75 long. Size very much smaller, except the bill, which is absolutely larger. Iris white.

♂. (55,267, Dummits’s Grove, Florida, March, 1869.) Length, 7.75; wing, 3.00; tail, 3.75; bill from nostril, .38; tarsus, .97.

♀. (55,271, same locality and date.) Wing, 3.00; tail, 3.50; bill from nostril, .37; tarsus, .91. White on primaries almost absent.

This interesting variety of Pipilo erythrophthalmus was found in Florida, in the spring of 1869, by Mr. C. J. Maynard, and probably represents the species as resident in that State. It is considerably smaller than the average (length, 7.75; extent, 10.00; wing, 3.00; tarsus, .95), and has very appreciably less white on the tail. The outer web of outer feather is only narrowly edged with white, instead of being entirely so to the shaft (except in one specimen), and the terminal white tip, confined to the inner web, is only from .50 to .75 of an inch long, instead of 1.25 to 1.75, or about the amount on the second feather of northern specimens, as shown in the accompanying figures. There is apparently a greater tendency to dusky streaks and specks in the rufous of the side of the breast or in the adjacent white. Resident specimens from Georgia are intermediate in size and color between the northern and Florida races.

[Pg 113] The bill of Mr. Maynard’s specimen is about the size of that of more northern ones; the iris is described by him as pale yellowish-white, much lighter than usual.

Pipilo maculatus,[23] var. megalonyx, Baird.

LONG-CLAWED TOWHEE BUNTING.

Pipilo megalonyx, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 515, pl. lxxiii.—Heerm. X, S, 51 (nest).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 242.

Sp. Char. Similar to P. arcticus in amount of white on the wings and scapulars, though this frequently edged with black, but without basal white on outer web of primaries. Outer edge of outer web of external tail-feather white, sometimes confluent with that at tip of tail. Concealed white spots on feathers of side of neck. Claws enormously large, the hinder longer than its digit; the hind toe and claw reaching to the middle of the middle claw, which, with its toe, is as long as or longer than the tarsus. Inner lateral claw reaching nearly to the middle of middle claw. Length, 7.60; wing, 3.25; hind toe and claw, .90. Female with the deep black replaced by dusky slaty-olive.

Hab. Southern coast of California and across through valleys of Gila and Rio Grande; north through the Great Basin across from Fort Crook, California, to Fort Bridger, Wyoming.

This form constitutes so strongly marked a variety as to be worthy of particular description. The general appearance is that of P. arcticus, which it resembles in the amount of white spotting on the wings. This, however, does not usually involve the whole outer web at the end, but, as in oregonus, has a narrow border of black continued around the white terminally and sometimes externally. There is not quite so much of a terminal white blotch on the outer tail-feather, this being but little over an inch in length, and the outer web of the same feather is never entirely white, though always with an external white border, which sometimes is confluent with the [Pg 114] terminal spot, but usually leaves a brown streak near the end never seen in arcticus, which also has the whole outer web white except at the base. From oregonus the species differs in the much greater amount of white on the wings and the less rounded character of the spots. Oregonus, too, has the whole outer web of external tail-feather black, and the terminal white spot of the inner web less than an inch in length. We have never seen in oregonus any concealed white spotting on the sides of the head.

The greatest difference between this race and the two others lies in the stout tarsi and enormously large claws, as described, both the lateral extending greatly beyond the base of the middle one, the hinder toe and claw nearly as long as the tarsus. The only North American passerine birds having any approach to this length of claw are those of the genus Passerella.

This great development of the claws is especially apparent in specimens from the Southern Sierra Nevada, the maximum being attained in the Fort Tejon examples; those from as far north as Carson City, Nev., however, are scarcely smaller. In most Rocky Mountain Pipilos, the claws are but little longer than in arcticus.

In this race the female is not noticeably different from the male, being of a merely less intense black,—not brown,—and conspicuously different as in arcticus and oregonus; there is, however, some variation among individuals in this respect, but none are ever so light as the average in the other races.

The young bird is dusky-brown above, with a slight rusty tinge, and obsolete streaks of blackish. White markings as in adult, but tinged with rusty. Throat and breast rusty-white, broadly streaked with dusky; sides only tinged with rufous.

Habits. According to Mr. Ridgway’s observations, the P. megalonyx replaces in the Rocky Mountain region and in the greater portion of the Great Basin the P. arcticus of the Plains, from their eastern slope eastward to the Missouri River, and the P. oregonus of the Northern Sierra Nevada and Pacific coast. It is most nearly related to the latter. He became familiar with the habits of this species near Salt Lake City, having already made like observations of the oregonus at Carson. A short acquaintance with the former, after a long familiarity with the latter, enabled him to note a decided difference in the notes of the two birds, yet in their external appearance they were hardly distinguishable, and he was at first surprised to find the same bird apparently uttering entirely different notes, the call-note of P. megalonyx being very similar to that of the common Catbird. The song of this species, he adds, has considerable resemblance in style to that of the eastern P. erythrophthalmus, and though lacking its musical character, is yet far superior to that of P. oregonus. This bird is also much less shy than the western one, and is, in fact, quite as unsuspicious as the eastern bird.

Nests, with eggs, were found on the ground, among the scrub-oaks of the hillsides, from about the 20th of May until the middle of June.

[Pg 115] This species has been obtained on the southern coast of California, and through to the valleys of the Gila and the Rio Grande. In California it was obtained near San Francisco by Mr. Cutts and Mr. Hepburn; at Santa Clara by Dr. Cooper; at Monterey by Dr. Canfield; in the Sacramento Valley by Dr. Heermann; at San Diego by Dr. Hammond; at Fort Tejon by Mr. Xantus; at Saltillo, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch; in New Mexico by Captain Pope; and at Fort Thorn by Dr. Henry.

Lieutenant Couch describes it as a shy, quiet bird, and as found in woody places.

Dr. Kennerly met with this bird at Pueblo Creek, New Mexico, January 22, 1854. It first attracted his attention early in the month of January, in the Aztec Mountains, along Pueblo Creek. There it was often met with, but generally singly. It inhabited the thickest bushes, and its motions were so constant and rapid, as it hopped from twig to twig, that they found it difficult to procure specimens. Its flight was rapid, and near the ground.

Dr. Cooper speaks of this species as a common and resident bird in all the lower districts of California, and to quite a considerable distance among the mountains. It was also found on the islands of Catalina and San Clemente, distant sixteen miles from the mainland. Though found in New Mexico, Dr. Cooper has met with none in the barren districts between the Coast Range and the Colorado, nor in the valley of the latter.

Their favorite residence is said to be in thickets and in oak groves, where they live mostly on the ground, scratching among the dead leaves in the concealment of the underbrush, and very rarely venturing far from such shelter. They never fly more than a few yards at a time, and only a few feet above the ground. In villages, where they are not molested, they soon become more familiar, take up their abodes in gardens, and build their nests in the vicinity of houses.

Dr. Cooper gives them credit for little musical power. Their song is said to be only a feeble monotonous trill, from the top of some low bush. When alarmed, they have a note something like the mew of a cat. On this account they are popularly known as Catbirds. He adds that the nest is made on the ground, under a thicket, and that it is constructed of dry leaves, stalks, and grass, mingled with fine roots. The eggs, four or five in number, are greenish-white, minutely speckled with reddish-brown, and measure one inch by .70.

Dr. Coues found this species a very abundant and resident species in Arizona. It was rather more numerous in the spring and in the fall than at other times. He found it shy and retiring, and inhabiting the thickest brush. Its call-note is said to be almost exactly like that of our eastern Catbird. He describes its song as a rather harsh and monotonous repetition of four or six syllables, something like that of the Euspiza americana. He found females with mature eggs in their ovaries as early as May 5.

A nest of this species, collected by Mr. Ridgway near Salt Lake City, [Pg 116] May 26, was built on the ground, among scrub-oak brush. It is a very slight structure, composed almost entirely of coarse dry stems of grass, with a few bits of coarse inner bark, and with a base made up wholly with the latter material, and having a diameter of about four inches.

The eggs of this nest, four in number, have an average measurement of .95 of an inch in length by .73 in breadth. Their ground-color is crystalline-white, covered very generally with spots and small blotches of purplish and wine-colored brown, somewhat aggregated at the larger end.

Pipilo maculatus, var. oregonus, Bell.

OREGON GROUND ROBIN.

Pipilo oregonus, Bell, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1852, 6 (Oregon).—Bonap. Comptes Rendus, XXXVII, Dec. 1853, 922.—Ib. Notes Orn. Delattre, 1854, 22 (same as prec.).—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 513.—Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 64, 120 (British Col.).—Cooper & Suckley, 200.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 241. Fringilla arctica, Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 49, pl. cccxciv. (not of Swainson). Pipilo arctica, Aud. Syn. 1839, 123.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 164, pl. cxciv.

Sp. Char. Upper surface generally, with the head and neck all round to the upper part of the breast, deep black; the rest of lower parts pure white, except the sides of the body and under tail-coverts, which are light chestnut-brown; the latter rather paler. The outer webs of scapulars (usually edged narrowly with black) and of the superincumbent feathers of the back, with a rounded white spot at the end of the outer webs of the greater and middle coverts; the outer edges of the innermost tertials white; no white at the base of the primaries. Outer web of the first tail-feather black, occasionally white on the extreme edge; the outer three with a white tip to the inner web. Outer quill shorter than ninth, or scarcely equalling the secondaries; fourth quill longest; fifth scarcely shorter. Length, 8.25; wing, 4.40; tail, 4.00. Female with the black replaced by a more brownish tinge. Claws much as in erythrophthalmus.

Hab. Coasts of Oregon and Washington Territories, south to San Francisco, California. Melting eastward and south into megalonyx. West Humboldt Mountains and Northern Sierra Nevada.

Comparing this race with arcticus, we do not find much difference in the white of the scapular region, except that the white marks here, as elsewhere on the wing, are rounded, the extreme end of the outer web of the feather being black instead of running out acutely white to the very tip of the outer webs of the feathers. This gives rather less extension to the white. In fact, most of the white marks are edged externally with black, converting them into spots. There is no white whatever at the exposed base of the [Pg 117] outer web of the second to fifth primaries, and there is only a trace of white near the end, instead of having a conspicuous white edging from base to near the tip.

The outer web of the outer tail-feather, instead of being entirely white for the exposed portion, is only very slightly edged with white; usually entirely black. The white at the end of the feathers is much more restricted, and extends only over the three outer feathers; usually not reaching to the shaft. The relations to var. megalonyx have been given under the latter head.

Habits. The Oregon Ground Robin, so far as known, has a restricted residence, the western portion of Oregon and Washington Territory during the summer, and in the more northern portions of California. Its occurrence in the latter State seems to have escaped the notice of Dr. Cooper, though he gives it conjecturally, having seen birds which he supposed to be of this species in the higher Sierra Nevada. In its habits and notes Dr. Cooper could observe no difference between this species and P. megalonyx, both having the complaining mew, from which they have obtained the name of Catbird on that coast.

Mr. J. K. Lord found a nest containing six eggs, which he supposed to belong to a bird of this species, at Fort Colville. It was built on the top of a stump, round which young shoots had grown like a fringe, completely hiding it from the sharpest eye. Mr. Hepburn met with it at Victoria.

Dr. Cooper, in his Report on the Birds of Washington Territory, states that the song of this species in spring, as it sits on a low bush enjoying the sunshine, is like the final trill of the Redwing, or the lisping faint notes of the Cowbird. It is a constant resident of the Territory, but only frequents the edge of the coast in winter. He also mentions finding it about thirty miles south of San Francisco in autumn. Dr. Suckley met with it west of the Cascade Mountains.

In very many respects, in the opinion of Mr. Ridgway, the Oregon Ground Robin very closely resembles the common and familiar eastern “Chewink.” There is noticeable in this western representative a peculiar manner of flight, and a predilection for bushy places, closely corresponding with those of the eastern bird. It differs, in the most marked manner, however, in its extreme shyness, and in the total absence of the agreeable and striking notes of the Towhee. The notes of this bird are, he states, of the rudest description, and instead of being familiar and unsuspicious, it is one of the shyest and most difficult to approach of any of the western birds.

He found it quite plentiful about Sacramento, where it inhabits the thickets in company with the western Chat. After crossing the Sierra Nevada it was found more abundant still in the chaparrals of the sheltered ravines on the eastern base of those mountains, as well as in the shrubbery of the river valleys. During the winter it forsakes the former for the latter localities. Eastward this species was found as far as the West Humboldt Mountains, where typical examples were obtained.

[Pg 118] At Carson City, early in March, his attention was attracted by the peculiar notes of this Pipilo; the bird was sitting on a high rock above the thick chaparral of the hillside, and sharply defined against the sky. It was readily distinguishable by the black of its head and breast, in sharp contrast with the pure white of its lower parts. Every few moments it would raise its head to utter, in a short trill, its rude song. When approached, it would jerk its expanded white-tipped tail, and disappear among the bushes. It was abundant in the chaparrals, on the hillsides, and among the thickets and buffalo-berry bushes along the rivers. The males were in full song, perching, as they sang, on a prominent rock or bush.

Mr. Nuttall met with a nest of this species on the 14th of June. It was built in the shelter of a low undershrub, in a depression scratched out for its reception. It was made of a rather copious lining of clean wiry grass, with some dead leaves beneath, as a foundation. The eggs were four, nearly hatched, very closely resembling those of the Towhee, thickly spotted over, but more so at the larger end, with very small round and very numerous reddish-chocolate spots. The pair showed great solicitude about their nest, the male, in particular, approaching boldly to scold and lament at the dangerous intrusion.

The Oregon Ground Robin Mr. Lord considered a quaint and restless bird. He found it very abundant from the coast to the summit of the Rocky Mountains, and also very common on Vancouver Island. It arrives the last of April and first of May, and frequents dark woods and thick tangled underbrush. He describes it as stealthy and shy, with a habit of hiding, but its cry usually betrays its place of concealment. This cry he states to be like the squall of the Catbird.

Mr. Townsend found it abundant on the Columbia, where, as he observed, it lived mostly on the ground, or on bushes near the ground, rarely ascending trees. Mr. Audubon gives the measurement of its egg as 1.12 inches in length and .87 in breadth.

The egg of this species is more rounded than are those of this genus generally, and there is but little difference between the two ends. The ground-color is white, with a greenish tinge, and is very generally and profusely spotted with fine markings of reddish and purplish-brown. They measure .95 by .80 of an inch.

[Pg 119] Pipilo maculatus, var. arcticus, Swainson.

ARCTIC TOWHEE BUNTING.

Pyrgita (Pipilo) arctica, Sw. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 260. Pipilo arcticus, Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 589.—Ib., (2d ed.,) 1840, 610.—Bell, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1852, 7.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 514.

Sp. Char. Upper parts generally, with head and neck all round to the upper part of the breast, black; the rump usually tinged with ashy. Middle of breast and of belly white; sides chestnut; under tail-coverts similar, but paler. Entire outer webs of scapulars and of dorsal feathers immediately above them, and of ends of primary and secondary coverts, to the shaft, with edges of outer webs of three innermost tertials, and of the second to the fifth primaries, conspicuously white. Whole outer web of the first and ends of the first to the fourth tail-feathers, white, the amount diminishing not very rapidly. Outermost quill longer than ninth, sometimes than eighth, nearly always exceeding the secondaries; third quill longest; fourth scarcely shorter. Length about 8 inches; wing, 4.40; tail, 4.10; hind toe and claw, .74. Female paler brown instead of black; the rufous, seen in P. erythrophthalmus, tinged with ashy.

Hab. High central plains of Upper Missouri, Yellowstone, and Platte; basin of Missouri River, especially west, including eastern slope of Rocky Mountains; San Antonio, Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 492).

P. arcticus is similar in form to P. erythrophthalmus, which, however, is readily distinguished by the entire absence of white on the scapulars and wing-coverts. The amount of white on the tail decreases much less rapidly. The differences between it and P. oregonus will be found detailed under the head of the latter species.

One specimen (8,193) from Fort Leavenworth, with a few white spots only on the scapulars, may perhaps be considered a hybrid between arcticus and erythrophthalmus.

In some specimens the interscapulars are edged externally with white. The feathers of throat and sides of head show occasional concealed spots of white about the middle. As in erythrophthalmus, the bases of the primaries are white along the outer edge, showing under the primary coverts, sometimes, but perhaps not generally, confluent with the white towards the end of the same web.

The female is of a dull ashy-brown, difficult to describe, but with only a slight tinge of the rufous seen in P. erythrophthalmus, which is most distinct on top of head and back. There is an almost inappreciable ashy superciliary stripe.

The young bird resembles in general appearance that of megalonyx, but is lighter colored, and with the dusky streaks on the jugulum much narrower. The brown above is as light as in erythrophthalmus, but without the reddish cast seen in the latter, and not blackish, as in megalonyx.

Habits. The Saskatchewan or Arctic Ground Finch was first met with by Sir John Richardson. It was observed by him only on the plains of the Saskatchewan, where he had no doubt of its breeding, as one specimen was [Pg 120] killed late in July. It was said to arrive in that region in the end of May, and to frequent shady and moist clumps of wood. It was generally seen on the ground. Its habits, so far as they were observed, correspond with those of the Towhee Bunting, which it closely resembles in external appearance. It feeds on grubs, and is a solitary and retired, but not a distrustful bird.

Besides its occurrence in the Valley of the Saskatchewan, these birds have often been found on the high central plains of the Upper Missouri, on the Yellowstone and Platte Rivers. Audubon met with it at Fort Union. Dr. Hayden obtained it on the Yellowstone, in August; at Fort Lookout, June 22; at Bijou Hills, from May 1 to the 15th; at Bon Homme Island, May 9. Dr. Cooper obtained it at Fort Laramie in September. Mr. Allen found it in Colorado, where it was more abundant on the foothills than on the plains. He also found this species an abundant inhabitant of the thickets in the valley of the Great Salt Lake, in its habits strongly resembling the common birds of the Eastern States. Though its song is also somewhat similar, its call-note, he adds, is totally different, very nearly resembling that of the Catbird.

Dr. Woodhouse met with but few of these birds either in the Indian Territory or in New Mexico. Mr. Dresser, in November, 1863, when hunting in the Bandera Hills, noticed several of these birds near the camp, and obtained several near San Antonio during the winter. None of these birds appear to have been observed in the Arctic regions beyond the Saskatchewan Plains.

Mr. Nuttall met with this species on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains, but as he apparently did not appreciate the difference between this form and the oregonus, we cannot determine with certainty to which his descriptions apply in all cases. He found it, in manners and habits, the counterpart of our common eastern species, frequenting forests and scratching among the dead leaves among bushes and thickets. He describes it as more shy than the common species. If the nest be invaded, the male shows more boldness, and reiterates his complaints until the cause of his alarm is removed. He speaks of its warble as quaint and monotonous, and very similar to the notes of the Towhee,—but the note of our bird, towhee, is never heard west of the mountains. In its stead this bird is said to have a note like the mew of a cat.

The egg of the arcticus is oval in shape, and measures one inch in length by .70 in breadth. It has a white ground, but is so generally and so thickly covered with fine dots of umber-brown, intermingled with paler markings of lavender and neutral tints, that the ground can hardly be distinguished.

[Pg 121] SECTION II.

Head and body above brown; throat with a light patch.

Pipilo fuscus, Swainson.

Synopsis of the Varieties.

Common Characters. Grayish-brown above, with a more or less appreciable rufous tinge on the crown. A patch covering the throat, ochraceous or white, contrasting with the surrounding portions, and encircled more or less completely, especially posteriorly, by dusky spots; lores like the chin. Crissum deep ochraceous, the lower part of abdomen tinged more or less with the same.

A. No trace of white tips to middle wing-coverts. Throat ochraceous.

a. Crown only faintly tinged with rufous.

1. Abdomen pale grayish-brown; throat and lores deep reddish-ochraceous; the deep ochraceous confined posteriorly to lower tail-coverts. Wing, 3.90; tail, 5.00. Hab. California … var. crissalis.

2. Abdomen distinctly white centrally, but surrounded by grayish laterally and anteriorly; throat and lores pale ochraceous; deep ochraceous of crissum extending forward over lower part of abdomen. Wing, 3.80; tail, 4.00. Hab. Mexico … var. fuscus.[24]

b. Crown very distinctly rufous.

3. The ochraceous of posterior under parts spreading over whole lower part of abdomen and flanks. Ochraceous of the throat palest anteriorly, the chin and lores being almost white; it spreads over the jugulum also, outside the series of rather scattered dusky [Pg 122] spots. Whole breast white. Wing, 3.80; tail, 4.30. Hab. Southern Middle Province of United States … var. mesoleucus.

4. The ochraceous of under parts confined to crissum and anal region; ochraceous of the throat palest posteriorly, where it is nearly white, and confined within the encircling series of rather coalesced dusky spots. Abdomen, only, white. Wing, 3.80; tail, 4.20. Hab. Cape St. Lucas … var. albigula

B. Middle coverts distinctly, and greater obsoletely, tipped with white. Throat white crossed by an ochraceous band.

5. Crown without a trace of rufous. Dusky spots surrounding the white gular patch, coalesced posteriorly into a narrow crescent. Whole breast and abdomen white, somewhat broken anteriorly. Flanks and lower tail-coverts ochraceous. Wing, 3.30; tail, 3.70. Hab. Mexico … (var. ?) albicollis[25]

Pipilo fuscus, var. crissalis, Vigors.

BROWN TOWHEE; CAÑON FINCH.

Pipilo fusca, Cassin, Illust. I, IV, 1853, 124, pl. xvii (the figure seems to be of the California species, the description more like mesoleucus).—Newberry, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 1857, 89. Kieneria fusca, Bonap. Comptes Rendus, XL, 1855, 356. Fringilla crissalis, Vigors, Zoöl. Blossom, 1839, 19. Oriturus wrangeli, Brandt, Bonap. Comp. Rend. 43, 1856, 413. Pipilo fuscus, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 517.—Heerm. X, S, 51 (nest).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 245.

Sp. Char. Above dark olive-brown, the crown with a very slight tinge of scarcely appreciable dark rufous. Under parts with the color somewhat similar, but of a lighter [Pg 123] shade, and washed with grayish; middle of the belly only whitish; the under tail-coverts pale rufous, shading into lighter about the vent and sides of lower belly; chin and throat well-defined pale rufous, margined all round by brown spots, a few of them scattered within the margin. Eyelids and sides of head, anterior to the eye, rufous like the throat. One or two feathers on the lower part of the breast with a concealed brown blotch. Outer primary not edged with white. Fifth quill longest; first shorter than ninth, or even than secondaries. Bill pale brown, darker above; legs light. Length, 8.50 inches; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.60.

Hab. Coast region of California.

The bill is sinuated, as in P. aberti, differing from that of P. erythrophthalmus.

This race is very similar to the original P. fuscus of Mexico, the original description of Swainson answering almost exactly. It is, however, considerably larger; the proportions of wing are similar; and there is no decided indication of whitish in the middle of the body beneath, such as is always distinctly appreciable in fuscus, and still more in mesoleucus.

A young bird differs but little from the adult except in having obsolete dusky streaks below; the upper parts are uniform.

Habits. The Brown, or Cañon Finch of California is found nearly throughout the State of California. Mr. Xantus obtained it at Fort Tejon, and Mr. Ridgway observed it among the chaparrals on the foothills of the western slope of the Sierras.

Dr. Cooper considers the name of Cañon Finch ill applied to this species, as it is equally plentiful in level districts, wherever trees and shrubbery exist. He regards it as one of the most abundant and characteristic birds of California, residing in all the lower country west of the Sierras, and extending up the slopes of the Coast Range to the height of three thousand feet. They are said to have habits very similar to those of all the other species, living much upon the ground, and seeking their food among the [Pg 124] dead leaves, which they greatly resemble in color. This resemblance Dr. Cooper regards as a great protection to them from Hawks; their hues also correspond with those of the earth and the dusky foliage during most of the year. They are thus less conspicuous in the light, and they venture more fearlessly forth and feed in open grounds.

They have but little song, and only utter a few faint chirps and hurried notes, as they sit perched upon some low bush, in the spring. At San Diego Dr. Cooper saw the first nest with eggs on April 17, but some birds had laid much earlier, as he found young hatched by the 20th. He afterwards observed other nests, all of which were built in bushes, from two to four feet from the ground, and all but one contained three eggs; the other had four. He has found them built in low trees, and one in a vine growing over the porch of a house. The nest is formed of coarse twigs, bark, and grass, is thick and large, and is lined with fine root-fibres and finer grasses. The eggs are pale blue, spotted with purplish-brown blotches, mostly small and scattered. He gives the measurement of the eggs as .90 by .65 of an inch. In the more northern part of the State they are said to lay four eggs oftener than three. They are supposed by him to have two broods in a season.

Colonel McCall has no doubt that they are found throughout California, as he has met with them from the upper waters of the Sacramento to the mouth of the Gila; the former having its origin in the extreme north, and the latter touching the extreme southern boundary of the State. It is most abundant south of Santa Barbara.

Colonel McCall states that its habits and manners differ somewhat from those of the common Towhee and the Arctic Finches. Its flight is more even and regular, and is without that violent jerking of the tail from side to side, which gives such a singular appearance of awkwardness to the movements of the Towhee. It is less shy and suspicious than the Arctic. It is also much less decidedly a Ground Finch than either of the others. Its favorite abode he found to be the vicinity of watercourses, where it is generally to be seen in pairs, though he has, at times, surprised eight or ten together under the shade of a large bush at noon in a summer day, when he has had no difficulty in procuring three or four specimens before the party dispersed. It is at all times a familiar bird, boldly coming into the roads to feed, and permitting a close approach. If compelled to retreat, it darts suddenly into the thicket, but returns as soon as the cause of alarm has disappeared. Near Santa Barbara he found thirty or forty of these birds, in the month of July, dispersed over an old field of some five acres in extent, contiguous to a sea-beach, through which flowed a small stream of fresh water. They were feeding on the ground, sheltered by a rank growth of weeds. When one was flushed it flew into a neighboring tree instead of seeking shelter again in the weeds. The young at that time were fully fledged, and scarcely differed in the color of their plumage from the adults.

Dr. Heermann once met with a nest of this bird built in a grapevine overhanging [Pg 125] the Sacramento River. He describes the eggs of this species as differing entirely from any of this genus he had ever met with, and as having so great a resemblance to the eggs of the three different species of Blackbirds inhabiting California that they were liable to be confounded with them unless marked when taken from the nest.

Dr. Newberry, who found this bird very common in the Sacramento Valley, states that when he first met with it, a strange bird to him, its habit of scratching among the dry leaves under the bushes, as well as its long tail and jerking flight from one clump of bushes to another, at once indicated to him its affinities.

Among the memoranda made by Mr. Xantus at Fort Tejon are the following in reference to this species: “474, nest and two eggs, found May 19 on a small thorn-bush in a very dark thicket, about six feet from the ground; 1,675, nest and one egg, on a thick thorny bush, six feet from the ground; 1,851, nest and two eggs, May 12, on a rose-bush, four feet from the ground, eggs already incubated.”

The eggs of this species measure one inch by .75, have a light ground of robin-blue, and are spotted and blotched with varying shades of dark and light purple. In some the color of the blotches is so deep as not to be distinguishable from black, except in a strong light. The lighter shades are a faint lavender.

Pipilo fuscus, var. mesoleucus, Baird.

CAÑON BUNTING.

Pipilo mesoleucus, Baird, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, June, 1854, 119 (Rocky Mountains).—Ib. Birds N. Am. 1858, 518, pl. xxix.—Kennerly, P. R. R. X, b pl. xxix.—Heerm. X, c. p. 15.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 247. ? Pipilo fusca, “Swains.,” Sclater & Salvin, P. Z. S. 1869, 361 (city of Mexico).

Sp. Char. Above very dull olivaceous-brown, with a grayish tinge; hood dull chestnut, conspicuously different from the back. Sides like the back, but paler; posteriorly, and about the vent and under tail-coverts, pale brownish-red. The ashy olive-brown of the sides scarcely meeting across the breast, the lower portion of which, with the upper belly, is rather pure white. The loral region, chin, throat, and upper part of the breast, pale yellowish-rufous, finely spotted on the sides and more coarsely across the breast with brown; an obscure spot in the middle of the breast; edge of outer primary white. Bill pale brown; legs flesh-color; first quill about equal to eighth, third and fourth longest. Length, 8.50 inches; wing, 3.80; tail, 4.70.

Hab. Valley of Upper Rio Grande and across to the Gila River. East to Santa Caterina, New Leon.

This race is similar in general appearance to P. crissalis, but the olive-brown and rufous are both of a lighter shade. The crown is of a decided rufous, conspicuously different from the back, instead of nearly the same tint. The light reddish under the head is wider throughout, and [Pg 126] extends down to the upper part of the breast, blending with the colors of the breast and belly, instead of being narrower, more sharply defined, and restricted to the chin and throat; it is palest anteriorly, the chin and lore being almost white. The isolated larger spot on the breast is more conspicuous; the breast and belly are quite pure white, shaded with obsolete brownish blotches, instead of being uniform grayish-brown, with only an approach to whitish in the very middle. The edges of the wing and tail feathers are a good deal lighter, the outer web of the first primary being sharply edged with pure white, instead of obscure grayish-brown. The size generally is rather smaller, the wings more pointed.

Compared with P. fuscus, we find the tail decidedly longer; the wing more pointed; the first quill about equal to the eighth, instead of shorter than the secondaries. The colors generally are paler; the cap of head bright distinct rufous in strong contrast with the other plumage, instead of being only very obscurely tinged with that color. The white of belly is purer, and extends farther forward, displacing the ashy tinge almost to the buff of the throat.

If we consider all the brown Pipilos as modifications of one primitive species, it will be well to consider the Arizonan and New Mexican bird as the central figure around which the others are grouped. The common character will then be varied in the California race, crissalis, by the absence of decided rufous on crown, a darker shade of color, and an extension of the gray of sides over the whole under parts, almost entirely displacing the white. The wing is more rounded, and the general dimensions larger southward on the central plains of Mexico; the general tints are almost precisely as in the California bird, except that the white of belly is very evident; but the chestnut cap and extended whiteness of belly, together with the pointed wing of mesoleucus, are wanting. In P. albigula of Cape St. Lucas we have the general characters of mesoleucus, with paler colors, more restricted spots encircling throat, and a tendency to white in its lower part. In this it approaches albicollis of Southwestern Mexico.

Habits. This little-known form was first obtained by Dr. Kennerly, naturalist to the Pacific Railroad Expedition on the 35th parallel, under Lieutenant Whipple. He met with it at Bill Williams Fork, in Arizona, February 5, 1854. It was described by Professor Baird the following June. Dr. Kennerly furnished at the time no information in regard to its habits.

Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds observed in Lieutenant Parke’s expedition, mentions having met with this species in the vicinity of Tucson. Its habits, so far as he could judge of them from his opportunities, appeared very similar to those of Pipilo aberti.

Lieutenant Couch met with this species at Santa Catalina, Mexico, in April, 1853, but furnishes no information in reference to its manners. Mr. J. H. Clark, who obtained a specimen near the Copper Mines of the Mimbres, states that they were met with in abundance in the deep valleys or [Pg 127] cañons of that region. They were almost always in or about the thick clumps of bushes, several usually being in company.

Dr. Kennerly, who met with them on a second trip, in June, 1855, near Los Nogales, in Mexico, speaks of them as not very common in that region. He found them preferring the dense bushes in the valleys. When approached, they became very restless, flying from one bush to another, accompanying their motions with very peculiar notes, which he does not describe.

Dr. Coues found this species abundantly distributed throughout the warmer portions of New Mexico and Arizona, from the valley of the Rio Grande to that of the Colorado. He did not observe any at Fort Whipple, though they were found breeding some twenty-five miles to the southward. He found them associating freely with Pipilo aberti, and inhabiting the same regions. The two birds have very similar habits.

Dr. Henry also states that this species is common in New Mexico both summer and winter, and, so far as he has observed, dwelling almost entirely among the mountains. It appeared to him very retiring in its habits, and seemed to prefer the cañons. He has seldom, if ever, observed it far from shady gorges, where, like its relative of the Eastern States, the Towhee Bunting, it passes the greater part of its time on the ground, and is generally accompanied by its congener, the Arctic Finch. When disturbed, it seeks the thickest cover, though it is by no means shy or difficult to approach. Its nest is usually constructed in the branches of a thick cedar or dwarf oak, and he has never known it to produce more than one brood in a season.

Dr. Cooper states that these birds are very abundant in Southern Arizona, that their habits closely resemble those of P. aberti, and that their eggs are similar to those of Pipilo fuscus.

Pipilo fuscus, var. albigula, Baird.

CAPE TOWHEE.

Pipilo albigula, Baird, P. A. N. S. Nov. 1859, 305 (Cape St. Lucas).—Elliot, Illust. Am. Birds, I, pl. xv (“= P. mesoleucus”).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 248.

Sp. Char. Similar to var. mesoleucus, having, like it, a distinctly rufous crown and white abdomen. Differing, however, in the following respects: The pale ochraceous gular area is more sharply defined, the buff being confined within the encircling series of dusky spots; the buff is palest posteriorly, instead of directly the opposite. The rufous of the crissal region is more restricted, only tingeing the anal region instead of invading the lower part of the abdomen, the white beneath also is shifted farther back, covering the abdomen alone, instead of the breast, the whole jugulum being distinctly ashy, like the sides. Wing, 3.80; tail, 4.25.

Hab. Cape St. Lucas.

A very large series of specimens from Cape St. Lucas agree in possession of the characters pointed out above, distinguishing them from mesoleucus, to which race the present one is most nearly related.

[Pg 128] Habits. The White-throated or Cape Towhee of Cape St. Lucas was first met with by Mr. Xantus in the southern extremity of the peninsula of Lower California, and described by Professor Baird in 1859. Its close resemblance to P. mesoleucus suggests an equal similarity as to its habits, in regard to which we possess no actual knowledge. Mr. Xantus has furnished us with no memoranda as to the manners of the bird. We have only the brief mention among his notes to the effect that No. 4,855 is the nest with four eggs of this Pipilo, found in a wild Humulus thicket; and that No. 5,076 is a nest with eggs of the same, found in a thicket of wild roses in the garden fence.

Judging from the large number of the nests and eggs of this species collected by that gentleman at Cape St. Lucas, it would seem to be very abundant in that locality.

The eggs of this variety measure .95 of an inch in length and .72 in breadth. They bear a strong resemblance to those of the P. fuscus, but the markings are darker and more distinctly defined, standing out with a clear and striking effect, in marked contrast with the light background. The ground-color of the egg is a light tint of robin-blue. The markings of dots, dashes, and lines are all about the larger end, and are of a deep dark shade of purplish-brown, so dark as, except in a strong light, to be undistinguishable from black.

SECTION III.

Brown; throat without light patch.

Pipilo aberti, Baird.

ABERT’S TOWHEE.

Pipilo aberti, Baird, Stansbury’s Rep. Great Salt Lake, Zoölogy, June, 1852, 325 (New Mexico).—Ib. Birds N. Am. 1858, 516, pl. xxx.—Kennerly, P. R. R. X, b, pl. xxx.—Heermann, X, c, 15.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 244. Kieneria aberti, Bonap. Comptes Rendus, XL, 1855, 356.

Sp. Char. General color of upper parts pale brownish yellowish-red; beneath brighter, and more ochraceous, especially on the under coverts, palest on the middle of the belly. Sides of head anterior to eyes, and chin dark brown. Bill and legs yellowish. Length, 9 inches; wing, 3.70; tail, 4.85.

Hab. Base of Rocky Mountains in New Mexico. Valley of Gila and Colorado.

This plainly colored bird is perhaps the largest of the North American Finches, and is without any blotches, spots, or variations of importance from one color, except on the chin and sides of the head. The bill is similar to that of P. erythrophthalmus, but the cutting edge is less concave and more [Pg 129] sinuated. The tail is more graduated; the claws thicker and stronger. The wings are short and much rounded; the first quill shorter than the secondaries; fifth and fourth longest.

It may be easily distinguished from all the varieties of fuscus by the blackish lores and chin, as well as by the absence of any colored gular area, there being, instead, a pinkish rufous tinge prevalent over the whole throat and jugulum. There are no dusky spots across the throat as in fuscus.

Habits. Dr. Cooper assigns the base of the Rocky Mountains, in New Mexico, and the valleys of the Gila and Colorado Rivers, as the habitat of this species. Dr. Coues speaks of it as one of the most abundant and characteristic birds of those two valleys, and adds that it ranges northward to within a few miles of Fort Whipple, but is not found in the adjacent mountains. It was common at Fort Mohave, and particularly so at Fort Yuma.

Dr. Kennerly met with it at Camp No. 114, New Mexico, February 6, and again at Bill Williams Fork, February 12. He states that while travelling down the Big Sandy Creek and Bill Williams Fork, in the month of February, he found them very abundant. They confined themselves to the thick bushes near the water. Generally two or three were seen together. Their motions were very rapid, and their note was a peculiar, loud, chattering sound, sharp but not disagreeable. After leaving the Great Colorado he did not see it again.

On the borders of the Gila, east of Fort Yuma, Dr. Heermann found this bird in great abundance. It kept in the close sheltered thickets, where, secure from intrusion, it sought among the dead leaves for various seeds and insects and their larvæ, on which it feeds. In its habits it very much resembles the Pipilo fuscus, or Cañon Finch, diving into the bushes when alarmed, and repeating, at intervals, a short chirp. After leaving the Gila River he did not meet with any more, as he followed no longer the course of any large stream, for the borders of which these birds seem to have a decided preference.

Dr. Cooper regards this species as the almost exact counterpart of the Pipilo fuscus. The only difference he noticed in habits was in the character of its loud note of alarm, remarkably similar, however, to that of two very distinct birds of the same valley, namely, Centurus uropygialis and Phainopepla nitens. Like the Cañon Finch, this species is said to live almost constantly on the ground, but appears rather more gregarious, especially in winter.

About the first of April Dr. Cooper met with many of their nests. They were generally built in thorny shrubs, and were composed of a flooring of coarse twigs, or of green herbs, and strongly interwoven with strips of bark, grass, and leaves. One bird had taken advantage of the recent introduction of horses into the valley to obtain a lining of horse-hair for its nest. The eggs were in all cases only three, bluish-white, with brown spots and streaks in a ring near the large end, quite variable in number, and measuring one [Pg 130] inch by .70. One of the nests was in a low mesquite-tree, another in a dense cluster of dead twigs hanging from a cottonwood. The time required for hatching was twelve or thirteen days, and in a fortnight more the young left the nest. Dr. Cooper found nests with eggs as late as May 25, and had no doubt that they raise two or more broods in a season. He adds that the song of the male, throughout April and May, is precisely like that of P. fuscus, and also reminded him of the notes of P. oregonus and of the eastern Black-throated Bunting (Euspiza americana).

Dr. Coues has kindly supplied me with the following interesting sketch of this species, as observed by him in Arizona:—

“This species appears to have a remarkably restricted geographical distribution. I never saw it at Fort Whipple, but on the Colorado bottom in the same latitude, and thence along the river to Fort Yuma, I found it to be one of the most abundant and characteristic birds of all. At the time I observed it, in September, it was generally in small flocks, and proved rather difficult to capture, partly because the dense underbrush it inhabited was almost impenetrable, and partly on account of its natural timidity. Everything along the river-bottom is scorched with the heat, and the dry dead twigs constantly snap at a touch, with such noise that it is almost impossible to force a passage through the underbrush without alarming all its inmates. The bird occurs everywhere along the river-side, but is particularly numerous on the patches of mesquite, and the extensive areas grown up to young willows and cottonwoods, and the arrowwood (Tessaria borealis). Its ordinary cry of alarm, if not its call-note, is a loud, clear chirp, very different from the mewing sound made under similar circumstances by its congener, the P. megalonyx. The latter, as is well known, is almost exactly like that of a Catbird. I never heard the song of this bird, which appears to sing only during the breeding-season, but Dr. Cooper says it resembles that of the western Black Pipilos, and I can indorse his observation, that this is curiously like the monotonous notes of the Black-throated Bunting,—Chip, chip, chee-chee-chee; the first two syllables deliberately pronounced, the others more rapidly enunciated, with greater emphasis. The associates of this species seem to be few, if indeed they be not confined to the P. mesoleucus, a very near ally. The moult seems to me unusually protracted, as many September specimens were still in poor plumage.

“Excepting my experience with this bird on the Colorado, I only met with it on the Hassayampa, a small stream a few miles from Fort Whipple, yet in a somewhat different region, across a slight mountain-ridge, lower and warmer. Two specimens were secured, adult and young, the first week in August.”

Dr. Coues, on his way from Arizona to the Pacific (Ibis, 1866, p. 261), mentions that he was often startled by the loud, clear, sharp chirp of this bird, which, though fringilline in character, is more than usually powerful, and is its alarm-note. Everywhere in the Colorado Valley this was one of the most characteristic birds. Fort Yuma seemed to be its head-quarters. It [Pg 131] is, like all its congeners, a retiring species, and keeps perseveringly in the almost impenetrable undergrowth. It is said to be more decidedly gregarious than most of the genus, often collecting in flocks of a dozen or more, wandering restlessly, yet in a cautious manner, through the thickets.

A nest with eggs, procured at Fort Mohave by Dr. Cooper, is in the Smithsonian Collection (No. 7,276). The egg measures .93 by .70 of an inch, is obovate in shape, being much rounded at the smaller end. Its ground-color is a dull white, without any perceptible tinge of blue,—though possibly bluish when fresh,—with heavy dots and occasional delicate, hair-like, zigzag markings of black. These markings are wholly confined to the larger end. One of the eggs has these markings much finer, consisting of minute dots, more dense, and upon the apex of the larger end. The nest is loosely built and very bulky. Its external diameter is about six inches, and its depth three. The cavity is three inches wide and two deep. It is constructed almost entirely of strips of inner bark, the coarser, ribbon-like pieces being used on the outer portion, and the finer shreds composing the lining. Externally are also a few sticks about one quarter of an inch in diameter.

SECTION IV.

Crown rufous; body above, olive-green.

Pipilo chlorurus, Baird.

GREEN-TAILED BUNTING; BLANDING’S FINCH.

Fringilla chlorura, (Townsend,) Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 336 (Young). Zonotrichia chlorura, Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d Series, I, 1847, 51. Embernagra chlorura, Bonap. Conspectus, 1850, 483. Fringilla blandingiana, Gambel, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. I, April, 1843, 260. Embernagra blandingiana, Cassin, Illus. I, III, 1853, 70, pl. xii. Pipilo rufipileus, Lafresnaye, Rev. Zoöl. XI, June, 1848, 176.—Bp. Conspectus, 1850, 487. Kieneria rufipileus, Bon. Comptes Rendus, XL, 1855, 356. Pipilo chlorura, Baird, Birds N. Am., 1858, 519.—Heerm. X, c, 15.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 248.

Sp. Char. Above dull grayish olive-green. Crown uniform chestnut. Forehead with superciliary stripe, and sides of the head and neck, the upper part of the breast and sides of the body, bluish-ash. Chin and upper part of throat abruptly defined white, the former margined by dusky, above which is a short white maxillary stripe. Under tail-coverts and sides of body behind brownish-yellow. Tail-feathers generally, and exterior of wings, bright olive-green, the edge and under surface of the wings bright greenish-yellow; edge of first primary white. First quill longer than eighth, fourth longest. Length, about 7 inches; wing, 3.20; tail, 3.65.

Hab. Whole of the Middle Province, including the Rocky Mountains and eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada; north to beyond the 40th parallel; south to Mexico.

In this species the wing is considerably rounded, the tertials considerably shorter than the primaries, and not exceeding the secondaries; the fourth quill longest, the first shorter than the sixth, the second and fifth quills [Pg 132] considerably longer than the rest. The tail is long and considerably graduated, the outer feather half an inch shortest; the feathers broad and obtusely pointed, the corners rounded.

The extent of the chestnut of the crown varies somewhat; more extended probably in the males. The region on the side of the head, adjoining the nostrils, is whitish; the small feathers under the eye are spotted with the same. The posterior outline of the ash of the breast is much less sharply defined than the anterior.

Specimens vary in the brightness of the olive above, which is never as pure as that of the wings and tail. The olive of the tail, too, is darker than that of the wings.

A very young bird (1,896) has the whole under parts dull white, streaked and spotted on the sides of the throat and on the breast with dark brown. The crown and back are also thickly spotted. In 5,734 the ash of the breast has made its appearance; the middle of the belly is white, spotted; the chin white, encircled by spots. The spots above are restricted to near the head, and there is a small central patch of chestnut on the crown.

No. 1,896 is the original “Green-tailed Sparrow” killed July 12, 1834, by Townsend, and described in an extract of a letter to Mr. Audubon, published page 336 of Vol. V. of the Ornithological Biography.

Habits. Dr. Kennerly, who procured a specimen of this bird at San Elizario, Tex., December 16, states that it was obtained with some difficulty. For several successive days it was found in the same place, occupying a small clump of very thick weeds. When aroused, which was only accomplished with some effort, its flight was short, rapid, and decidedly irregular. Its motions on the ground were very awkward. This species was found by Mr. Ridgway very generally distributed throughout the fertile mountain portions of the interior. It was not seen by him in California, and was first met with in the ravines at the base of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. On the [Pg 133] high mountain-ranges it was a characteristic and the best-known singer, as well as one of the most abundant of the Fringillidæ, being found in all bushy places, from the bases to the summits of the mountains. It is exclusively a summer species, arriving at Carson City about the middle of April. He describes the usual note of this bird as very peculiar, and, as nearly as can be described, a sweet laughing utterance of the syllables keek-keek´, a little resembling the tweet of a Canary, but very musical. This curious note was generally uttered when anything unusual attracted its attention, such as the approach of an intruder. Then, with elevated tail and its very conspicuous red cap raised, it would hop familiarly and unsuspiciously about. He adds that it is a songster of high merit, in power and variety ranking very little below the song of the Chondestes grammaca. The song varies in the modulations greatly with the individual, but the same general style is preserved. At times it seemed to have a slight resemblance to the song of Bewick’s Wren, and at others to that of a Cyanospiza, and more rarely, to be the reproduction of a passage from the song of the Chondestes.

In the early part of July, near Austin, in the cañons of the mountains, he found these birds breeding in the greatest abundance, and later in the same month a few of its nests were found on the East Humboldt Mountains. All of its nests, with hardly an exception, were placed from eighteen inches to two feet above the ground, among the thick bushes of a species of Symphoricarpus, or “snow-berry,” which grows in great abundance upon the sides of the cañons of those mountains. The maximum number of eggs was four. It was also quite a common bird in the Wahsatch Mountains, though less abundant than the P. megalonyx.

Mr. Allen found this Finch quite numerous in Colorado Territory, and speaks of its song as very peculiar and very pleasing. It is said to resemble in no respect the eastern Towhee Finch, with which it is classed, but much more closely the group of Sparrows, so familiarly represented at the east by the White-throated, being like them in habits, song, and general aspect. It was more common among the foot-hills than on the plains. In Utah, according to Mr. Allen, this Finch begins to appear in numbers about September 20, from its breeding-haunts in the mountains.

Dr. Coues met with this species in Arizona, but only as a spring and autumn migrant. None remained there in summer to breed, and none were found there in the winter. In its migrations it passed rapidly by Fort Whipple, being found there only during the latter part of April and the beginning of May, and during the month of September. At those seasons it appeared to him the most silent and retiring of all the Pipilos. He found it very difficult to either observe its habits or to capture it. It winters sparingly at Fort Mohave.

Specimens of this bird were taken near Lookout Mountain by C. S. McCarthy, and at Gilmer, in Wyoming Territory, by Mr. Durkee.

Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds observed on the 32d. parallel, [Pg 134] under Lieutenant Parke, mentions first meeting with this species near Tucson. They were frequenting, in numbers, the thick undergrowth, and were seeking seeds and insects on the ground. They seemed inclined to shun observation, and always kept in the most retired situations. They were sociable among themselves, going about singly or in pairs, associated with the Poospiza bilineata and two or three other kinds of Finch. When started they fly low, diving into the bushes, and soon disappear from sight. Occasionally, until reaching El Paso, Texas, birds of this species were met with, mingling with the flocks of migrating Fringillidæ. He there procured a pair apparently just entering upon incubation.

Instead of being suited by color, like most of the other Pipilos, to inhabit dark thickets and among dry leaves, this species is clad in a gayer livery, and seems well adapted for concealment in its summer resorts, and also among the growing vegetation of the lower country during the rainy season. Dr. Heermann found a few wintering in the Colorado Valley, and yet more at San Diego, but they left both places in March. He found them silent and shy, hiding very closely in the bushes, and feeding altogether on the ground. The only note he heard, resembled the crowing note of the California Quail.

Among the memoranda of Mr. Xantus, made near Fort Tejon, are the two following: “4,839, nest and two eggs (of Pipilo chlorurus) found in a dry hedge in Mr. Ritchie’s garden; 5,083, nest and eggs found in a dark garden-hedge.”

The eggs of the chlorurus are like those of no other Pipilo that I have met with. They are peculiar in shape, being nearly of an exact oval, neither end being apparently much more rounded than the other. Their ground-color is white with a bluish tint, over which is profusely diffused a cloud of fine dottings of a pinkish-drab. These markings are occasionally so fine and so thickly distributed as to give to the egg the appearance of a uniform color, or as an unspotted pinkish drab-colored egg. Occasionally the dots are deeper and larger, and more sparsely diffused.

In considering the eggs of the Pipilos in general we find certain variations which deserve more than a passing notice. Those of erythrophthalmus, oregonus, arcticus, and megalonyx are all fringilline in their characters, and have a marked affinity to eggs of Melospiza, Zonotrichia, and many other genera of this order. The eggs of aberti, fuscus, mesoleucus, and albigula are also all closely alike, and exhibit a very close resemblance to those of the Agelaii, and even of the Icteri, while the eggs of P. chlorurus, though of a fringilline character, are unlike either style.

[Pg 148]

Subfamily AGELAINÆ.

Char. Bill stout, conical, and acutely pointed, not longer than the head; the outlines nearly straight, the tip not decurved. Legs adapted for walking, longer than the head. Claws not much curved. Tail moderate, shorter than the wings; nearly even.

The Agelainæ, through Molothrus and Dolichonyx, present a close relation to the Fringillidæ in the comparative shortness and conical shape of the bill, and, in fact, it is very difficult to express in brief words the distinctions which evidently exist. Dolichonyx may be set aside as readily determinate by the character of the feet and tail. The peculiar subfamily characteristics of Molothrus will be found under the generic remarks respecting it.

The following diagnosis will serve to define the genera:—

A. Bill shorter than the head. Feathers of head and nostrils as in B.

Dolichonyx. Tail-feathers with rigid stiffened acuminate points. Middle toe very long, exceeding the head.

Molothrus. Tail with the feathers simple; middle toe shorter than the tarsus or head.

B. Bill as long as the head. Feathers of crown soft. Nostrils covered by a scale which is directed more or less downwards.

Agelaius. First quill shorter than the second and third. Outer lateral claws scarcely reaching to the base of middle; claws moderate.

Xanthocephalus. First quill longest. Outer lateral claw reaching nearly to the tip of the middle. Toes and claws all much elongated.

C. Bill as long as, or longer than, the head. Feathers of crown with the shafts prolonged into stiffened bristles. Nostrils covered by a scale which stands out more or less horizontally.

Sturnella. Tail-feathers acute. Middle toe equal to the tarsus.

Trupialis. Tail-feathers rounded. Middle toe shorter than the tarsus.

Genus DOLICHONYX, Swainson.

Dolichonyx, Swainson, Zoöl. Journ. III, 1827, 351. (Type, Emberiza oryzivora, L.)

Gen. Char. Bill short, stout, conical, little more than half the head; the commissure slightly sinuated; the culmen nearly straight. Middle toe considerably longer than the tarsus (which is about as long as the head); the inner lateral toe longest, but not reaching the base of the middle claw. Wings long, first quill longest. Tail-feathers acuminately pointed at the tip, with the shaft stiffened and rigid, as in the Woodpeckers.

The peculiar characteristic of this genus is found in the rigid scansorial [Pg 149] tail and the very long middle toe, by means of which it is enabled to grasp the vertical stems of reeds or other slender plants. The color of the single species is black, varied with whitish patches on the upper parts.

Dolichonyx oryzivorus, Swainson.

BOBOLINK; REEDBIRD; RICEBIRD.

Emberiza oryzivora, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 311.—Gm. I, 1788, 850.—Wilson, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 48, pl. xii, f. 1, 2. Passerina oryzivora, Vieillot, Nouv. Dict. XXV, 1817, 3. Dolichonyx oryzivora, Swainson, Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 351.—Ib. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 278.—Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 437.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 139.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 10, pl. ccxi.—Gosse, Birds Jam. 1847, 229.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 522.—Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 266.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 255.—Samuels, 335. Icterus agripennis, Bonap. Obs. Wils. 1824, No. 87. Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 283; V, 1839, 486, pl. liv.—Nutt. Man. I, 1832, 185. Icterus (Emberizoides) agripennis, Bon. Syn. 1828, 53. Dolichonyx agripennis, Rich. List, 1837. Psarocolius caudacutus, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, 32.

Sp. Char. General color of male in spring, black; the nape brownish cream-color; a patch on the side of the breast, the scapulars, and rump, white, shading into light ash on the upper tail-coverts and the back below the interscapular region. The outer primaries sharply margined with yellowish-white; the tertials less abruptly; the tail-feathers margined at the tips with pale brownish-ash. In autumn totally different, resembling the female.

Female, yellowish beneath; two stripes on the top of the head, and the upper parts throughout, except the back of the neck and rump, and including all the wing-feathers generally, dark brown, all edged with brownish-yellow, which becomes whiter near the tips of the quills. The sides sparsely streaked with dark brown, and a similar stripe behind the eye. There is a superciliary and a median band of yellow on the head. Length of male, 7.70; wing, 3.83; tail, 3.15.

Hab. Eastern United States to the high Central Plains. North to Selkirk Settlement, and Ottawa, Canada; and west to Salt Lake Valley, Utah, and Ruby Valley, Nevada (Ridgway); Cuba, winter (Caban.); Bahamas (Bryant); Jamaica (Gosse, Scl., Oct.; March, Oct., and in spring); James Island, Galapagos, Oct. (Gould); Sombrero, W. I. (Lawrence); Brazil (Pelzeln); Yucatan.

A female bird from Paraguay (Dec., 1859) is undistinguishable from the average of northern ones, except by the smaller size. Specimens from the western plains differ from those taken near the Atlantic Coast in having the light areas above paler, and less obscured by the grayish wash so prevalent in the latter; the ochraceous of the nape being very pale, and at the same time pure.

[Pg 150] Habits. The well-known and familiar Bobolink of North America has, at different seasons of the year, a remarkably extended distribution. In its migrations it traverses all of the United States east of the high central plains to the Atlantic as far to the north as the 54th parallel, which is believed to be its most northern limit, and which it reaches in June. In the winter it reaches, in its wandering, the West Indies, Central America, the northern and even the central portions of South America. Von Pelzeln obtained Brazilian specimens from Matogrosso and Rio Madeira in November, and from Marabitanas, April 4th and 13th. Those procured in April were in their summer or breeding plumage, suggesting the possibility of their breeding in the high grounds of South America. Sclater received specimens from Santa Marta and from Bolivia. Other specimens have been reported as coming from Rio Negro, Rio Napo, in Brazil, Cuba, Jamaica, Porto Rico, Paraguay, Buenos Ayres, etc.

In North America it breeds from the 42d to the 54th parallel, and in some parts of the country it is very abundant at this season. The most southern breeding locality hitherto recorded is the forks of the Susquehanna River, along the west branch of which, especially in the Wyoming Valley, it was formerly very abundant.

Mr. Ridgway also observed this bird in Ruby Valley where, among the wheat-fields, small companies were occasionally seen in August. He was informed that, near Salt Lake City, these birds are seen in May, and again late in the summer, when the grain is ripe.

Of all our unimitative and natural songsters the Bobolink is by far the most popular and attractive. Always original and peculiarly natural, its song is exquisitely musical. In the variety of its notes, in the rapidity with which they are uttered, and in the touching pathos, beauty, and melody of their tone and expression, its notes are not equalled by those of any other North American bird. We know of none, among our native feathered songsters, whose song resembles, or can be compared with it.

In the earliest approaches of spring, in Louisiana, when small flocks of male Bobolinks make their first appearance, they are said, by Mr. Audubon, to sing in concert; and their song thus given is at once exceedingly novel, interesting, and striking. Uttered with a volubility that even borders upon the burlesque and the ludicrous, the whole effect is greatly heightened by the singular and striking manner in which first one singer and then another, one following the other until all have joined their voices, take up the note and strike in, after the leader has set the example and given the signal. In this manner sometimes a party of thirty or forty Bobolinks will begin, one after the other, until the whole unite in producing an extraordinary medley, to which no pen can do justice, but which is described as very pleasant to listen to. All at once the music ceases with a suddenness not less striking and extraordinary. These concerts are repeated from time to time, usually as often as the flock alight. This performance may [Pg 151] also be witnessed early in April, in the vicinity of Washington, the Smithsonian grounds being a favorite place of resort.

By the time these birds have reached, in their spring migrations, the 40th parallel of latitude, they no longer move in large flocks, but have begun to separate into small parties, and finally into pairs. In New England the Bobolink treats us to no such concerts as those described by Audubon, where many voices join in creating their peculiar jingling melody. When they first appear, usually after the middle of May, they are in small parties, composed of either sex, absorbed in their courtships and overflowing with song. When two or three male Bobolinks, decked out in their gayest spring apparel, are paying their attentions to the same drab-colored female, contrasting so strikingly in her sober brown dress, their performances are quite entertaining, each male endeavoring to outsing the other. The female appears coy and retiring, keeping closely to the ground, but always attended by the several aspirants for her affection. After a contest, often quite exciting, the rivalries are adjusted, the rejected suitors are driven off by their more fortunate competitor, and the happy pair begin to put in order a new home. It is in these love-quarrels that their song appears to the greatest advantage. They pour out incessantly their strains of quaint but charming music, now on the ground, now on the wing, now on the top of a fence, a low bush, or the swaying stalk of a plant that bends with their weight. The great length of their song, the immense number of short and variable notes of which it is composed, the volubility and confused rapidity with which they are poured forth, the eccentric breaks, in the midst of which we detect the words “bob-o-link” so distinctly enunciated, unite to form a general result to which we can find no parallel in any of the musical performances of our other song-birds. It is at once a unique and a charming production. Nuttall speaks of their song as monotonous, which is neither true nor consistent with his own description of it. To other ears they seem ever wonderfully full of variety, pathos, and beauty.

When their contests are ended, and the mated pair take possession of their selected meadow, and prepare to construct their nest and rear their family, then we may find the male bird hovering in the air over the spot where his homely partner is brooding over her charge. All this while he is warbling forth his incessant and happy love-song; or else he is swinging on some slender stalk or weed that bends under him, ever overflowing with song and eloquent with melody. As domestic cares and parental responsibilities increase, his song becomes less and less frequent. After a while it has degenerated into a few short notes, and at length ceases altogether. The young in due time assume the development of mature birds, and all wear the sober plumage of the mother. And now there also appears a surprising change in the appearance of our gayly attired musician. His showy plumage of contrasting white and black, so conspicuous and striking, changes with almost instant rapidity into brown and drab, until he is no longer distinguishable, either by plumage or note, from his mate or young.

[Pg 152] At the north, where the Bobolinks breed, they are not known to molest the crops, confining their food almost entirely to insects, or the seeds of valueless weeds, in the consumption of which they confer benefit, rather than harm. At the south they are accused of injuring the young wheat as they pass northward in their spring migrations, and of plundering the rice plantations on their return. About the middle of August they appear in almost innumerable flocks among the marshes of the Delaware River. There they are known as Reedbirds. Two weeks later they begin to swarm among the rice plantations of South Carolina. There they take the name of Ricebirds. In October they again pass on southward, and make another halt among the West India Islands. There they feed upon the seeds of the Guinea-grass, upon which they become exceedingly fat. In Jamaica they receive a new appellation, and are called Butterbirds. They are everywhere sought after by sportsmen, and are shot in immense numbers for the table of the epicure. More recently it has been ascertained that these birds feed greedily upon the larvæ of the destructive cotton-worm, and in so doing render an immense service to the cultivators of Sea Island cotton.

Dr. Bryant, in his visit to the Bahamas, was eye-witness to the migrations northward of these birds, as they passed through those islands. He first noted them on the 6th of May, towards sunset. A number of flocks—he counted nine—were flying to the westward. On the following day the country was filled with these birds, and men and boys turned out in large numbers to shoot them. He examined a quantity of them, and all were males in full plumage. Numerous flocks continued to arrive that day and the following, which was Sunday. On Monday, among those that were shot were many females. On Tuesday but few were to be seen, and on Wednesday they had entirely disappeared.

Near Washington, Dr. Coues observed the Bobolink to be only a spring and autumnal visitant, from May 1st to the 15th distributed abundantly about orchards and meadows, generally in flocks. In autumn they frequented in immense flocks the tracts of Zizania aquatica, along the Potomac, from August 20 to October.

The Bobolink invariably builds its nest upon the ground, usually in a meadow, and conceals it so well among the standing grass that it is very difficult of discovery until the grass is cut. The female is very wary in leaving or in returning to her nest, always alighting upon the ground, or rising from it, at a distance from her nest. The male bird, too, if the nest is approached, seeks to decoy off the intruder by his anxiety over a spot remote from the object of his solicitude. The nest is of the simplest description, made usually of a few flexible stems of grasses carefully interwoven into a shallow and compact nest. The eggs, five or six in number, have a dull white ground, in some tinged with a light drab, in others with olive. They are generally spotted and blotched over the entire egg with a rufous-brown, intermingled with lavender. They are pointed at one end, and measure .90 by .70 of an inch. They have but one brood in a season.

[Pg 153] In some eggs, especially those found in more northern localities, the ground-color is drab, with a strong tinge of purple. Over this is diffused a series of obscure lavender-color, and then overlying these are larger and bolder blotches of wine-colored brown. In a few eggs long and irregular lines of dark purple, so deep as to be undistinguishable from black, are added. These eggs are quite pointed at one end.

Genus MOLOTHRUS, Swainson.

Molothrus, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 277; supposed by Cabanis to be meant for Molobrus. (Type, Fringilla pecoris, Gm.)

Gen. Char. Bill short, stout, about two thirds the length of head; the commissure straight, culmen and gonys slightly curved, convex, the former broad, rounded, convex, and running back on the head in a point. Lateral toes nearly equal, reaching the base of the middle one, which is shorter than tarsus; claws rather small. Tail nearly even; wings long, pointed, the first quill longest. As far as known, the species make no nest, but deposit the eggs in the nests of other, usually smaller, birds.

The genus Molothrus has the bill intermediate between Dolichonyx and Agelaius. It has the culmen unusually broad between the nostrils, and it extends back some distance into the forehead. The difference in the structure of the feet from Dolichonyx is very great.

Species of Molothrus resemble some of the Fringillidæ more than any other of the Icteridæ. The bill is, however, more straight, the tip without notch; the culmen running back farther on the forehead, the nostrils being situated fully one third or more of the total length from its posterior extremity. This is seldom the case in the American families. The entire absence of notch in the bill and of bristles along the rictus are strong features. The nostrils are perfectly free from any overhanging feathers or bristles. The pointed wings, with the first quill longest, or nearly equal to second, and the tail with its broad rounded feathers, shorter than the wings, are additional features to be specially noted.

[Pg 154] Molothrus pecoris, Swainson.

COW BLACKBIRD; COWBIRD.

Fringilla pecoris, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 910 (female).—Lath. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 443.—Licht. Verzeich. 1823, Nos. 230, 231. Emberiza pecoris, Wils. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 145, pl. xviii, f. 1, 2, 3. Icterus pecoris, Bonap. Obs. Wilson, 1824, No. 88.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 493; V, 1839, 233, 490, pls. xcix and ccccxxiv. Icterus (Emberizoides) pecoris, Bon. Syn. 1828, 53.—Ib. Specchio comp. No. 41.—Nutt. Man. I, 1832, 178, (2d ed.,) 190. Passerina pecoris, Vieill. Nouv. Dict. XXV, 1819, 22. Psarocolius pecoris, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, No. 20. Molothrus pecoris, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 277.—Rich. List, 1837.—Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Consp. 1850, 436.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 139.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 16, pl. ccxii.—Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 193.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 524.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 257.—Samuels, 339.—Allen, B. Fla. 284. ? Oriolus fuscus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 393. ? Sturnus obscurus, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 804 (evidently a Molothrus, and probably, but not certainly, the present species). Molothrus obscurus, Cassin, Pr. Ph. Ac. 1866, 18 (Mira Flores, L. Cal.).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 260. “Icterus emberizoides, Daudin.” ? Sturnus junceti, Lath. Ind. I, 1790, 326 (same as Sturnus obscurus, Gm.). ? Fringilla ambigua, Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 484 (young). Sturnus nove-hispaniæ, Briss. II, 448.

Sp. Char. Second quill longest; first scarcely shorter. Tail nearly even, or very slightly rounded. Male with the head, neck, and anterior half of the breast light chocolate-brown, rather lighter above; rest of body lustrous black, with a violet-purple gloss next to the brown, of steel blue on the back, and of green elsewhere. Female light olivaceous-brown all over, lighter on the head and beneath. Bill and feet black. Length, 8 inches; wing, 4.42; tail, 3.40.

Hab. United States from the Atlantic to California; not found immediately on the coast of the Pacific? Orizaba (Scl. 1857, 213); Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 492); Fort Whipple, Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S., 1866, 90); Nevada and Utah (Ridgway); Mazatlan, Tehuantepec, Cape St. Lucas.

The young bird of the year is brown above, brownish-white beneath; the throat immaculate. A maxillary stripe and obscure streaks thickly crowded across the whole breast and sides. There is a faint indication of a paler superciliary stripe. The feathers of the upper parts are all margined with paler. There are also indications of light bands on the wings. These markings are all obscure, but perfectly appreciable, and their existence in adult birds of any species may be considered as embryonic, and showing an inferiority in degree to the species with the under parts perfectly plain.

Specimens from the west appear to have a rather longer and narrower bill than those from the east. Summer birds of Cape St. Lucas and the Rio Grande are considerably smaller (var. obscurus, Cassin). Length about 6.50; wing, 4.00; tail, 3.00. Some winter skins from the same region are equal in size to the average.

Birds of this species breeding south of the Rio Grande, as well as those from Cape St. Lucas, Mazatlan, etc., are very much smaller than those nesting within the United States; but the transition between the extremes of size is so gradual that it is almost impossible to strike an average [Pg 155] of characters for two races. The extremes of size in this species are as follows:—

	Wing	tail	culmen	tarsus
Largest. (11,271, ♂, Fort Bridger.)	4.60;	3.35;	.72;	1.03.
Smallest. (17,297, ♂, Mira Flores, L. C.)	3.80;	2.65;	.60;	.84.

Habits. The common Cow Blackbird has a very extended distribution from the Atlantic to California, and from Texas to Canada, and probably to regions still farther north. They have not been traced to the Pacific coast, though abundant on that of the Atlantic. Dr. Cooper thinks that a few winter in the Colorado Valley, and probably also in the San Joaquin Valley.

This species is at all times gregarious and polygamous, never mating, and never exhibiting any signs of either conjugal or parental affections. Like the Cuckoos of Europe, our Cow Blackbird never constructs a nest of her own, and never hatches out or attempts to rear her own offspring, but imposes her eggs upon other birds; and most of these, either unconscious of the imposition or unable to rid themselves of the alien, sit upon and hatch the stranger, and in so doing virtually destroy their own offspring,—for the eggs of the Cowbird are the first hatched, usually two days before the others. The nursling is much larger in size, filling up a large portion of the nest, and is insatiable in its appetite, always clamoring to be fed, and receiving by far the larger share of the food brought to the nest; its foster-companions, either starved or stifled, soon die, and their dead bodies are removed, it is supposed, by their parents. They are never found near the nest, as they would be if the young Cow Blackbird expelled them as does the Cuckoo; indeed, Mr. Nuttall has seen parent birds removing the dead young to a distance from the nest, and there dropping them.

For the most part the Cowbird deposits her egg in the nest of a bird much smaller than herself, but this is not always the case. I have known of their eggs having been found in the nests of Turdus mustelinus and T. fuscescens, Sturnella magna and S. neglecta. In each instance they had been incubated. How the young Cowbird generally fares when hatched in the nests of birds of equal or larger size, and the fate of the foster-nurslings, is an interesting subject for investigation. Mr. J. A. Allen saw, in Western Iowa, a female Harporhynchus rufus feeding a nearly full grown Cowbird,—a very interesting fact, and the only evidence we now have that these birds are reared by birds of superior size.

It lays also in the nests of the common Catbird, but the egg never remains there long after the owner of the nest becomes aware of the intrusion. The list of the birds in whose nests the Cow Blackbird deposits her egg and it is reared is very large. The most common nurses of these foundlings in New England are Spizella socialis, Empidonax minimus, Geothlypis trichas, and all our eastern Vireos, namely, olivaceus, solitarius, noveboracensis, gilvus, and flavifrons. Besides these, I have found their eggs in the nests of Polioptila cærulea, Mniotilta varia, Helminthophaga ruficapilla, Dendroica virens, D. [Pg 156] blackburniæ, D. pennsylvanica and D. discolor, Seiurus aurocapillus, Setophaga ruticilla, Cyanospiza cyanea, Contopus virens, etc. I have also known of their eggs having been found in the nests of Vireo belli and V. pusillus, and Cyanospiza amœna. Dr. Cooper has found their egg in the nest of Icteria virens; and Mr. T. H. Jackson of West Chester, Penn., in those of Empidonax acadicus and Pyranga rubra.

Usually not more than a single Cowbird’s egg is found in the same nest, though it is not uncommon to find two; and in a few instances three and even four eggs have been met with. In one instance Mr. Trippe mentions having found in the nest of a Black and White Creeper, besides three eggs of the owner of the nest, no less than five of the parasite. Mr. H. S. Rodney reports having found, in Potsdam, N. Y., May 15, 1868, a nest of Zonotrichia leucophrys of two stories, in one of which was buried a Cowbird’s egg, and in the upper there were two more of the same, with three eggs of the rightful owners. In the spring of 1869 the same gentleman found a nest of the Sayornis fuscus with three Cowbird’s eggs and three of her own.

Mr. Vickary, of Lynn, found, in the spring of 1860, the nest of a Seiurus aurocapillus, in which, with only one egg of the rightful owner, there were no less than four of the Cowbird. All five eggs were perfectly fresh, and had not been set upon. In the summer of the preceding year the same gentleman found a nest of the Red-eyed Vireo containing three eggs of the Vireo and four of the Cow Blackbird.

How the offspring from these eggs may all fare when more than one of these voracious nurslings are hatched in the same nest, is an interesting problem, well worthy the attention of some patiently inquiring naturalist to solve.

The Cow Blackbird appears in New England with a varying degree of promptness, sometimes as early as the latter part of March, and as frequently not until the middle of April. Nuttall states that none are seen in Massachusetts after the middle of June until the following October, and Allen, that they are there all the summer. My own observations do not correspond with the statement of either of these gentlemen. They certainly do become quite rare in the eastern part of that State after the third week in June, but that all the females are not gone is proved by the constant finding of freshly laid eggs up to July 1. I have never been able to find a Cow Blackbird in Eastern Massachusetts between the first of July and the middle of September. This I attribute to the absence of sufficient food. In the Cambridge marshes they remain until all the seeds have been consumed, and only reappear when the new crop is edible.

This Blackbird is a general feeder, eating insects, apparently in preference, and wild seed. They derive their name of Cow Blackbird from their keeping about that animal, and finding, either from her parasitic insects or her droppings, opportunities for food. They feed on the ground, and occasionally scratch for insects. At the South, to a limited extent, they frequent the rice-fields in company with the Redwinged Blackbird.

[Pg 157] Mr. Nuttall states that if a Cow Blackbird’s egg is deposited in a nest alone it is uniformly forsaken, and he also enumerates the Summer Yellowbird as one of the nurses of the Cowbird. In both respects I think he is mistaken. So far from forsaking her nest when one of these eggs is deposited, the Red-eyed Vireo has been known to commence incubation without having laid any of her own eggs, and also to forsake her nest when the intrusive egg has been taken and her own left. The D. æstiva, I think, invariably covers up and destroys the Cowbird’s eggs when deposited before her own, and even when deposited afterwards.

The Cow Blackbird has no attractions as a singer, and has nothing that deserves the name of song. His utterances are harsh and unmelodious.

In September they begin to collect in large flocks, in localities favorable for their sustenance. The Fresh Pond marshes in Cambridge were once one of their chosen places of resort, in which they seemed to collect late in September, as if coming from great distances. There they remained until late in October, when they passed southward.

Mr. Ridgway only met with this species in two places, the valley of the Humboldt in September, and in June in the Truckee Valley. Their eggs were also obtained in the Wahsatch Mountains, deposited in the nest of Passerella schistacea, and in Bear River Valley in the nest of Geothlypis trichas.

Mr. Boardman informs me that the Cow Blackbird is a very rare bird in the neighborhood of Calais, Me., so much so that he does not see one of these birds once in five years, even as a bird of passage.

The eggs of this species are of a rounded oval, though some are more oblong than others, and are nearly equally rounded at either end. They vary from .85 of an inch to an inch in length, and from .65 to .70 in breadth. Their ground-color is white. In some it is so thickly covered with fine dottings of ashy and purplish-brown that the ground is not distinguishable. In others the egg is blotched with bold dashes of purple and wine-colored brown.

On the Rio Grande the eggs of the smaller southern race were found in the nests of Vireo belli, and in each of the nests of the Vireo pusillus found near Camp Grant, Arizona, there was an egg of this species. At Cape St. Lucas, Mr. Xantus found their eggs in nests of the Polioptila melanura. We have no information in regard to their habits, and can only infer that they must be substantially the same as those of the northern birds.

The eggs of the var. obscurus exhibit a very marked variation in size from those of the var. pecoris, and have a different appearance, though their colors are nearly identical. Their ground-color is white, and their markings a claret-brown. These markings are fewer, smaller, and less generally distributed, and the ground-color is much more apparent. They measure .60 by .55 of an inch, and their capacity as compared with the eggs of the pecoris is as 33 to 70,—a variation that is constant, and apparently too large to be accounted for on climatic differences.

[Pg 158] Genus AGELAIUS, Vieill.

Agelaius, Vieillot, “Analyse, 1816.” (Type, Oriolus phœniceus, L.)

Gen. Char. First quill shorter than second; claws short; the outer lateral scarcely reaching the base of the middle. Culmen depressed at base, parting the frontal feathers; length equal to that of the head, shorter than tarsus. Both mandibles of equal thickness and acute at tip, the edges much curved, the culmen, gonys, and commissure nearly straight or slightly sinuated; the length of bill about twice its height. Tail moderate, rounded, or very slightly graduated. Wings pointed, reaching to end of lower tail-coverts. Colors black with red shoulders in North American species. One West Indian with orange-buff. Females streaked except in two West Indian species.

The nostrils are small, oblong, overhung by a membranous scale. The bill is higher than broad at the base. There is no division between the anterior tarsal scutellæ and the single plate on the outside of the tarsus.

The females of two West Indian species are uniform black. Of these the male of one, A. assimilis of Cuba, is undistinguishable from that of A. phœniceus; and in fact we may without impropriety consider the former as a melanite race of the latter, the change appreciable only in the female. The A. humeralis, also of Cuba, is smaller, and black, with the lesser coverts brownish orange-buff.

Species and Varieties.

Common Characters. Males glossy black without distinct bluish lustre, lesser wing-coverts bright red. Females without any red, and either wholly black or variegated with light streaks, most conspicuous below.

A. phœniceus. Tail rounded. Red of shoulders a bright scarlet tint. Black of plumage without bluish lustre. Females with wing-coverts edged with brownish, or without any light edgings at all.

a. Female continuous deep black, unvariegated.

[Pg 159] Middle wing-coverts wholly buff in male.

Wing, 4.40; tail, 3.80; culmen, .95; tarsus, 1.00. Hab. Cuba.

b. Females striped beneath … var. assimilis.[30]

Wing, 4.90; tail, 3.85; culmen, .96; tarsus, 1.10. Female. White stripes on lower parts exceeding the dusky ones in width; a conspicuous lighter superciliary stripe, and one strongly indicated on middle of the crown. Hab. Whole of North America, south to Guatemala … var. phœniceus.

Middle wing-coverts black, except at base.

Wing, 5.00; tail, 3.90; culmen, .90; tarsus, 1.10. Female. White stripes on lower parts narrower than dusky ones; the posterior portion beneath being almost continuously dusky. No trace of median stripe on crown, and the superciliary one indistinct. Hab. Pacific Province of United States, south through Western Mexico … var. gubernator.

Middle wing-coverts wholly white in male.

B. tricolor. Tail square. Red of the shoulders a brownish-scarlet, or burnt-carmine tint. Black of the plumage (both sexes at all ages) with a silky bluish lustre. Female with wing-coverts edged with pure white.

Wing, 4.90; tail, 3.70; culmen, .97; tarsus, 1.13. Female. Like that of gubernator, but with scarcely any brownish tinge to the plumage, and the lesser wing-coverts sharply bordered with pure white. Hab. California (only ?).

Agelaius phœniceus, Vieillot.

SWAMP BLACKBIRD; REDWING BLACKBIRD.

Oriolus phœniceus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 161.—Gmelin, I, 1788, 386.—Lath. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 428. Agelaius phœniceus, “Vieillot, Anal. 1816.”—Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 280.—Bonap. List, 1838.—Ib. Consp. 1850, 430.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 141.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 31, pl. ccxvi.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 526.—Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 263.—Cooper & Suckley, 207.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 261.—Samuels, 341.—Allen, Birds E. Fla. 284. Icterus phœniceus, Licht. Verz. 1823, No. 188.—Bon. Obs. Wils. 1824, No. 68.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 348; V, 1839, 487, pl. lxvii. Psarocolius phœniceus, Wagler, Syst. Nat. 1827, No. 10. Icterus (Xanthornus) phœniceus, Bonap. Syn. 1828, 52.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 167, (2d ed.,) 179. Sturnus prædatorius, Wilson, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 30, pl. xxx. Redwinged Oriole, Pennant, Arctic Zoöl. II, 255.

Sp. Char. Tail much rounded; the lateral feathers about half an inch shorter. Fourth quill longest; first about as long as the fifth. Bill large, stout; half as high, or more than half as high, as long.

Male. General color uniform lustrous velvet-black, with a greenish reflection. Shoulders and lesser wing-coverts of a bright crimson or vermilion-red. Middle coverts brownish-yellow, or buff, and usually paler towards the tips.

Female. Brown above, the feathers edged or streaked with rufous-brown and [Pg 160] yellowish; beneath white, streaked with brown. Forepart of throat, superciliary, and median stripe strongly tinged with brownish-yellow. Length of male, 9.50; wing, 5.00; tail, 4.15.

Hab. United States from Atlantic to Pacific; north to Great Slave Lake, Fort Resolution, Fort Simpson, Fort Rae, etc.; Guatemala (Sclater, Ibis I, 19; breeding); Costa Rica (Lawrence, America, N. Y. Lyc. IX, 104); Bahamas (Bryant, B. P. VII, 1859); Texas (Dresser, Ibis, 65, 492); Arizona (Coues, P. A. N. S. 1866, 90; Fort Whipple); Yucatan.

There is some variation in the shade of red on the shoulders, which is sometimes of the color of arterial blood or bright crimson. It never, however, has the hæmatitic tint of the red in A. tricolor. The middle coverts are usually uniform brownish-yellow to the very tips; sometimes some of these middle coverts are tipped at the end with black, but these black tips are usually of slight extent, and indicate immaturity, or else a transition of hybridism or race to A. gubernator.

There is also some variation in the size and proportions of the bill. The most striking is in a series of three from the Red River Settlement, decidedly larger than more southern ones (wings, 5.15; tail, 4.40). The bill is about as long as that of Pennsylvania specimens, but much stouter, the thickness at the base being considerably more than half the length of the culmen. One specimen from San Elizario, Texas, has the bill of much the same size and proportions.

The male of A. assimilis of Cuba cannot be distinguished from small-sized males of phœniceus from the United States, the females, however, as in nearly all West Indian Icteridæ, are uniform though rather dull black. This we consider as simply a local variation of melanism, not indicating a specific difference. A young male is similar, but with the lesser coverts red, tipped with black. On the other extreme, streaked female and young birds from Lower California, Arizona, and Western Mexico are much lighter than in eastern birds, the chin, throat, jugulum, and superciliary stripe tinged with a peculiar peach-blossom pink; not buff, sometimes tinged with orange.

Habits. The much abused and persecuted Redwinged Blackbird is found throughout North America as far north as the 57th parallel, from the Atlantic to the Pacific; and it breeds more or less abundantly wherever found, from Florida and Texas to the plains of the Saskatchewan. According to the observations of Mr. Salvin, it is resident all the year in Guatemala. It breeds among the reeds at the lake of Dueñas, deferring its incubation until the month of June. The females congregate in large flocks near the lake, feeding about the swampy grass on the edge of the water, the males keeping separate. At Orizaba, Mexico, Sumichrast regarded this species as only a bird of passage.

On the Pacific coast, it is only found, in any numbers, in Washington Territory and in Oregon, about cultivated tracts. Dr. Cooper thinks that none inhabit the bare and mountainous prairie regions east of the Cascade Mountains. Small flocks wintered at Vancouver about stables and haystacks. [Pg 161] Dr. Suckley speaks of them as quite common west of the Cascade Mountains, arriving from the South in March. In all the marshy places of the entire West Mr. Ridgway met with this species and their nests in great abundance. In all respects he found the western birds identical with the eastern. Their nests were in low bushes in overflowed meadows.

Donald Gunn found this species common in the Red River Settlements; and Richardson met with them on the Saskatchewan, where they arrive in May, but do not breed until the 20th of June.

In New England this Blackbird is generally migratory, though instances are on record where a few have been known to remain throughout the winter in Massachusetts. They are among the earliest to arrive in spring, coming, in company with the Rusty Grakle, as early as the 10th of March. Those which remain to breed usually come a month later. They breed throughout New England, as also in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

It is equally abundant and resident in Arizona and Texas, and in the adjoining portions of Mexico. On the Rio Grande, Mr. Dresser found it very abundant, breeding on the banks of the rivers and streams. In the winter season these birds are found in immense flocks in the lower parts of Virginia, both the Carolinas, and all the Gulf States, particularly near the sea-coast and among old fields of rice and grain. Wilson states that once, passing, in January, through the lower counties of Virginia, he frequently witnessed the aerial evolutions of great bodies of these birds. Sometimes they appeared as if driven about like an enormous black cloud carried before the wind, varying every moment in shape. Sometimes they rose up suddenly from the fields with a noise like thunder, while the glittering of innumerable wings of the brightest vermilion, amid the black cloud, occasioned a very striking effect. At times the whole congregated multitude would suddenly alight in some detached grove and commence one general concert, that he could plainly distinguish at the distance of more than two miles, and when listened to at a distance of a quarter of a mile, the flow of its cadences was grand, and even sublime.

He adds that with the Redwings the whole winter season seems one continued carnival. They find abundant food in the old fields of rice, buckwheat, and grain, and much of their time is spent in aerial movements, or in grand vocal performances.

Early in March these large assemblies break up. A part separate in pairs and remain among the Southern swamps. The greater portion, in smaller flocks, the male bird leading the way, commence their movements northward. Late in April they have all re-established themselves in their chosen haunts, have mated, and are preparing to make their nests. In Pennsylvania this is done in May, in New England early in June, and farther north a fortnight later. For their nest they invariably select either the borders of streams or low marshy situations. These they usually place in low bushes, such as grow in moist situations, among thick bunches of reeds, [Pg 162] or even on the ground. In one instance, in an island on the marshes of Essex River, Mr. Maynard found these nests placed in trees twenty feet from the ground. One nest was built on a slender sapling at the distance of fourteen feet from the ground. The nest was pensile, like that of the Baltimore Oriole. It was woven of bleached eel-grass.

When built in a bush, the outer, basket-like frame of the nest is carefully and strongly interwoven with, or fastened around, the adjacent twigs, and, though somewhat rudely put together, is woven firmly and compactly. Within this is packed a mass of coarse materials, with an inner nest of sedges and grasses. The outer framework is usually made of rushes and strong leaves of the iris. The male bird is a very attentive and watchful parent, constantly on the lookout for the approach of danger, and prompt to do all in his power to avert it, approaching close to the intruder, and earnestly remonstrating against the aggression. If the nest is pillaged, for several days he evinces great distress, and makes frequent lamentations, but soon prepares to remedy the disaster. So tenacious are they of a selected locality, that I have known the same pair to build three nests within as many weeks in the same bush, after having been robbed twice. The third time the pair succeeded in raising their brood.

In New England these birds have but one brood in a season. Farther south they are said to have three or more. In August they begin to collect in small flocks largely composed of young birds. The latter do not reach their full plumage until their third summer, but breed in their immature plumage the summer following their appearance. When the Indian corn is in the milk, these birds are said to collect in numbers, and to commit great depredations upon it. As soon, however, as the corn hardens, they desist from these attacks, and seek other food. In the grain-growing States they gather in immense swarms and commit great havoc, and although they are shot in immense numbers, and though their ranks are thinned by the attacks of hawks, it seems to have but little effect upon the survivors. These scenes of pillage are, for the most part, confined to the low sections, near the sea-coast, and only last during a short period, when the corn is in a condition to be eaten.

On the other hand, these Blackbirds more than compensate the farmer for these brief episodes of mischief, by the immense benefits they confer in the destruction of grub-worms, caterpillars, and various kinds of larvæ, the secret and deadly enemies of vegetation. During the months of March, April, May, June, and July, their food is almost wholly insects, and during that period the amount of their insect food, all of it of the most noxious kinds, is perfectly enormous. These they both consume themselves and feed to their young. Wilson estimated the number of insects destroyed by these birds in a single season, in the United States, at twelve thousand millions.

The notes of this bird are very various and indescribable. The most [Pg 163] common one sounds like con-cur-ee. But there is also an almost endless mingling of guttural, creaking, or clear utterances that defy description.

Their eggs vary greatly in size; the largest measures 1.08 inches by .82 of an inch, the smallest .90 by .65. They average about an inch in length and .77 of an inch in breadth. They are oval in shape, have a light-bluish ground, and are marbled, lined, and blotched with markings of light and dark purple and black. These markings are almost wholly about the larger end, and are very varying.

Agelaius phœniceus, var. gubernator, Bon.

CRIMSON-SHOULDERED BLACKBIRD.

Psarocolius gubernator, Wagler, Isis, 1832, IV, 281. Agelaius gubernator, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 430.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 141.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 29, pl. ccxv.—Newberry, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 86.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 529.—Heerm. X, S, 53 (nest).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 263. Icterus (Zanthornus) gubernator, Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 187.

Sp. Char. Bill rather shorter than the head, without any longitudinal sulci, but with faint traces of transverse ones at the base of the lower jaw. Tail rounded. First quill nearly equal to the fourth.

Male. Throughout of a lustrous velvety-black, with a greenish reflection. The lesser coverts rich crimson; the middle coverts brownish-yellow at the base, but the exposed portion black. Wing, 5.00; tail, 3.90; culmen, .90; tarsus, 1.10.

Female. Nearly uniform dark slaty-brown; an indistinct superciliary stripe, an indication of a maxillary stripe, and blended streaks on chin and throat delicate pale peach-blossom pink, this on the jugulum interrupted by dusky streaks running in longitudinal series; lesser wing-coverts tinged with dark wine-red. Wings with just appreciable paler edges to the feathers. Wing, 4.20; tail, 3.20.

Hab. Pacific Province of United States, and Western Mexico, to Colima; Western Nevada (Ridgway). ? Xalapa (Sclater, 1859, 365).

In the female and all the immature stages, the dusky beneath is largely in excess of the light streaks; the superciliary light stripe is badly defined, and there is no trace of a median light stripe on the crown. These characters distinguish this race from phœniceus; while the rounded instead of square tail, and brown instead of pure white border to middle wing-coverts, distinguish it from corresponding stages of tricolor.

Habits. The Crimson-shouldered Blackbird was first met with by Mr. Townsend, on the Columbia River, where two specimens were obtained, which were described by Mr. Audubon, in his Synopsis, in 1839. No information in regard to its habits, distribution, or nesting, was obtained by either Mr. Townsend or by his companion, Mr. Nuttall.

This species, or local race, whichever it is considered, occurs from the Columbia River south throughout California. It is given doubtingly as also from the Colorado River, but Dr. Cooper was only able to detect there the common phœniceus. According to the observations of that careful naturalist, [Pg 164] this species is chiefly found in the warmer interior of California, Santa Cruz being the only point on the coast where he has met with it. He found it in scattered pairs, in May, throughout the Coast Range, even to the summits, where there are small marshes full of rushes, in which they build. He has not been able to detect any difference between the habits and notes of this bird and the common Redwing. The fact that specimens with entirely red shoulders seem limited to the middle of the State, or are rare along the coast, while most of those on the coast closely resemble the eastern bird, Dr. Cooper regards as suggestive of its being only a local race, though said to occur also in Mexico.

During the summer this species is said to emit a variety of sweet and liquid notes, delivered from some tree near its favorite marsh. These are also sometimes mingled with jingling and creaking sounds.

Dr. Suckley, in his Report on the Zoölogy of Washington Territory, expresses the opinion, that, although a specimen of this bird is reported as having been taken by Townsend on the Columbia, it is very rarely found so far north, as he never met with it in Washington Territory, and has never been able to hear of any other specimen having been found there.

Dr. Kennerly, in his Report on the birds observed in the survey of the 35th parallel, states that during the march along Bill Williams Fork, and along the Great Colorado and the Mohave Rivers, this species was found quite numerous. They were more abundant still along the creeks and swampy grounds that were passed as they approached the settlements of California. Large flocks could there be seen whirling around in graceful curves, like dark clouds, chattering joyfully as they moved along, or settling as a black veil on the topmost branches of some tree, indulging loudly in their harsh music.

In his Report of the birds observed in the survey under Lieutenant Williamson, Dr. Heermann mentions finding this species abundant, and, in the fall season, as associated with Molothrus pecoris and A. tricolor. Its nest he found built in the willow bushes and tussocks of grass above the level of the water, in the marshes. There were but a few pairs together, and in this respect they differ from the tricolor, which prefers dry situations near water, and which congregate by thousands while breeding. The nest was composed of mud and fine roots, and lined with fine grasses. The eggs, four in number, he describes as pale blue, dashed with spots and lines of black.

Neither this nor the tricolor was detected by Dr. Coues in Arizona.

These Blackbirds were found by Mr. Ridgway abundant in the marshy regions of California, but they were rarely met with east of the Sierra Nevada. A few individuals were collected in Nevada in the valley of the Truckee. A few pairs were found breeding among the tulé sloughs and marshes. The nests found in the Truckee Reservations were built in low bushes in wet meadows.

A nest procured by Dr. Cooper from the summit of the Coast Range was built of grass and rushes, and lined with finer grass. The eggs are described [Pg 165] as pale greenish-white, with large curving streaks and spots of dark brown, mostly at the large end. They are said to measure one inch by .75 of an inch.

Eggs of this variety in my cabinet, taken in California by Dr. Heermann, are of a rounded-oval shape, nearly equally obtuse at either end, and varying in length from .90 of an inch to an inch, and in breadth from .70 to .80. Their ground-color is a light blue, fading into a bluish-white, marked only around the larger end with waving lines of dark brown, much lighter in shade than the markings of the phœniceus usually are.

Agelaius tricolor, Bonap.

RED AND WHITE SHOULDERED BLACKBIRD.

Icterus tricolor, “Nuttall,” Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, I, pl. ccclxxxviii.—Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 186. Agelaius tricolor, Bon. List, 1838.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 141.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 27, pl. ccxiv.—Heerm. X, S, 53 (nest).—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 530.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 265.

Sp. Char. Tail nearly even. Second and third quills longest; first a little shorter than the fourth. Bill slender, not half as high as long.

Male. General color uniform lustrous velvet-black, with a strong silky-bluish reflection. Shoulders and lesser wing-coverts brownish-red, of much the color of venous blood; the median coverts of a well-defined and nearly pure white, with sometimes a brownish tinge. Wing, 4.90; tail, 3.70; culmen, .97; tarsus, 1.13.

Female. General color dusky slaty-brown, faintly variegated on head also by lighter streaks; middle wing-coverts broadly and sharply bordered with pure white. An obsolete superciliary and maxillary stripe of grayish-white. Beneath grayish-white for anterior half, with narrow streaks of dusky, this color gradually prevailing posteriorly, the sides, flanks, and crissum being nearly uniform dusky. Wing, 4.25; tail, 3.20.

Hab. Pacific Province of United States, from Columbia River southward, not yet found out of California and Oregon.

Immature males sometimes have the white on the wing tinged with brownish-yellow, as in A. phœniceus. The red, however, has the usual brownish-orange shade so much darker and duller than the brilliantly scarlet shoulders of the other species, and the black has that soft bluish lustre peculiar to the species. The relationships generally between the two species are very close, but the bill, as stated, is slenderer and more sulcate in tricolor, the tail much more nearly even; the first primary longer, usually nearly equal to or longer than the fourth, instead of the fifth.

Two strong features of coloration distinguish the female and immature stages of this species from gubernator and phœniceus. They are, first, the soft bluish gloss of the males, both adult and immature; and secondly, the clear white and broad, not brown and narrow, borders to the middle wing-coverts.

Habits. The Red and White shouldered Blackbird was seen by Mr. Ridgway among the tulé in the neighborhood of Sacramento City, where it was very abundant, associating with the A. phœniceus and gubernator, and the Yellow-headed Blackbird. The conspicuous white stripe on the wings [Pg 166] of this bird renders it easily recognizable from the other species, where they are all seen together. Mr. Ridgway is of the opinion that the notes of the white-shouldered species differ very considerably from those of the two other Blackbirds.

Dr. Heermann found this a very abundant bird in California. He states that during the winter of 1852, when hunting in the marshes of Suisan Valley, he had often, on hearing a dull, rushing, roaring noise, found that it was produced by a single flock of this species, numbering so many thousands as to darken the sky for some distance by their masses. In the northern part of California he met with a breeding-place of this species that occupied several acres, covered with alder-bushes and willow, and was in the immediate vicinity of water. The nests, often four or five in the same bush, were composed of mud and straw, and lined with fine grasses. The eggs he describes as dark blue, marked with lines and spots of dark umber and a few light purple dashes. Dr. Heermann, at different times, fell in with several other breeding-places of this species, similarly situated, but they had all been abandoned, from which he inferred that each year different grounds are resorted to by these birds for the purposes of incubation.

Dr. Kennerly obtained a specimen of this bird on the Colorado River, in California, December, 1854. Dr. Cooper is of the opinion that it is, nevertheless, a rare species in that valley. The latter found them the most abundant species near San Diego and Los Angeles, and not rare at Santa Barbara. North of the last place they pass more into the interior, and extend up as far as Klamath Lake and Southern Oregon.

They are to be seen in considerable flocks even in the breeding-season. Their song, Dr. Cooper states, is not so loud and is more guttural than are those of the other species. Their habits are otherwise very similar, and they associate, in fall and winter, in immense flocks in the interior, though often also found separate.

These birds were first obtained by Mr. Nuttall near Santa Barbara, in the month of April. They were very common there, as well as at Monterey. He observed no difference in their habits from those of the common Redwing, except that they occurred in much larger flocks and kept apart from that species. They were seldom seen, except in the near suburbs of the towns. At that time California was in the possession of Mexico, and its inhabitants were largely occupied in the slaughter of wild cattle for the sake of the hides. Mr. Nuttall found these birds feeding almost exclusively on the maggots of the flesh-flies generated in the offal thus created. They were in large whirling flocks, and associated with the Molothri, the Grakles, the Redwings, and the Yellow-headed Blackbirds. They kept up an incessant chatter and a discordant, confused warble, much more harsh and guttural than even the notes of the Cow Blackbird.

Two eggs of this species, obtained by Dr. Heermann in California, and now in my cabinet, measuring an inch in length by .67 of an inch in breadth, [Pg 167] are more oblong in shape than the preceding, but nearly equally obtuse at either end. They are similar in ground-color to the phœniceus, but are of a slightly deeper shade of blue, and are marked around one end with a ring of dark slaty-brown, almost black, lines, and irregular oblong blotches.

Genus XANTHOCEPHALUS, Bonap.

Xanthocephalus, Bonap. Conspectus, 1850, 431. (Type, Icterus icterocephalus, Bonap.)

Gen. Char. Bill conical, the length about twice the height; the outlines nearly straight. Claws all very long; much curved; the inner lateral the longest, reaching beyond the middle of the middle claw. Tail narrow, nearly even, the outer web scarcely widening to the end. Wings long, much longer than the tail; the first quill longest.

This genus differs from typical Agelaius in much longer and more curved claws, even tail, and first quill longest, instead of the longest being the second, third, or fourth. The yellow head and black body are also strong marks.

Xanthocephalus icterocephalus, Baird.

YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD.

Icterus icterocephalus, Bonap. Am. Orn. I, 1825, 27, pl. iii.—Nutt. Man. I, 1832, 176.—Ib., (2d ed.,) 187 (not Oriolus icterocephalus, Linn.). Agelaius icterocephalus, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 188. Icterus (Xanthornus) xanthocephalus, Bonap. J. A. N. Sc. V, II, Feb. 1826, 222.—Ib. Syn. 1828, 52. Icterus xanthocephalus, Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 6, pl. ccclxxxviii. Agelaius xanthocephalus, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 281.—Bon. List, 1838.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 140.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 24, pl. ccxiii.—Newberry, Zoöl. Cal. and Or. Route; Rep. P. R. R. Surv. VI, IV, 1857, 86.—Max. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 361.—Heerm. X, S, 52 (nest). Agelaius longipes, Swainson, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 436. Psarocolius perspicillatus, “Licht.” Wagler, Isis, 1829. VII, 753. Icterus perspicillatus, “Licht. in Mus.” Wagler, as above. Xanthocephalus perspicillatus, Bonap. Consp. 1850, 431. Icterus frenatus, Licht. Isis, 1843, 59.—Reinhardt, in Kroyer’s Tidskrift, IV.—Ib. Vidensk. Meddel. for 1853, 1854, 82 (Greenland). Xanthocephalus icterocephalus, Baird, M. B. II, Birds, 18; Birds N. Am. 1858, 531.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 267.

[Pg 168] Sp. Char. First quill nearly as long as the second and third (longest), decidedly longer than the fourth. Tail rounded, or slightly graduated. General color black, including the inner surface of wings and axillaries, base of lower mandible all round, feathers adjacent to nostrils, lores, upper eyelids, and remaining space around the eye. The head and neck all round; the forepart of the breast, extending some distance down on the median line, and a somewhat hidden space round the anus, yellow. A conspicuous white patch at the base of the wing formed by the spurious feathers, interrupted by the black alula.

Female smaller, browner; the yellow confined to the under parts and sides of the head, and a superciliary line. A dusky maxillary line. No white on the wing. Length of male, 10 inches; wing, 5.60; tail, 4.50.

Hab. Western America from Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin, and North Red River, to California, south into Mexico; Greenland (Reinhardt); Cuba (Cabanis, J. VII, 1859, 350); Massachusetts (Maynard, D. C. Mass. 1870, 122); Volusia, Florida (Mus. S. I.); Cape St. Lucas.

The color of the yellow in this species varies considerably; sometimes being almost of a lemon-yellow, sometimes of a rich orange. There is an occasional trace of yellow around the base of the tarsus. Immature males show every gradation between the colors of the adult male and female.

A very young bird (4,332, Dane Co., Wis.) is dusky above, with feathers of the dorsal region broadly tipped with ochraceous, lesser and middle wing-coverts white tinged with fulvous, dusky below the surface, greater coverts very broadly tipped with fulvous-white; primary coverts narrowly tipped with the same. Whole lower parts unvariegated fulvous-white; head all round plain ochraceous, deepest above.

Habits. The Yellow-headed Blackbird is essentially a prairie bird, and is found in all favorable localities from Texas on the south to Illinois and Wisconsin, and thence to the Pacific. A single specimen is recorded as having been taken in Greenland. This was September 2, 1820, at Nenortalik. Recently the Smithsonian Museum has received a specimen from New Smyrna, in Florida. In October, 1869, a specimen of this bird was taken in Watertown, Mass., and Mr. Cassin mentions the capture of several near Philadelphia. These erratic appearances in places so remote from their centres of reproduction, and from their route in emigration, sufficiently attest the nomadic character of this species.

They are found in abundance in all the grassy meadows or rushy marshes of Illinois and Wisconsin, where they breed in large communities. In swamps overgrown with tall rushes, and partially overflowed, they construct their nests just above the water, and build them around the stems of these water-plants, where they are thickest, in such a manner that it is difficult to [Pg 169] discover them, except by diligent search, aided by familiarity with their habits.

In Texas Mr. Dresser met with a few in the fall, and again in April he found the prairies covered with these birds. For about a week vast flocks remained about the town, after which they suddenly disappeared, and no more were seen.

In California, Dr. Cooper states that they winter in large numbers in the middle districts, some wandering to the Colorado Valley and to San Diego. They nest around Santa Barbara, and thence northward, and are very abundant about Klamath Lake. They associate with the other Blackbirds, but always keep in separate companies. They are very gregarious, even in summer.

Dr. Cooper states that the only song the male attempts consists of a few hoarse, chuckling notes and comical squeakings, uttered as if it was a great effort to make any sound at all.

Dr. Coues speaks of it as less numerous in Arizona than at most other localities where found at all. He speaks of it as a summer resident, but in this I think he may have been mistaken.

In Western Iowa Mr. Allen saw a few, during the first week in July, about the grassy ponds near Boonesboro’. He was told that they breed in great numbers, north and east of that section, in the meadows of the Skunk River country. He also reports them as breeding in large numbers in the Calumet marshes of Northern Illinois.

Sir John Richardson found these birds very numerous in the interior of the fur countries, ranging in summer as far to the north as the 58th parallel, but not found to the eastward of Lake Winnipeg. They reached the Saskatchewan by the 20th of May, in greater numbers than the Redwings.

Through California, as well as in the interior, Mr. Ridgway found the Yellow-headed Blackbird a very abundant species, even exceeding in numbers the A. phœniceus, occurring in the marshes filled with rushes. This species he found more gregarious than the Redwing, and frequently their nests almost filled the rushes of their breeding-places. Its notes he describes as harsher than those of any other bird he is acquainted with. Yet they are by no means disagreeable, while frequently their attempts at a song were really amusing. Their usual note is a deep cluck, similar to that of most Blackbirds, but of a rather deeper tone. In its movements upon the ground its gait is firm and graceful, and it may frequently be seen walking about over the grassy flats, in small companies, in a manner similar to the Cow Blackbird, which, in its movements, it greatly resembles. It nests in the sloughs, among the tulé, and the maximum number of its eggs is four.

Mr. W. J. McLaughlin of Centralia, Kansas, writes (American Naturalist, III, p. 493) that these birds arrive in that region about the first of May, and all disappear about the 10th of June. He does not think that any breed there. During their stay they make themselves very valuable to the farmers [Pg 170] by destroying the swarms of young grasshoppers. On the writer’s land the grasshoppers had deposited their eggs by the million. As they began to hatch, the Yellow-heads found them out, and a flock of about two hundred attended about two acres each day, roving over the entire lot as wild pigeons feed, the rear ones flying to the front as the insects were devoured.

Mr. Clark met with these birds at New Leon, Mexico. They were always in flocks, mingled with two or three of its congeneric species. They were found more abundant near the coast than in the interior. There was a roost of these birds on an island in a lagoon near Fort Brown. Between sunset and dark these birds could be seen coming from all quarters. For about an hour they kept up a constant chattering and changing of place. Another similar roost was on an island near the mouth of the Rio Grande.

Dr. Kennerly found them very common near Janos and also near Santa Cruz, in Sonora. At the former place they were seen in the month of April in large flocks. He describes them as quite domestic in their habits, preferring the immediate vicinity of the houses, often feeding with the domestic fowls in the yards.

Dr. Heermann states that these birds collect in flocks of many thousands with the species of Agelaius, and on the approach of spring separate into smaller bands, resorting in May to large marshy districts in the valleys, where they incubate. Their nests he found attached to the upright stalks of the reeds, and woven around them, of flexible grasses, differing essentially from the nests of the Agelaii in the lightness of their material. The eggs, always four in number, he describes as having a ground of pale ashy-green, thickly covered with minute dots of a light umber-brown.

Mr. Nuttall states that on the 2d of May, during his western tour, he saw these birds in great abundance, associated with the Cowbird. They kept wholly on the ground, in companies, the sexes separated by themselves. They were digging into the earth with their bills in search of insects and larvæ. They were very active, straddling about with a quaint gait, and now and then whistling out, with great effort, a chuckling note, sounding like ko-kuk kie-ait. Their music was inferior even to the harsh notes of M. pecoris.

Several nests of this species, procured in the marshes on the banks of Lake Koskonong, in Southern Wisconsin, were sent me by Mr. Kumlien; they were all light, neat, and elegant structures, six inches in diameter and four in height. The cavity had a diameter of three and a depth of two and a half inches. The base, periphery, and the greater portion of these nests were made of interwoven grasses and sedges. The grasses were entire, with their panicles on. They were impacted together in masses. The inner portions of these nests were made of finer materials of the same. They were placed in the midst of large, overflowed marshes, and were attached to tall flags, usually in the midst of clumps of the latter, and these were so close in their growth that the nests were not easily discovered. They contained, [Pg 171] usually, from five to six eggs. These are of an oblong-oval shape, and measure 1.02 inches in length by .70 of an inch in breadth. Their ground-color is of a pale greenish-white, profusely covered with blotches and finer dottings of drab, purplish-brown, and umber.

Genus STURNELLA, Vieillot.

Sturnella, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816. (Type, Alauda magna, L.)

Gen. Char. Body thick, stout; legs large, toes reaching beyond the tail. Tail short, even, with narrow acuminate feathers. Bill slender, elongated; length about three times the height; commissure straight from the basal angle. Culmen flattened basally, extending backwards and parting the frontal feathers; longer than the head, but shorter than tarsus. Nostrils linear, covered by an incumbent membranous scale. Inner lateral toe longer than the outer, but not reaching to basal joint of middle; hind toe a little shorter than the middle, which is equal to the tarsus. Hind claw nearly twice as long as the middle. Feathers of head stiffened and bristly; the shafts of those above extended into a black seta. Tertials nearly equal to the primaries. Feathers above all transversely banded. Beneath yellow, with a black pectoral crescent.

The only species which we can admit is the S. magna, though under this name we group several geographical races. They may be distinguished as follows:—

[Pg 172] Species and Varieties.

1. S. magna. Above brownish, or grayish, spotted and barred with black; crown divided by a median whitish stripe; side of the head whitish, with a blackish streak along upper edge of the auriculars. Beneath more or less yellowish, with a more or less distinct dusky crescent on the jugulum. Sides, flanks, and crissum whitish, streaked with dusky; lateral tail-feathers partly white. Adult. Supraloral spot, chin, throat, breast, and abdomen deep gamboge-yellow; pectoral crescent deep black. Young. The yellow only indicated; pectoral crescent obsolete. Length, about 9.00 to 10.50 inches. Sexes similar in color, but female much smaller.

A. In spring birds, the lateral stripes of the vertex either continuous black, or with black largely predominating; the black spots on the back extending to the tip of the feather, or, if not, the brown tip not barred (except in winter dress). Yellow of the throat confined between the maxillæ, or just barely encroaching upon their lower edge. White of sides, flanks, and crissum strongly tinged with ochraceous.

a. Pectoral crescent much more than half an inch wide.

Wing, 4.50 to 5.00; culmen, 1.20 to 1.50; tarsus, 1.35 to 1.55; middle toe, 1.10 to 1.26 (extremes of a series of four adult males). Lateral stripe of the crown continuously black; black predominating on back and rump (heavy stripes on ochraceous ground). Light brown serrations on tertials and tail-feathers reaching nearly to the shaft (sometimes the terminal ones uninterrupted, isolating the black bars). Hab. Eastern United States … var. magna.

Wing, 3.75 to 4.30; culmen, 1.15 to 1.30; tarsus, 1.50 to 1.75; middle toe, 1.10 to 1.25. (Ten adult males!) Colors similar, but with a greater predominance of black; black heavily prevailing on back and rump, and extending to tip of feathers; also predominates on tertials and tail-feathers. Hab. Mexico and Central America … var. mexicana.[31]

Wing, 4.45; culmen, 1.62; tarsus, 1.50; middle toe, 1.20. (One specimen). Colors exactly as in last. Hab. Brazil … var. meridionalis.[32]

b. Pectoral crescent much less than half an inch wide.

Wing, 3.90 to 4.10; culmen, 1.25 to 1.35; tarsus, 1.40 to 1.55; middle toe, 1.00 to 1.20. (Three adult males.) Colors generally similar to magna, but crown decidedly streaked, though black predominates; ground-color above less reddish than in either of the preceding, with markings as in magna. Pectoral crescent about .25 in breadth. Hab. Cuba … var. hippocrepis.[33]

B. In spring birds, crown about equally streaked with black and grayish; black spots of back occupying only basal half of feathers, the terminal portion being grayish-brown, with narrow bars of black; feathers of the rump with whole exposed portion thus barred. Yellow of the throat extending over the maxillæ nearly to the angle of the mouth.

Wing, 4.40 to 5.05; culmen, 1.18 to 1.40; tarsus, 1.30 to 1.45. (Six adult males.) A grayish-brown tint prevailing above; lesser [Pg 173] wing-coverts concolor with the wings (instead of very decidedly more bluish); black bars of tertials and tail-feathers clean, narrow, and isolated. White of sides, flanks, and crissum nearly pure. Hab. Western United States and Western Mexico … var. neglecta.

In magna and neglecta, the feathers of the pectoral crescent are generally black to the base, their roots being grayish-white; one specimen of the former, however, from North Carolina, has the roots of the feathers yellow, forbidding the announcement of this as a distinguishing character; mexicana may have the bases of these feathers either yellow or grayish; while hippocrepis has only the tips of the feathers black, the whole concealed portion being bright yellow.

In mexicana, there is more of an approach to an orange tint in the yellow than is usually seen in magna, but specimens from Georgia have a tint not distinguishable; in both, however, as well as in hippocrepis, there is a deeper yellow than in neglecta, in which the tint is more citreous.

As regards the bars on tertials and tail, there is considerable variation. Sometimes in either of the species opposed to neglecta by this character there is a tendency to their isolation, seen in the last few toward the ends of the feathers; but never is there an approach to that regularity seen in neglecta, in which they are isolated uniformly everywhere they occur. Two specimens only (54,064 California and 10,316 Pembina) in the entire series of neglecta show a tendency to a blending of these bars on the tail.

Magna, mexicana, meridionalis and hippocrepis, are most similar in coloration; neglecta is most dissimilar compared with any of the others. Though each possesses peculiar characters, they are only of degree; for in the most widely different forms (neglecta and mexicana) there is not the slightest departure from the pattern of coloration; it is only a matter of extension or restriction of the several colors, or a certain one of them, that produces the differences.

Each modification of plumage is attended by a still greater one of proportions, as will be seen from the diagnoses; thus, though neglecta is the largest of the group, it has actually the smallest legs and feet; with nearly the same general proportions, magna exceeds it in the latter respects (especially in the bill), while mexicana, a very much smaller bird than either, has disproportionally and absolutely larger legs and feet united with the smallest size otherwise in the whole series. Meridionalis presents no differences from the last, except in proportions of bill and feet; for while the latter is the smallest of the series, next to neglecta, it has a bill much exceeding that of any other.

The markings of the upper plumage of the young or even winter birds are different in pattern from those of the adult; the tendency being toward the peculiar features of the adult neglecta; the various species in these stages being readily distinguishable, however, by the general characters assigned. Mexicana and neglecta are both in proportions and colors the [Pg 174] most widely different in the whole series; hippocrepis and neglecta the most similar. The relation of the several races to each other is about as follows:—

A. Yellow of throat confined within maxillæ.

Crown with black streaks predominating.

Smallest species, with reddish tints, and maximum amount of black.

Largest bill … meridionalis.

Smallest bill; largest feet … mexicana.

Next largest species, with less reddish tints, and smaller amount of black. Bill and feet the standard of comparison … magna

Crown with the light streaks predominating.

Narrowest pectoral crescent … hippocrepis

B. Yellow of throat covering maxillæ.

Crown with black and light streaks about equal.

Largest species, with grayish tints, and minimum amount of black.

Smallest feet … neglecta.

Sturnella magna, Swainson.

MEADOW LARK; OLD FIELD LARK.

Alauda magna, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1758, 167, ed. 10 (based on Alauda magna, Catesby, tab. 33).—Ib., (12th ed.,) 1766, 289.—Gm. I, 1788, 801.—Wilson, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 20, pl. xix.—Doughty, Cab. I, 1830, 85, pl. V. Sturnella magna, Swainson, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 436.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 535.—Samuels, 343. Sturnus ludovicianus, Linnæus, Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 290.—Gm. I, 802.—Lath. Ind. I, 1790, 323.—Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825, 130.—Licht. Verz. 1823, No. 165.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 216; V, 1839, 492, pl. cxxxvi. Sturnella ludoviciana, Swainson, F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 282.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 147.—Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 429.—Aud. Syn. 1839, 148.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 70, pl. ccxxiii.—Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 192.—Allen, B. E. Fla. 288. Sturnella collaris, Vieill. Analyse, 1816.—Ib. Galerie des Ois. I, 1824, 134, pl. xc. Sturnus collaris, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1827, 1.—Ib. Isis, 1831, 527. “Cacicus alaudarius, Daudin,” Cabanis.

Sp. Char. The feathers above dark brown, margined with brownish-white, and with a terminal blotch of pale reddish-brown. Exposed portions of wings and tail with dark brown bars, which on the middle tail-feathers are confluent along the shaft. Beneath yellow, with a black pectoral crescent, the yellow not extending on the side of the maxilla; sides, crissum, and tibiæ pale reddish-brown, streaked with blackish. A light median and superciliary stripe, the latter yellow anterior to the eye; a black line behind. Female smaller and duller. Young with pectoral crescent replaced by streaks; the yellow of under surface replaced more or less by ochraceous or pale fulvous. Length, 10.60; wing, 5.00; tail, 3.70; bill above, 1.35.

Hab. Eastern United States to the high Central Plains, north to Southern British Provinces. England (Sclater, Ibis, III, 176).

Habits. The eastern form of the Meadow Lark is found in all the eastern portions of the United States, from Florida to Texas at the south, and from Nova Scotia to the Missouri at the north. Richardson met with it on the [Pg 175] Saskatchewan, where it arrives about the first of May. In a large portion of the United States it is resident, or only partially migratory.

In Maine this species is not abundant. A few are found in Southern Maine, even as far to the east as Calais, where it is very rare. It was not found in Oxford County by Mr. Verrill. In New Hampshire and Vermont, especially in the southern portions, it is much more abundant. Throughout Massachusetts it is a common summer visitant, a few remaining all winter, the greater number coming in March and leaving again in November, at which time they seem to be somewhat, though only partially, gregarious. South of Massachusetts it becomes more generally resident, and is only very partially migratory, where the depth of snow compels them to seek food elsewhere. Wilson states that he met a few of these birds in the month of February, during a deep snow, among the heights of the Alleghanies, near Somerset, Penn.

The favorite resorts of this species are old fields, pasture-lands, and meadows, localities in which they can best procure the insects, largely coleopterous, and the seeds on which they feed. They are not found in woods or thickets, or only in very exceptional cases.

In New England they are shy, retiring birds, and are rarely seen in the neighborhood of houses; but in Georgia and South Carolina, Wilson found them swarming among the rice plantations, and running about in the yards and the out-buildings, in company with the Killdeer Plovers, with little or no appearance of fear, and as if domesticated.

In Alabama and West Florida, Mr. Nuttall states, the birds abound during the winter months, and may be seen in considerable numbers in the salt marshes, seeking their food and the shelter of the sea-coast. They are then in loose flocks of from ten to thirty. At this season many are shot and brought to market. By some their flesh is said to be sweet and good; but this is denied by Audubon, who states it to be tough and of unpleasant flavor.

Mr. Sclater records the occurrence of one or more individuals of this species in England.

The song of the eastern Meadow Lark is chiefly distinguished for its sweetness more than any other excellence. When, in spring, at the height of their love-season, they alight on the post of a fence, a bush, or tree, or any other high object, they will give utterance to notes that, in sweetness and tenderness of expression, are surpassed by very few of our birds. But they are wanting in variety and power, and are frequently varied, but not improved, by the substitution of chattering call-notes, which are much inferior in quality. It is noticeable that at the West there is a very great improvement in the song of this bird as compared with that of their more eastern kindred, though still very far from equalling, either in volume, variety, or power, the remarkable song of the neglecta.

In the fall of the year these birds collect in small companies, and feed together in the same localities, but keeping, individually, somewhat apart.

[Pg 176] In New England these birds mate during the latter part of April, and construct their nests in May. They always place their nest on the ground, usually in the shelter of a thick tuft of grass, and build a covered passage to their hidden nest. This entrance is usually formed of withered grass, and so well conceals the nest that it can only be detected by flushing the female from it, or by the anxiety of her mate, who will frequently fly round the spot in so narrow a circuit as to betray its location.

The eggs of the Meadow Lark vary greatly in size and also in their markings, though the general character of the latter is the same. The smallest, from Florida, measure .95 by .68 of an inch. The largest, from Massachusetts, measure 1.20 inches by .90. They have a white ground, marked and dotted with irregular reddish-brown spots. Generally these are equally distributed, but occasionally are chiefly about the larger end. Their shape is oval, nearly equally rounded at either end.

The diversity in the characteristics of the eggs of this species has not unfrequently occasioned remarks, and even suggested conjectures as to specific differences. They are all, however, reconcilable with differences in the age of the parents, and are, to some extent, affected by the circumstances under which they are deposited. The eggs of old, mature birds, deposited in the early summer, or the first brood, are usually sub-globular or obtusely pointed at either end, large in size, and irregularly sprinkled over with fine bright red dots. Younger birds, breeding for the first time, birds that have been robbed of their eggs, or those depositing a third set, have smaller eggs, sometimes two thirds of the maximum size, more oblong and more pointed at one end, and are marked, at the larger end only, with plashes of dark purplish-brown.

Sturnella magna, var. neglecta, Aud.

WESTERN LARK.

Sturnella neglecta, Or. Route; Rep. P. R. R. Surv. VI, IV, 1857, 86.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 537.—Heerm. X, S, 54.—Cooper & Suckley, 208.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 270. ? Sturnella hippocrepis, (Wagler,) Heermann, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d series, II, 1853, 269, Suisun.

Sp. Char. Feathers above dark brown, margined with brownish-white, with a terminal blotch of pale reddish-brown. Exposed portion of wings and tail with transverse bands, which, in the latter, are completely isolated from each other, narrow and linear. Beneath yellow, with a black pectoral crescent. The yellow of the throat extending on the sides of the maxilla. Sides, crissum, and tibiæ very pale reddish-brown, or nearly white, streaked with blackish. Head with a light median and superciliary stripe, the latter yellow in front of the eye; a blackish line behind it. The transverse bars on the feathers above (less so on the tail) with a tendency to become confluent near the exterior margin. Length, 10 inches; wing, 5.25; tail, 3.25; bill, 1.25.

Hab. Western America from high Central Plains to the Pacific; east to Pembina, and perhaps to Wisconsin, on the north (Iowa, Allen), and Texas on the south; western Mexico, south to Colima.

[Pg 177] Habits. The differences of plumage between this species and our eastern Meadow Lark are so slight that we might hesitate to allow the existence of any specific distinctness between the two forms, were it not for the very strongly marked differences between them in other respects. Whether we regard them as races or as different species, their history diverges as we cross the Missouri River, though both are found on either bank.

The existence of this variety was first made known by Messrs. Lewis and Clark, in their memorable expedition to the Rocky Mountains. They refer especially to the difference, in the notes, between this bird and the old Field Lark of the east. It remained unnoticed by our ornithologists until 1844, when Mr. Audubon included it in the appendix to his seventh volume. He met with it in his voyage to the Yellowstone, and it would have escaped his notice had not the attention of his party been called to its curious notes. In its flight, manners on the ground, or general habits, he could perceive no difference between it and the common species. None of its nests that he found were covered over, in the manner of the magna, and the eggs were differently marked.

Mr. J. A. Allen, in his interesting paper on the birds observed in Western Iowa, while he does not admit any specific difference between these two forms, presents with impartial exactness the very striking dissimilarity between them, both in habits and in song. In regard to the diversity in habits we quote his words:—

“At the little village of Denison, where I first noticed it in song, it was particularly common, and half domestic in its habits, preferring the streets and grassy lanes, and the immediate vicinity of the village, to the remoter prairie. Here, wholly unmolested and unsuspicious, it collected its food; and the males, from their accustomed perches on the housetops, daily warbled their wild songs for hours together.” These traits of familiarity, so totally different from anything ever observed in our eastern birds, he does not concede, however, as establishing necessarily specific difference. Yet he does admit that its song was so new to him that he did not at first have the slightest suspicion that its utterer was the western Meadow Lark, as he found it to be. He adds: “It differs from that of the Meadow Lark in the Eastern States, in the notes being louder and wilder, and at the same time more liquid, mellower, and far sweeter. They have a pensiveness and a general character remarkably in harmony with the half-dreamy wildness of the primitive prairie, as though the bird had received from its surroundings their peculiar impress. It differs, too, in the less frequency of the harsh, complaining chatter so conspicuous in the eastern bird.”

The value of these marked differences, both in song and character, between the eastern and western birds, we will not argue, but will only add that they are none too strikingly presented by Mr. Allen. During the writer’s brief visit to the Plains he was strongly impressed by the natural, confiding trustfulness of this species and its wonderful beauty of song, both in [Pg 178] such remarkable contrast with the habits of our eastern birds. At Antelope Station a pair of these birds had built their nest under the window of the office, and seemed to enjoy the society of the family, while the depot-master, familiar with the song and habits of our eastern birds, appreciated the great differences between the two forms, and called my attention to them.

Mr. Allen also found this Lark everywhere abundant in Colorado, but its notes appeared to him quite different from those of the representatives of this species living to the eastward, in the prairie States, being less varied and ringing, and more guttural.

Dr. Cooper says this bird is abundant in California, and resident nearly throughout the entire State, breeding in the Colorado Valley and in all other districts not quite waterless. Their songs are lively, sweet, and varied. They sing at all seasons, early and late, from the ground, from the tree-top, or in the air, and when unmolested are so tame as to make the house-top their favorite perch. Even the female has considerable musical power, and cheers her mate by singing to him while he relieves her by sitting on the eggs. She also has a harsh, petulant chirp, frequently repeated as if in anger. He states that they build their nest in a slight depression under a bunch of grass, and usually more or less arched over and artfully concealed. The female, when flushed, usually skulks off some distance before she flies. The eggs he describes as white, with a few large purplish-brown blotches and dots towards the larger end, and measuring 1.15 inches by .85. They are very obtuse in shape.

They feed chiefly on insects, seeds, and grain, do no damage to the crops, and destroy a vast number of noxious insects.

Dr. Suckley found this bird common everywhere in Oregon and Washington Territory, some remaining throughout every winter. In 1855 a few were seen at Fort Dalles as early as March 5. On the 7th he found them quite abundant on the ploughed fields near Fort Vancouver. Some of these had probably remained all the winter. In February, 1856, he found them quite abundant at Fort Steilacoom. At Fort Dalles, by the 2d of May, he obtained young birds nearly fledged.

Mr. Dresser found it very common during winter near San Antonio, where a few remain to breed.

In Arizona, according to Dr. Coues, it is resident, but quite rare.

Lieutenant Couch found these birds from the Rio Grande to the high bottoms of the Lower Bolson de Mapimi. Its notes he speaks of as highly musical, contending even with the Mocking Bird for a supremacy in song.

Mr. Ridgway found the western Meadow Lark one of the most abundant and characteristic birds of California and all fertile portions of the interior as far east as the Missouri, and remarks that, although closely resembling the eastern bird in appearance, its song is totally different, not a note uttered by it having more than a very distant resemblance to any of the well-known magna of the eastern meadows. In the depth of its tone and the charms [Pg 179] of its articulation its song is hardly excelled, resembling very nearly the song of the Wood Thrush. Mr. Ridgway describes its modulations as expressed by the syllables tung-tung-tungah-til’lah-til’lah-tung, each note powerful and distinct. The difference between the other notes of the two birds is still greater than in their song, and even in character these are not alike. In the neglecta the call-note of watchfulness or alarm is a loud, deep-toned tuck, similar to the chuck of the Blackbird, but much louder and more metallic. That of sympathy for the young, or anxiety when the nest is approached, is a loud, liquid tyur, slightly resembling the complaining note of the eastern Bluebird, and also of the Orchard Oriole. All of its notes are of a power corresponding to the size of the bird.

Mr. Ridgway also notices important differences in their flight. That of the eastern species is carried on by an occasional spasmodic beat or jerk of the wings, which are then extended, the bird sailing a short distance. The flight of the western Lark is much more irregular, the bird flitting along by a trembling flutter of the wings, never assuming these peculiar features.

An egg of this species, collected by Dr. Cooper in Washington Territory, June 19, 1856, measures 1.20 inches in length and .86 in breadth. It is of an oblong-oval shape, obtuse; the ground white, sparingly spotted with a very dark purple, most of the markings being at the larger end. Three eggs from Arizona, collected by Dr. Palmer, measure 1.10 inches by .80. The markings are of much lighter shades of lilac, purple, and purplish and reddish-brown. The markings are more generally diffused, but predominate at the larger end. An egg from the Yellowstone, collected by Mr. Audubon, is unusually pointed at one end, measures 1.13 inches by .82. The spots are a dark purplish-brown, intermingled with smaller and lighter dottings of reddish-brown. Eggs from California do not vary essentially in their markings from those of Arizona, and have an average measurement of 1.10 inches by .85. As a general rule, the mottling of the eggs of the western bird is finer than that of the eastern.

Subfamily ICTERINÆ.

Genus ICTERUS, Auct.

Icterus, Brisson, R. A. 1760.—Gray, Genera.

Xanthornus, Cuvier, Leç. Anat. Comp. 1800.—Gray, Genera.

Pendulinus, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816.

Yphantes, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816.—Gray, Genera.

Gen. Char. Bill slender, elongated, as long as the head, generally a little decurved, and very acute. Tarsi not longer than the middle toe, nor than the head; claws short, much curved; outer lateral toe a little longer than the inner, reaching a little beyond base of middle toe. Feet adapted for perching. Tail rounded or graduated. Prevailing colors yellow or orange, and black.

The species of this subfamily are all as strikingly characterized by [Pg 180] diversity and brilliancy of plumage as the others are (with few exceptions) for their uniform sombre black, scarcely relieved by other colors. Of the four genera of this subfamily, recognized by Gray, all but Cacicus are well represented in the United States. This differs from all the rest in having the culmen widened and much depressed towards the base, where it advances in a crescent on the forehead, separating the frontal plumes. In the other genera the culmen advances somewhat on the forehead, but it is in a narrow acute point, and not dilated.

In studying the North American Orioles we have found it exceedingly difficult to arrange them in any sharply defined sections, as whatever characters be taken as the basis of classification, the other features will not correspond. Thus, species with the bill of the same proportions and amount of curvature differ in the shape and graduation of the tail, while tails of the same form are accompanied by entirely dissimilar bills and wings. The bill is sometimes much attenuated and decurved, as in I. cucullatus, while in melanocephalus and baltimore it is stouter and straighter. The tail is usually much graduated; in I. baltimore and bullocki it is only moderately rounded. These last-mentioned species constitute the genus Hyphantes. Many of the species have a naked space round the eye, very evident in I. vulgaris, less so in melanocephalus. I. vulgaris is peculiar in having the feathers of the throat pointed and lanceolate, as in the ravens.

In view of the difficulties attendant upon the definition of subordinate groups among the United States Icterinæ, we propose to consider them all under the single genus Icterus, leaving it for some one with more ingenuity to establish satisfactory divisions into sub-genera.[34]

[Pg 181] The colors of the Orioles are chiefly black and yellow, or orange, the wing sometimes marked with white. The females are generally much duller in plumage, and the young male usually remains in immature dress till the third year. In all the North American species the rump is of the same color with the belly; the chin, throat, and tail, black.

In the North American Orioles the baltimore and bullocki have the tail but little graduated; spurius, more so; the others very decidedly graduated. The bills of the two first mentioned are stout and nearly straight; that of I. melanocephalus quite similar. I. parisorum has the bill more attenuated, but scarcely more decurved; in spurius it is attenuated and decurved, much as in wagleri; this character is strongest in I. cucullatus. The much graduated tail is combined with a slender decurved bill in I. cucullatus and wagleri; with a straighter one in parisorum; with a thick, nearly straight, one in melanocephalus. The arrangement, according to the graduation of the tail, would be baltimore, bullocki, spurius, parisorum, wagleri, melanocephalus, and cucullatus. According to stoutness and curvature of bill, it would be baltimore, melanocephalus, bullocki,parisorum, spurius wagleri, and cucullatus.

All the species have the rump and under parts yellow or orange. All have the head entirely black, except bullocki, in which its sides are orange, and cucullatus, which has an orange crown. All have black on the throat. In the species with black head and neck, all have the tails black towards the end, except bullocki and baltimore.

The females and young males are so entirely different in colors from the adult males, and so similar in the different species, that they can best be distinguished by the details of form and size. The I. prosthemelas and I. melanocephalus are placed, according to the above arrangement, in different subgenera, yet the young male of the former and the adult male of the latter are so perfectly similar in colors as to be undistinguishable in this respect, and require careful examination of points of external structure to be separated (see description of I. melanocephalus, p. 782).

The following synopsis may help to distinguish the North American Orioles and their nearest allies, as far as color is concerned.

Species and Varieties.

ICTERUS. Head all round deep black, sharply defined against the yellow of the nape; wings black, with or without white markings. Body generally, including lesser wing-coverts, deep greenish-yellow (intense orange-red in some South American species).

I. vulgaris. Feathers of the throat elongated and lanceolate. Bill longer than head. Back and scapulars black; greater coverts and tertials with much white on outer webs; middle wing-coverts white. Rest of plumage, including lesser coverts, chrome-yellow. Sexes alike. Hab. Northern South [Pg 182] America. Jamaica? Accidental in southeastern United States? ? Several races.

I. melanocephalus. Feathers of the throat not elongate and lanceolate, but soft and normal; bill shorter than head. Back and scapulars greenish-yellow. Rest of plumage, including lesser wing-coverts, gamboge-yellow. Sexes alike.

Wings without any white. Wing, 4.00; tail, 4.00; culmen, .95; tarsus, .96. Hab. Southern Mexico … var. melanocephalus.

Wings with white edgings to greater coverts, secondaries and tertials. Wing, 4.25; tail, 4.40; culmen, 1.10; tarsus, 1.10. Hab. Northern Mexico and Rio Grande Valley of United States … var. auduboni.

XANTHORNUS. Back, scapulars, wings, tail, and throat, black; wings and tail with, or without, white. Rest of plumage greenish-yellow, gamboge-yellow, orange, orange-red, or chestnut-rufous.

A. Head and neck, all round, deep black.

a. Tail-feathers wholly black.

I. dominicensis. Head, neck, back, scapulars, wings, tail, and jugulum, deep black; lesser and middle wing-coverts, lining of the wing, anal region, tibiæ, and rump, deep gamboge-yellow. No white on wings or tail. Sexes similar (in all the races?).

Abdomen and sides yellow.

Tail-coverts partially or wholly yellow. Wing, 3.25 to 3.50; Tail, 3.75 to 4.00; culmen, .80; tarsus, .85. Hab. South Mexico to Costa Rica … var. prosthemelas.[35]

Tail-coverts uniform black. Wing, 3.75; tail, 4.50; culmen, .80; tarsus, .90. Hab. Mexico and Guatemala … var. wagleri.

Abdomen and sides black.

Flanks and crissum yellow; upper tail-coverts yellow. Wing, 3.50; tail, 3.50; culmen, .80; tarsus, .85. Hab. Hayti … var. dominicensis.[36]

Flanks black; crissum mostly yellow; upper tail-coverts black. Wing, 3.75; tail, 4.00; culmen, .93; tarsus, .85. Hab. Porto Rico … var. portoricensis.[37]

Flanks black; crissum mostly black; upper tail-coverts black. Wing, 3.75; tail, 3.90; culmen, .80; tarsus, 86. Hab. Cuba … var. hypomelas.[38]

[Pg 183] I. spurius. Head, neck, back, scapulars, wings, and tail, deep black; other portions, including lesser and middle wing-coverts, lining of wing, and the tail-coverts, above and below, chestnut-rufous; greater coverts and secondaries edged with dull white, and tail-feathers margined terminally with the same. Female greenish-yellow, darker above. Young male in second year similar, but with a black patch covering face and throat. Wing, 3.20; tail, 3.20, its graduation, .45; culmen, .73; tarsus, .92. Hab. Eastern Province of United States; south throughout Middle America, to New Granada.

b. Tail-feathers (except the two middle ones) with their basal half yellow.

I. parisorum. Head, neck, jugulum, back, scapulars, wings, and terminal half of tail, deep black; rest of plumage, including lesser and middle wing-coverts, bright lemon-yellow, approaching white on the middle coverts; greater coverts tipped with white, and tertials edged with the same; tail-feathers margined terminally with the same. Sexes very different. Hab. Mexico; Rio Grande Valley and Cape St. Lucas.

B. Crown, occiput, nape, and auriculars, orange; frontlet, lores, cheeks, chin, throat, and jugulum, deep black.

I. cucullatus. Back, scapulars, wings, and tail, and patch covering jugulum and throat, extending up over lores, around eyes and across frontlet, deep black. Other portions orange. Sexes very different.

Lesser coverts black; middle coverts white; greater coverts tipped with white, and secondaries, primaries, and tertials edged with the same; tail-feathers with narrow white tips. Wing, 3.30; tail, 4.00; culmen, .80; tarsus, .90. Sexes very unlike. Hab. Southern border of Western United States (San Bernardino, California, Camp Grant, Arizona and Rio Grande of Texas), south through Mexico to Guatemala; Cape St. Lucas … var. cucullatus.

Lesser coverts gamboge-yellow; middle coverts yellow; no white on wings or tail. Wing, 3.50; tail, 3.90; culmen, .85; tarsus, .90. Hab. New Granada, Venezuela, and Trinidad … var. auricapillus.[39]

HYPHANTES. Crown, back, scapulars, wings, and part of tail, deep black; wing with much white. Other portions orange or yellow. Sexes very different.

I. baltimore. Head entirely deep black; tail orange, the feathers black at base; greater coverts broadly tipped with white; secondaries and primaries skirted with the same. Other portions rich, mellow orange, the rump as intense as the breast. Wing, about 3.75; tail, 3.50; culmen, .80; tarsus, .97.

(Specimens from Eastern United States and Middle America with middle coverts deep orange.)

(Specimens from the Plains of Kansas, Nebraska, etc., with middle coverts pure white. Some eastern specimens similar.)

I. bullocki. Head mainly black, with an orange or yellow superciliary stripe, and a broader one beneath the eye, cutting off the black of the throat into a narrow strip; tail orange or yellow, the feathers with black [Pg 184] at ends; greater coverts with outer webs wholly white, and middle coverts entirely white, producing a large conspicuous longitudinal patch on the wing; tertials and secondaries broadly edged with white, and primaries more narrowly skirted with the same. Other portions rich orange or yellow.

Rump grayish-orange; sides and flanks deep orange; forehead and auriculars orange; a broad supraloral stripe of the same. Xanthic tints deep orange, with a reddish tinge on the breast. Wings, 4.00; tail, 3.50; culmen, .80; tarsus, .90. Hab. Western Province of United States … var. bullocki.

Rump black; sides and flanks black; forehead and auriculars black; no yellow or orange supraloral stripes. Xanthic tint a very intense gamboge, without any shade of orange. Wing, 4.00; tail, 3.50; culmen, .75; tarsus, .85. Hab. Mexico … var. abeillei.[40]

Icterus vulgaris, Daudin.

TROUPIAL.

Oriolus icterus, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 161. Icterus vulgaris, “Daudin.”—Aud. Birds Am. VII, 1844, 357, pl. ccccxcix.—Bp. Conspectus Av. 1850, 434.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 542.—Cass. P. A. N. S. 1867, 46. Le troupiale vulgaire, Buffon, Pl. enl. “532” (535, Bp.).

Sp. Char. Bill curved. Throat and chin with narrow pointed feathers. A naked space around and behind the eye. Tail-feathers graduated. Head and upper part of neck all round, and beneath from tail to upper part of breast, interscapular region of back, wings, and tail, black. Rest of under parts, a collar on the lower hind neck, rump, and upper tail-coverts, yellow-orange. A broad band on the wing and outer edges of secondaries, white. Length, 10 inches; wing, 4.50; tail, 4.50; bill above, 1.35.

Hab. Northern South America and West Indies? Accidental on the southern coast of the United States?

This is the largest Oriole said to be found in the United States, and differs from the rest in its longer bill, and pointed, elongated feathers on the throat. The bill is attenuated, and somewhat decurved. The third quill is longest, the first quill almost the shortest of all the primaries. The outer tail-feather is about .60 of an inch less than the middle.

There is only a trace of whitish on the edges of the primaries. The broad white edges to the secondaries are continuous in the folded wing with the white on the greater coverts, the lowest row of which, however, is black. The extreme and concealed base of the tail is white.

One specimen has the light markings yellow, instead of orange.

This species is given by Mr. Audubon as North American, on the strength of occasional stragglers from South America. One of the specimens before us was received from Mr. Audubon (2,842), and is, possibly, North American, [Pg 185] although we doubt very much whether the species was ever taken within our limits, except as escaped from captivity.

An allied race (I. longirostris) from New Grenada has a longer and more slender bill, and a paler, lemon-yellow color. The I. aurantius of Brazil lacks the long, pointed, distinct feathers of the throat, and is of an intensely rich orange-red color, with much the same pattern as the present bird.

Habits. The common Troupial of South America and some of the West India Islands is probably only an imported species, or an accidental visitant. It is given by Mr. Audubon in the appendix to his seventh volume, on the strength of a specimen shot in Charleston, S. C., by his son, John W. The bird, when first seen, was perched on the point of the lightning-rod of Dr. Bachman’s house. A few days after others were seen, one of which was shot, though it fell into the river and was lost. Mr. Audubon was afterwards informed that small groups of four or five subsequently made their appearance in the same city and among the islands. If his information was correct, it precludes the supposition that those which have been procured are caged birds. Yet the Troupial is so common and so popular a bird in the cage, that its accidental occurrence is possible in many localities it never visits of its own accord.

This bird is common in all the northern countries of South America, Venezuela, Guiana, Rio Negro, Northern Brazil, etc. Its occurrence in Jamaica and the West Indies may be only accidental. It is said by Daudin to be a common species in South America, where it associates in large flocks, and constructs a large and pensile nest. In confinement it becomes very easily tamed, is reconciled to a life of imprisonment, and is very fond of those who feed and care for it. It has a loud, clear, and ringing whistle, and a great variety of call-notes and single or brief utterances, but rarely indulges in a continuous song. One kept in confinement several years answered readily to the name of Troopy, and always promptly responded, when thus addressed by his mistress, in notes of unmistakable and affectionate recognition. He was very fond of his liberty, and used his sharp bill with such effect that it was difficult to keep him in his cage. When at large he never attempted to escape, but returned upon being called. He, however, acquired such a mortal antipathy to children, attacked them so fiercely when at large, and his sharp bill was so dangerous a weapon, that it was found very necessary to keep him a close prisoner.

The eggs of this species measure 1.02 inches in length by .88 of an inch in breadth; they are a rounded, obtuse oval in shape. Their ground-color is a reddish-drab, and they are very generally blotched with markings of a deep claret-brown and faint purple, the markings being deeper and larger at one end.

[Pg 186] Icterus melanocephalus, var. auduboni, Giraud.

AUDUBON’S ORIOLE.

Icterus auduboni, Giraud, Sixteen New Species Texas Birds, 1841 (not paged).—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 542.—Cassin, Pr. A. N. S. 1867, 53. Xanthornus melanocephalus, Bon. Consp. 1850, 434 (not the description of the young). Icterus melanocephalus, Cassin, Ill. I, V, 1854, 137, pl. xxi (the description, but perhaps not the figure).

Sp. Char. Bill stout; upper and lower outlines very little curved downwards. Tail much graduated. Head and neck all round (this color extending down on the throat), tail, and wings black; rest of body, under wing-coverts, and middle and lesser upper coverts, yellow; more olivaceous on the back. An interrupted band across the ends of the greater wing-coverts, with the terminal half of the edges of the quills, white. Supposed female similar, but the colors less vivid. Length, 9.25; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.65; tarsus, 1.10.

Hab. Valley of the Lower Rio Grande of Texas, southward; Oaxaca (Scl. 1859, 38); Xalapa (Scl. 132); Vera Cruz (temperate regions; Sumichrast, M. B. S.).

This bird is perhaps rather a local race (larger as more boreal) of I. melanocephalus[41] of Southern Mexico. The differences are indicated in the foot-note.

The adult male of this species can be distinguished from the young male of I. prosthemelas only by stouter and less decurved bill, stronger feet, and black instead of yellow middle wing-coverts.

Habits. This handsome and rather recent addition to our fauna is a Northern Mexican species, which extends north to the valley of the Rio Grande and into Texas, from various localities in which it has been procured. Lt. D. N. Couch, who found this species common from the Lower Rio Grande to the Sierra Madre, speaks of the strong mutual attachment shown by the sexes. He describes its song as soft and melancholy, and the notes as resembling peut-pou-it. The sweetness of its notes renders it a favorite as a caged bird. In the State of Vera Cruz this bird is given by Sumichrast as inhabiting the temperate regions, and as there having exclusively their centre of propagation. They are very common in the district of Orizaba, where they [Pg 187] breed. Their common name is Calandria, a name also given, without discrimination, to four or five other species of Icteri common in Vera Cruz. Mr. Pease, in 1847, observed either this species or the melanocephalus at Jalapa, and in the neighborhood of the city of Mexico, in considerable numbers. This bird was first described and brought to notice as belonging to our fauna, by Mr. Giraud, in 1841. Since then, Mr. John H. Clark, zoölogist on the Mexican Boundary Survey, obtained several specimens from the Lower Rio Grande. It was first seen by him near Ringgold Barracks. It was not abundant, and its quiet manners and secluded habits prevented it from being very conspicuous. It was most frequently observed by him feeding on the fruit of the hackberry, but whenever approached, while thus feeding, it always showed signs of uneasiness, and soon after sought refuge in some place of greater concealment.

Usually pairs were to be seen keeping close together, apparently preferring the thick foliage found on the margin of ponds, or in the old bed of the river. They did not communicate with each other by any note, and Mr. Clark was struck with their remarkable silence. Their habits seemed to him very different from those of any other Oriole with which he was acquainted.

From the papers of Lieutenant Couch, quoted by Mr. Cassin, we learn that these birds were seen by him, March 3, at Santa Rosalio, eight leagues from Matamoras. They were in pairs, and both sexes were very shy and secluded, seeking insects on the prickly pear, or among the low mimosa-trees, seeming to be never at rest, but ever on the lookout for their favorite food.

While at Charco Escondido, farther in the interior of Tamaulipas, Lieutenant Couch met with a pair of these birds, and having brought down the male bird with his gun, the female flew to a neighboring tree, apparently unaware of her loss. She soon, however, observed his fall, and endeavored to recall him to her side with notes uttered in a strain of such exquisite sadness that he could scarcely believe them uttered by a bird; and so greatly did they excite his sympathy, that he almost resolved to desist from further ornithological collections. He adds that he never heard the lay of any songster of the feathered tribe expressed more sweetly than that of the present species. At Monterey he found it a favorite cage-bird. The female also sings, but her notes are less powerful than those of the male. Generally the flight of this bird was low and rapid, and it seemed to prefer the shade of trees. It was observed almost invariably in pairs, and the male and female showed for each other great tenderness and solicitude.

The eggs of this species measure .90 of an inch in length by .70 in breadth. Their ground-color is a light drab or a dull purplish-white, scattered over which are faint markings of a subdued purple, blending imperceptibly with the ground, and above these markings are dots and irregular zigzag lines of dark brown, and darker purple, almost running into black.

[Pg 188] Icterus parisorum, Bonap.

SCOTT’S ORIOLE.

Icterus parisorum, (“Bon. Acad. Bonon. 1836.”)—Bp. Pr. Zoöl. Soc. V, 1837, 109.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 544, pl. lvii, f. 1; Mex. B. II, Birds, 19, pl. xix, f. 1.—Cassin, Pr. 1867, 54.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 276. Xanthornus parisorum, Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 434. Icterus melanochrysura, Lesson, Rev. Zoöl. 1839, 105.—Icterus scotti, Couch, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phil. VII, April, 1854, 66 (Coahuila).

Sp. Char. Bill attenuated; not much decurved; tail moderately graduated. Head and neck all round, breast, interscapular region, wings, and tail, black. Under parts generally, hinder part of back to the tail, middle and lesser upper, and whole of lower wing-coverts, and base of the tail-feathers, gamboge-yellow; a band across the ends of the greater coverts, with the edges of the inner secondaries and tertiaries, white. Length, 8.25; extent, 11.75; wing, 4.00; tail, 3.75; tarsus, .95.

Female. Olivaceous above, the back with obsolete dusky streaks; rump and under parts yellowish, clouded with gray. Tail brownish-olive on upper surface, more yellow beneath; wings with two white bands.

Hab. Valley of the Rio Grande; south to Guatemala. In Texas, found on the Pecos. Cape St. Lucas. Oaxaca, winter (Scl. 1858, 303); Orizaba (Scl. 1860, 251); Vera Cruz, temp. and alpine (Sum. M. B. S. I, 553).

The bill is slender and attenuated, very little decurved, much less so than in I. cucullatus, slenderer and a little more decurved than in I. baltimore. The tail is moderately graduated, the outer feather .45 of an inch less than the middle.

In this species the black feathers of the neck, except below, have a subterminal bar of yellow; elsewhere it is wanting. The black of the breast comes a little posterior to the anterior extremity of the folded wing. The posterior feathers in the yellow patch on the shoulders are tinged with white. The white in the bar across the ends of the greater coverts is confined mainly to the terminal quarter of an inch of the outer web. In the full plumage, there is only a faint trace of white on the edges of the primaries. The yellow of the base of the tail only extends on the middle feather as far as the end of the upper tail-coverts; on the three outer, it reaches to within an inch and a quarter of the end of the tail.

An immature male has the yellow more tinged with green, the black feathers of the head and back olivaceous with a black spot.

Specimens vary much in size; the more northern being the larger.

Icterus wagleri[42] is an allied species found just south of the Rio Grande by Lieutenant Couch, but not yet detected within our limits.

[Pg 189] Habits. Notwithstanding the apparent abundance of the species at Cape St. Lucas, and also in Northern Mexico along our entire border, as far as New Mexico and Texas, our knowledge of its history still remains quite incomplete. A single specimen was obtained in Western Texas on the Pecos River, by Captain Pope, in 1856. Others were obtained by Lieutenant Couch, April, 1853, at Santa Catarina, in Mexico. They were first seen by him in the vicinity of Monterey. They were found to be generally of secluded habits. Their song, consisting of three or four notes, is said to be both rich and melodious.

In the State of Vera Cruz, this species is given by Sumichrast as occurring in both the temperate and the alpine regions. Its common name is Calandria india. They are said by him to occur chiefly in the temperate parts, where they breed, but not to be exclusively confined there, for they are also found in the alpine region to the height of at least five thousand feet, near Orizaba, and on the plateau at even a higher elevation. Dr. Cooper saw a bird at Fort Mohave, in April, which he supposed to be this bird, but he was not able to assure himself of the fact, by obtaining it.

Mr. Xantus found this species very abundant during his stay at Cape St. Lucas, and procured a number of specimens of the birds and of their nests and eggs. From his brief notes we gather that the nests are open, and are not pensile. One, found May 22, was built in a bunch of moss hanging [Pg 190] down from an old cactus. Another was made in a bunch of hops, suspended from a cactus. A third was placed in a bunch of weeds growing out from a crevice in a perpendicular rock. Another, found May 29, was built in a small dead tree, overhung with vines. This nest was about five feet from the ground. A nest containing four young birds was found placed in a bunch of moss, hanging out of a crevice in a rock. These instances serve to show the general character of the position of their nests. Without being pensile they are usually resting upon pendent branches, and are not placed at great elevations.

The eggs measure .90 of an inch in length by .65 in breadth. Their shape is an oblong-oval, and they are obtuse at either end. Their ground-color is a dull white, with a purplish or a bluish tint. They are variously marked, in different eggs, with small blotches and finer dottings of a light purple, purplish-brown, darker purple, and even black.

Icterus spurius, Bon.

ORCHARD ORIOLE.

Oriolus spurius, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 162.—Gm. I, 1788, 389 (very inaccurate description; only identified by the references). Icterus spurius, Bon. Obs. on Nom. Wils. 1825, No. 44.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 221; V, 485 pl. xlii.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 46, pl. ccxix.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 547.—Samuels, 346. Oriolus varius, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 390. Turdus ater, Gm. Syst. 1788, I; 1788, 83. Oriolus castaneus, Latham, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 181 (same citations as O. varius, Gm.). Turdus jugularis, Latham, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 361 (same citations as Turdus ater, Gm.). Yphantes solitaria, Vieillot ♂. “Pendulinus nigricollis, Vieill. ♂—viridis, Ib.” Oriolus mutatus, Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 64, pl. iv, f. 1-4. Xanthornus affinis, Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. N. H. V, May, 1851, 113 (small race from Texas). Pendulinus s., Cass. Pr. 1867, 61. Pendulinus affinis, Cass. Pr. 1867, 61.

Sp. Char. Bill slender, attenuated, considerably decurved; tail moderately graduated. Male, three years. Head and neck all round, wings, and interscapular region of back, with tail-feathers, black. Rest of under parts, lower part of back to tail, and lesser upper wing-coverts, with the lower one, brownish-chestnut. A narrow line across the wing, and the extreme outer edges of quills, white. Female. Uniform greenish-yellow beneath, olivaceous above, and browner in the middle of the back; two white bands on the wings. Young male of two years like the female, but with a broad black patch from the bill to the upper part of the breast, this color extending along the base of the bill so as to involve the eye and all anterior to it to the base of the bill, somewhat as in I. cucullatus. Length of Pennsylvania male specimens, 7.25; wing, 3.25.

Hab. United States from the Atlantic to the high Central Plains, probably throughout Texas; south to Guatemala. Xalapa (Scl. 1859, 365); Cordova (Scl. 1856, 301); Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 20; Lawr. N. Y. Lyc. IX, 104); Rio Atrato (Cass. P. A. N. S. 1860, 140); Costa Rica (Caban. J. 1861, 8); Panama (Lawr. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 331); Cuba (Gundlach); Veragua (Salvin, 1867, 142); Vera Cruz, winter (Sum. M. B. S. I,); Mazatlan.

This species varies greatly in size with its geographical distribution.

[Pg 191] Winter specimens from Mexico have the black obscured by brownish borders to the feathers.

Habits. The Orchard Oriole is found abundant throughout most of the United States, from the Atlantic to the Missouri Valley, and on the southwest to the valley of the Rio Grande. Mr. J. A. Allen met with individuals of this species as far west as the base of the Rocky Mountains, in Colorado, which he regards as the extreme western limit. It is a very rare summer visitant in New England, though found even as far eastward as Calais, Me. It was not found in Western Maine by Verrill, nor am I aware of its having been met with in either New Hampshire or Vermont. Mr. Allen states that a few pairs breed every season near Springfield, in Western Massachusetts. I have never met with it in the eastern part of the State, but others have been more fortunate, and it is probable that a few visit us each season.

In Texas Mr. Dresser found this species very common at San Antonio during the summer, arriving there quite early in April. He procured a number of their nests, all of which were made of light-colored flexible grasses, and suspended from the upper branches of the mesquite-trees. He also found them breeding near Houston, and on Galveston Island. He describes them as much smaller than birds from the Northern States. This smaller race Mr. Lawrence has regarded as a distinct species, to which he gives the name of affinis. It has been traced as far to the west as Fort Riley in Kansas, and Fort Lookout in Nebraska. It winters in Guatemala, where it is very abundant at that season. Mr. James McLeannan killed it as far south as Panama.

Dr. Elliott Coues considers this bird as rare and chiefly migrant in South Carolina; but Mr. H. S. Rodney (Naturalist, Jan., 1872) found them quite numerous at Camden, in that State, in the summer of 1871. He met with five nests between June 28 and July 19, and has no doubt he could have taken many more, as he counted at least fifteen different pairs. From the fact that Dr. Coues did not meet with any nest at Columbia, only thirty miles distant, Mr. Rodney infers that this Oriole is very partial to certain favored localities, as is also the Baltimore.

The Orchard Oriole is an active, sprightly, and very lively species, and possesses a very peculiar and somewhat remarkable song. Its notes are very rapidly enunciated, and are both hurried and energetic. Some writers speak of the song as confused, but this attribute is not in the utterance of the song, the musician manifesting anything but confusion in the rapid and distinct enunciation of his gushing notes. These may be too quick in their utterance for the listener to follow, but they are wonderful both for their rapidity and their harmony. His performance consists of shrill and lively notes, uttered with an apparent air of great agitation, and they are quite as distinct and agreeable, though neither so full nor so rich, as are those of the more celebrated Golden Robin.

In the Central States, from New York to North Carolina, these birds are [Pg 192] not only very abundant, but very generally diffused. Hardly an orchard or a garden of any size can be found without them. They seem to prefer apple-trees for their abode, and for the construction of their nests. These structures, though essentially different, are, in their style of architecture, quite as curiously wrought and ingenious as those of the Baltimore. They are suspended from small twigs, often at the very extremity of the branches. In Pennsylvania they are usually formed externally of a peculiar kind of long, tough, and flexible grass. This material is woven through and through in a very wonderful manner, and with as much neatness and intricacy as if actually sewed with a needle. They are hemispherical in shape, open at the top, and generally about four inches in breadth and three deep. The cavity has a depth and a width of about two inches.

Wilson states that, having had the curiosity to detach one of these fibres of dried grass from the nest, he found it thirteen inches in length, and that, in that distance, it had been hooked through and returned no less than thirty-four times! In this manner it was passed entirely around the nest. The nests are occasionally lined with wool or the down of seeds. The external portions are strongly fastened to several twigs, so that they may be blown about by the wind without being upset.

Wilson also remarks that he observed that when these nests are built in the long pendent branches of the weeping-willow, where they are liable to much greater motion, though formed of the same materials, they are always made much deeper and of slighter texture. He regards this as a manifestation of a remarkable intelligence, almost equivalent to reason. The willow, owing to the greater density of its foliage, affords better shelter, and is preferred on that account, and owing to the great sweep, in the wind, of the branches, the eggs would be liable to be rolled out if the nest were of the usual depth; hence this adaptation to such positions.

The food of the Orchard Oriole is almost exclusively insects. Of these it consumes a large number, and with them it also feeds its young. Most of these are of the kinds most obnoxious to the husbandman, preying upon the foliage, destroying the fruit, and otherwise injuring the trees, and their destroyers render an incalculable amount of benefit to the gardens they favor with their presence. At the same time they are entirely innocent of injury to crops of any description, and I cannot find that any accusations or expressions of suspicion have been raised against them. They seem to be, therefore, general favorites, and, wherever protected, evince their appreciation of this good-will by their familiarity and numbers.

The female sits upon her eggs fourteen days, and the young remain in the nest about ten days longer. They are supposed to have occasionally two broods in a season, as nests with eggs are found the last of July. They are said to arrive in Pennsylvania about the first of May, and to leave before the middle of September.

According to Wilson they are easily raised from the nest, and become very [Pg 193] tame and familiar. One that he kept through the winter, when two months old whistled with great clearness and vivacity.

All the nests of this species that I have seen from Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, or Texas, have no lining, but are wholly made of one material, a flexible kind of reed or grass.

The sociability of this species is one of its most marked characteristics. Audubon says that he has known no less than nine nests in the same enclosure, and all the birds living together in great harmony.

A nest of this bird, taken in Berlin, Conn., by Mr. Brandigee, has a diameter and a height of four inches. Its cavity is three inches in depth, and varies from three to three and a half in diameter, being widest at the centre, or half-way between the top and the base. It is entirely homogeneous, having been elaborately and skilfully woven of long green blades of grass. The inside is lined with animal wool, bits of yarn, and intermingled with a wooly substance of entirely vegetable origin. It was built from the extremity of the branch of an apple-tree.

An egg of this species, from Washington, measures .85 of an inch in length by .62 in breadth. The ground is a pale bluish-white, blotched with a pale purple, and dashed, at the larger end, with a few deep markings of dark purplish-brown. An egg from New Mexico is similar, but measures .79 of an inch by .54. Both are oblong oval, and pointed at one end.

Icterus cucullatus, Swainson.

HOODED ORIOLE.

Icterus cucullatus, Swainson, Philos. Mag. I, 1827, 436.—Lawrence, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, May, 1851, 116 (first introduced into fauna of United States).—Cassin, Ill. I, II, 1853, 42, pl. viii.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 275.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 546. Pendulinus cucullatus, Bon. Consp. 1850, 433.—Cass. Pr. 1867, 60.

Sp. Char. Both mandibles much curved. Tail much graduated. Wings, a rather narrow band across the back, tail, and a patch starting as a narrow frontal band, involving the eyes, anterior half of cheek, chin, and throat, and ending as a rounded patch on the upper part of breast, black. Rest of body orange-yellow. Two bands on the wing and the edges of the quills white. Female without the black patch of the throat; the upper parts generally yellowish-green, brown on the back, beneath yellowish. Length, 7.50; wing, 3.25.

Hab. Valley of Lower Rio Grande, southward; Tucson, Arizona (Dr. Palmer); Lower California, Cordova (Scl. 1856, 300); Guatemala? (Scl. Ibis I, 20); Cuba? (Lawr. Ann. VII, 1860, 267); San Bernardino, California (Cooper, P. Cal., etc. 1861, 122); Vera Cruz hot region (Sum. M. B. S. I, 553); Mazatlan.

The orange varies greatly in tint and intensity with the individual; sometimes it is deep orange-red; often clear dull yellow, but more frequently of an oily orange.

This species is closely allied to the I. aurocapillus of South America, but [Pg 194] differs in having black, not yellow, shoulders, and in the white markings on the wings.

Habits. The Hooded Oriole is essentially a Mexican species, though it also extends northward into Texas at the Rio Grande, and into Southern California and Arizona. It was not noticed by Dr. Coues in Arizona, but Lieutenant Charles Bendire found it breeding near Tucson in the summer of 1872. It is abundant at Cape St. Lucas. Dr. Cooper found that this species arrived at San Diego about April 22, where they were not rare for a fortnight afterwards, and all then retired into the warmer interior valleys, where he has seen them as far to the north as Los Angeles. While migrating, they were generally silent.

Captain McCown found it quite common on the Rio Grande, where it rears its young. When met with in the woods and far away from the abodes of men, it seemed shy and disposed to conceal itself. Yet a pair of these birds were his constant visitors, morning and evening. They came to the vicinity of his quarters—an unfinished building—at Ringgold Barracks, and at last became so tame and familiar that they would pass from some ebony-trees, that stood near by, to the porch, clinging to the shingles and rafters, frequently in an inverted position, prying into the holes and crevices, apparently in search of spiders and such insects as could be found there. From this occupation they would occasionally desist, to watch his movements. He never could induce them to partake of the food he offered them.

Lieutenant Couch found this species common in the states of Tamaulipas and New Leon. He found their nests generally on or under the tops of the palm known as the Spanish bayonet.

This species is given by Mr. Sumichrast as one of the birds of Vera Cruz, where it is exclusively an inhabitant of the hot region, and where it is rarely found above an elevation of eighteen hundred feet.

These birds were found quite abundant at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California, by Mr. Xantus, by whom a number of their nests and eggs were obtained. The following brief memoranda in regard to a few of these nests will serve to show their general position:—“Nest and two eggs, found May 20, about ten feet from the ground, woven to a small aloe, in a bunch of the Acacia prosopis. Nest and two eggs, found May 22, on a dry tree overhung with hops. Nest and one egg, found May 30, on an acacia, about fifteen feet from the ground. Nest with young, found on an aloe four feet high. Nest and eggs, found on a moss hanging out of a perpendicular bluff, on the sea-coast. Nest and eggs found on a Yucca angustifolia, on its stem, six feet from the ground. Nest and two eggs, found in a convolvulus, on a perpendicular rock fifty feet high. Nest and three eggs, found on an acacia, twenty-five feet high.”

The eggs of this species vary somewhat in shape, some being obtuse and more spherical, others more pointed and oblong. They vary in length from [Pg 195] .92 to .88 of an inch, and from .68 to .65 of an inch in breadth. They have a clear white ground, marbled and blotched with large dashes, dots, and irregular zigzag lines of purple, brown, and black, chiefly disposed around the larger end. In those where the spots are more diffused they are blended with obscure blotches of a faint lavender.

Icterus baltimore, Daudin.

BALTIMORE ORIOLE; GOLDEN ROBIN; HANG-NEST.

Oriolus baltimore, Linn. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 162.—Wilson, Am. Orn. I, 1808, 23, pl. i.—Ib. VI, 1812, pl. liii. “Icterus baltimore, Daud.”—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 66; V, 1839, 278, pls. xii. and ccccxxiii.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 37, pl. ccxvii.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 548.—Sclater & Salvin, Ex. Orn. I, 69, 188 (diagnosis).—Samuels, 348. Yphantes baltimore, Vieillot, Gal. des Ois. I, 1824, 124, pl. lxxxvii. Psarocolius baltimore, Wagler, Syst. Av. 1825, No. 26. Le Baltimore, Buff. pl. enl. 506, f. 1. Hyphantes b., Cass. Pr. 1867, 62.

Sp. Char. Tail nearly even. Head all round and to middle of back, scapulars, wings, and upper surface of tail, black; rest of under parts, rump, upper tail-coverts, and lesser wing-coverts, with terminal portion of tail-feathers (except two innermost), orange-red. Edges of wing-quills, with a band across the tips of the greater coverts, white. Length, 7.50 inches; wing, 3.75.

The female much less brilliant in color; the black of the head and back generally replaced by brownish-yellow, purer on the throat; each feather with a black spot.

Hab. From Atlantic coast to the high Central Plains, and in their borders; south to Panama. Xalapa (Scl. 1856, 365); Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 20); Cuba (Caban. J. IV, 10); Costa Rica (Caban. J. 1861, 7; Lawr. IX, 104); Panama (Lawr. N. Y. Lyc. 1861, 331); Veragua (Salv. 1867, 142); Mosquito Coast (Scl. & Salv. 1867, 279); Vera Cruz (autumn, Sum. M. B. S. I, 553).

A young bird is soft, dull orange beneath, palest on the throat, and tinged along the sides with olive; above olive, with an orange cast on the rump and tail, the latter being without any black; centres of dorsal feathers blackish; wings blackish, with two broad white bands across coverts, and broad edges of white to the tertials.

Specimens collected in Western Kansas, by Mr. J. A. Allen, have the middle wing-coverts pure white instead of deep orange, and, according to that naturalist, have more slender bills than Eastern birds. Mr. Allen thinks they form a race peculiar to the plains; but in examining the series of specimens in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution, we have failed to discover any constancy in this respect. A male (5,356, Farm Isl., May 30) from Nebraska has the middle wing-coverts pure white,—the lesser, clear orange; the black throat-stripe is almost separated from the black of the cheeks by the extension forward of the orange on each side of it, only the tips of the feathers being black.

No. 61,192 ♂, Mount Carmel, Ill. (August 12), has the throat-stripe even more isolated, being connected anteriorly for only about a quarter of an inch with the black of the jaw; there is also a distinct indication of an orange [Pg 196] superciliary stripe, mostly concealed, however, by the black tips of the feathers. The middle coverts, like the lesser, are pure plain orange.

A male from Cape May, N. J. (59,458, May), has the middle coverts white, and the lesser wholly uniform black. The head, however, is as in typical specimens.

In a series of twenty adult spring males from Carlisle, Penn., seven have the middle coverts more or less white. But it is noticed that all these specimens with white middle coverts have invariably less intense colors than those with orange shoulders, while in the Kansas specimens the other colors are of the brightest character.

A male from Washington (12,317, May 6) is exactly similar.

Habits. The familiar Baltimore Oriole, the Golden Robin of the New England States, is found throughout eastern North America, at various seasons, from Texas to the British Possessions, and from the Atlantic to the plains. It is, however, for the most part, not common beyond the Mississippi River. It has been traced as far to the north as the 55th parallel of latitude, and probably breeds more or less abundantly in every State east of the Mississippi River. It is rare in Florida, and is not given by Mr. Allen as known to that State, but I have received its nest and eggs from Monticello in West Florida. The Smithsonian Museum embraces specimens from as far west as Powder River and the Yellowstone.

Mr. J. A. Allen (Am. Naturalist, June, 1872) mentions finding this species at the base of the Rocky Mountains, in Colorado, which he regards as its extreme western limit. In Kansas he found this species, as well as the Orchard Oriole, abundant, the Baltimore indulging in a dialect so different from that of its northern relatives as often to puzzle him to make out to what bird its strange notes belonged. Its colors were also unusually bright in all the specimens he examined.

Mr. Boardman gives it as very rare at Calais, but Professor Verrill thinks it common in Western Maine. It is abundant throughout the southern and central portions of Vermont, and New Hampshire, and in all New York. It is a common summer resident at Hamilton, Ontario, where it arrives the second week in May. It was found on the plains of the Saskatchewan by Captain Blakiston.

Mr. Dresser states it to have been abundant at Matamoras, where it was breeding, though he was too late for its eggs. He saw none at San Antonio, but Mr. J. H. Clark was more fortunate. Numbers of them, he states, were seen nesting in the mesquite-trees on the prairies, at which time they were very musical, having sometimes as many as three nests in the same tree. These were all built of fine grass, among the top branches, and interwoven with the leaves. Dr. Woodhouse found it quite common in the Indian Territory and in Eastern Texas. Specimens of this species were taken by Mr. James M. Leannan, at Panama, which is presumed to be the most southern locality on record for this bird.

[Pg 197] The Baltimore Oriole is one of the most common birds nearly throughout New England. Gay and brilliant in plumage, interesting and lively in manners and habits, and a vocalist of rare power, with pathos, beauty, and variety in his notes, this bird has been, and would still be, a great favorite, but for its transgressions among the pea-vines of our gardens. He makes his appearance with exemplary punctuality, seeming regardless of the prematureness or tardiness of the season. Rarely does the 10th of May pass without the sound of his welcome notes, and rarely, if ever, does he come sooner.

Their period of song is not a long one, but soon terminates, as family cares increase and the tender broods require an undivided attention. Early in July this Oriole ceases to favor the world with those remarkable notes that seldom fail to attract attention by their peculiarity, and to excite admiration by their rich and full-toned melody.

When the male Baltimores first arrive, they come unaccompanied by their mates. At this time their notes are unusually loud, and their voices seem shrill. Their song appears to partake somewhat of the nature of tender lamentations and complaining. At this period they are very active and restless, moving rapidly through the branches of the trees, just opening into leaf and blossom, searching busily for the insects which then form their principal food. When, a few days after their arrival, they are joined by the females, the whole character of their song changes, which becomes a lower-toned, richer, and more pleasing refrain. During their love-season their resonant and peculiarly mellow whistle resounds in every garden and orchard, along the highways of our villages, and in the parks and public squares of our cities.

Nuttall, generally very felicitous in expressing by verbal equivalents the notes of various species of our song-birds, describes the notes of its song as running thus, Tshippe-tshayia-too-too-tshippe-tshippe-too-too, with several other very similar modifications and variations. But these characters give a very inadequate idea of their song. It must be heard to be appreciated, and no description can do justice to its beauties. The notes are of an almost endless variety, and each individual has his own special variations. The female, too, has her own peculiar and very pretty notes, which she incessantly warbles as she weaves her curiously elaborate nest.

To agriculturists this Oriole renders immense service in the destruction of vast numbers of highly injurious insects; among the most noteworthy of these are the common canker-worm and the tent caterpillars, both great pests to orchards. These benefits far more than compensate for its annoying attacks on the pods of esculent peas, the only sin that can rightfully be brought against it, except, perhaps, the acts of theft committed against other birds, in seizing upon and appropriating to it materials collected by smaller birds for their nests.

The Baltimore Orioles are devoted, faithful, and courageous parents, resolutely [Pg 198] defending their young when in danger, and exposing themselves fearlessly to danger and to death rather than forsake them. If their young are taken and caged, the parents follow them, and, if permitted, will continue to feed them.

Mr. Ridgway mentions an instance where the female entered her nest while he was in the act of severing the limb from which it was suspended, and persisted in remaining there until the nest had been cut off and taken into the house. One of these birds, reared from the nest by a family in Worcester, Mass., became perfectly domesticated, was allowed full liberty, and even when taken by the married daughter of its mistress, perched on her finger, through the open grounds to her own house, made no attempt to escape. It delighted in occasional acts of mischief, especially in putting its pointed bill through the meshes of the lace curtains, and then opening its beak, seeming to enjoy the sound produced by tearing the threads.

In the construction of its nest the Oriole displays great skill and ingenuity. This structure is a pendulous and nearly cylindrical pouch, suspended from the extremity of some hanging branch. It is constructed by means of the interweaving of the natural filaments of several flaxlike plants into a homogeneous fabric of great strength, and admirably adapted to its purpose. A nest of this species from West Florida, as well as the one figured by Audubon, was made entirely of the long moss (Tillandsia usneoides) so abundant in Southern forests.

The young birds, before they can fly, climb to the edge of the nest, and are liable, in sudden tempests, to be thrown out. If uninjured, they are good climbers, and by means of wings, bill, and claws, are often able to reach places of safety. In one instance a fledgling, which had broken both legs, and was placed in a basket to be fed by its parents, managed, by wings and bill, to raise itself to the rim, and in a few days took its departure.

The parents feed their young chiefly with caterpillars, which they apparently swallow and then disgorge for this purpose. In confinement they feed readily on soaked bread and fruit, and are especially fond of figs. They are soon reconciled to confinement, become very docile and even playful, sing readily, and will even come at a given signal and alight on the finger of their master.

The eggs of the Baltimore are usually five and rarely six in number. They are of an oblong-oval shape, pointed at one end, and measure .91 of an inch in length by .60 in breadth. Their ground-color is white, with a slight roseate tinge when fresh, fading into a bluish shade in time. They are all variously marked, dotted, and marbled, with spots, blotches, and irregular waving lines of purplish-brown. These markings are of greatly varying shades, from a light purple to almost complete blackness, only perceptibly purplish in a strong light.

[Pg 199] Icterus bullocki, Bon.

BULLOCK’S ORIOLE.

Xanthornus bullocki, Sw. Syn. Mex. Birds, Taylor’s Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 436. Agelaius bullocki, Rich. Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1837. Icterus bullocki, Bon. List, 1838.—Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 9, pls. ccclxxxviii and ccccxxxiii.—Ib. Birds Am. IV, 1842, 43, pl. ccxviii.—Newberry, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 1857, 87.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 549.—Max. Caban. J. VI, 1858, 259.—Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 121.—Cooper & Suckley, 209.—Sclater & Salvin, Ex. Orn. I, 1869, 188 (diagnosis).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 1870, 273. Psarocolius auricollis, Maxim. Reise Nordam. I, 1839, 367 (Fort Pierre, Neb.). Hyphantes b., Cass. Pr. A. N. S. 1867, 62.—Heerm. X, S, 52 (nest).

Sp. Char. Tail very slightly graduated. Upper part of the head and neck, back, wings, two central tail-feathers, line from base of bill through the eye to the black of the nape, and a line from the base of the bill running to a point on the throat, black. Under parts generally, sides of head and neck, forehead and line over the eye, rest of tail-feathers, rump, and upper tail-coverts, yellow-orange. A broad band on the wings, involving the greater and middle coverts, and the outer edges of the quills, white. Young male with the black replaced by greenish-yellow, that on the throat persistent; female without this. The first plumage of the young differs from that of baltimore in being more whitish beneath; lighter olive above, and without dark spots on back; white of middle and greater coverts connected by white edges of the latter. Length, about 7.50 inches; wing, 3.80.

Hab. High Central Plains to the Pacific; rare on Upper Missouri; south into Mexico. City of Mexico (Scl. & Salv. 1869, 362).

A closely allied Mexican species is I. abeillei of Lesson, differing principally in having the sides and rump black.

Habits. Bullock’s Oriole, the western counterpart of the eastern Baltimore, is found throughout the Pacific shore, from the great Central Plains to the ocean, and from Washington Territory to Mexico. It is not given by Sumichrast as occurring in Vera Cruz, where its place is taken, as a migrant, by the Baltimore. It was not noticed by Mr. Dresser on the Rio Grande, but in Arizona it was found by Dr. Coues to be a common summer resident. It was there seen to frequent, almost exclusively, the willows and cottonwoods of the creek-bottoms. To the small twigs of these trees its pensile nests were usually attached. It is said to arrive in Arizona late in April, and to remain there nearly through September.

In the survey of the Mexican boundary Dr. Kennerly met with this species in passing through Guadaloupe cañon, where it was often seen, but it was observed at no other point on the route. It seemed to prefer the low bushes on the hillside to the large trees. In its motions it was quick and restless, passing rapidly from bush to bush.

In Washington Territory this species is stated by Dr. Suckley to be more abundant in the sparsely wooded districts of the eastern base of the Cascade Mountains than in the Coast Range. He found it exceedingly abundant at Fort Dalles and along the eastern base of Mt. Adams. They arrive about [Pg 200] the 15th of May, and were very common among the low oaks of that region. He speaks of its song as very pleasant, and especially melodious early in the morning, when the bird is generally perched on the sunny side or top of an oak.

At Puget Sound, according to Dr. Cooper, these birds do not arrive until the beginning of June, and are at no time very common there. He describes their habits as similar to those of the spurius, they being shy and difficult to discover among the foliage. Their song is more like that of the Baltimore, loud, clear, and varied.

In his Report on the birds of California, Dr. Cooper states that these birds arrive at San Diego, from the south, about March 1; but at Fort Mohave, one hundred and sixty miles farther north, he saw none until a month later. Like the Baltimore Oriole, they resort to the open roads, gardens, and orchards, putting themselves under the protection of man, and repaying him both by their sweet melody and their usefulness in destroying insects. They keep chiefly in the trees and rarely descend to the ground, except to collect materials for their nests. These are suspended from the end of a branch, and are constructed of fibrous grasses, horse-hairs, strings, bits of rags, wool, hempen fibres of plants, etc. At times only a single material is used, such as horse-hair. These nests are neatly and closely interwoven in the form of a deep bag or purse, and are suspended by the edges from the forks of a branch, near its end. They have usually a depth of about four or five inches, and a diameter of about three or three and a half. In most cases they are largely made of the flaxen fibres of wild hempen plants, and by strings of this are firmly bound around the ends of the twigs to which they are suspended. They are lined within with fine, soft vegetable down. In some nests the inner bark of the silkweed largely predominates.

Dr. Cooper states that the eggs of Bullock’s Oriole are, in number, from four to six. He describes them as bluish-white, with scattered, winding streaks and hair-lines of black and reddish-brown near the larger end, measuring .98 by .60 of an inch. In the southern half of California they are laid in the first or second week of May. At Santa Cruz, in 1866, he did not observe any of this species until April 3.

Mr. Allen did not meet with this species in Western Kansas, and it is not included in his list of birds observed by him near Fort Hays. At Ogden and Salt Lake City, in Utah, which he reached the first of September, Bullock’s Oriole had already migrated southward.

In all the fertile portions of the country west of the plains, Mr. Ridgway found Bullock’s Oriole—the western representative of the Baltimore—extremely abundant. In May, when the valley of the Truckee, near Pyramid Lake, was visited, he observed great numbers feeding upon the buds of the grease-wood, in company with the Louisiana Tanager and the Black-headed Grosbeaks. In certain localities there was scarcely a tree that did not contain one or more nests of these birds, and as many as five have been found in [Pg 201] a single tree. Although constructed in a manner almost precisely similar to those of the common eastern species, its nest is less frequently pendulous, being in many cases fixed between the upright twigs near the top of the tree. It is, however, not unfrequently suspended, like that of the Baltimore, from the extremity of a drooping branch, though very rarely in so beautiful a manner. The notes of this Oriole, which are similar to those of the Baltimore, are neither so distinct, so mellow, nor so strong, and their effect is quite different from that produced by the splendid mellow whistling of the eastern species; and the mellow, rolling chatter so characteristic of the latter is not so full in the western species, and generally ends in a sharp chow, much like the curious mewing of an Icteria. He regards Bullock’s Oriole as altogether a less attractive species.

Mr. Lord found this bird by no means an abundant species in British Columbia. Those that were seen seemed to prefer the localities where the scrub-oaks grew, to the pine regions. He found their long, pendulous nests suspended from points of oak branches, without any attempt at concealment. He never met with any of these birds north of Fraser’s River, and very rarely east of the Cascades. A few stragglers visited his quarters at Colville, arriving late in May and leaving early in September, the males usually preceding the females three or four days.

On the Shasta Plains Mr. Lord noticed, in the nesting of this bird, a singular instance of the readiness with which birds alter their habits under difficulties. A solitary oak stood by a little patch of water, both removed by many miles from other objects of the kind. Every available branch and spray of this tree had one of the woven nests of this brilliant bird hanging from it, though hardly known to colonize elsewhere in this manner.

Dr. Coues, in an interesting paper on the habits of this species in the Naturalist for November, 1871, states that its nests, though having a general resemblance in their style of architecture, differ greatly from one another, usually for obvious reasons, such as their situation, the time taken for their construction, and even the taste and skill of the builders. He describes one nest, built in a pine-tree, in which, in a very ingenious manner, these birds bent down the long, straight, needle-like leaves of the stiff, terminal branchlets, and, tying their ends together, made them serve as the upper portion of the nest, and a means of attachment. This nest was nine inches long and four in diameter.

Another nest, described by the same writer, was suspended from the forked twig of an oak, and draped with its leaves, almost to concealment. It had an unusual peculiarity of being arched over and roofed in at the top, with a dome of the same material as the rest of the nest, and a small round hole on one side, just large enough to admit the birds.

The eggs of this Oriole are slightly larger than those of the Baltimore, and their ground-color is more of a creamy-white, yet occasionally with a distinctly bluish tinge. They are marbled and marked with irregular lines and [Pg 202] tracings of dark umber-brown, deepening almost into black, but never so deep as in the eggs of the eastern species. These marblings vary constantly and in a remarkable degree; in some they are almost entirely wanting. They measure .90 of an inch in length by .65 in breadth.