Chapter 12

SubfamilySPIZINÆ.Char.Bill variable, always large, much arched, and with the culmen considerably curved; sometimes of enormous size, and with a greater development backward of the lower jaw, which is always appreciably, sometimes considerably, broader behind than the upper jaw at its base; nostrils exposed. Tail rather variable. Bill generally black, light blue, or red. Wings shorter than in the first group. Gape almost always much more strongly bristled. Few of the species sparrow-like or plain in their appearance; usually blue, red, or black and white; except in one or two instances the sexes very different in color.The preceding diagnosis is intended to embrace the brightly colored passerine birds of North America, different in general appearance from the common Sparrows. It is difficult to draw the line with perfect strictness, so as to separate the species from those of the preceding group, but the bill is always more curved, as well as larger, and the colors are brighter. They resemble quite closely, at a superficial glance, theCoccothraustinæ, 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 toGuiraca, 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 inC. amænain which they are white);♀olive-brown. Nest in a bush; eggs plain bluish-white (except inC. ciris, in which they have reddish spots).B.Wing and tail about equal. The smallest of AmericanConirostres. Nest in bushes. Eggs white, spotted.Spermophila.Bill very short and broad, scarcely longer than high, not compressed; culmen greatly curved. Color: chiefly black and white, or brown and gray.Phonipara.Bill more triangular, decidedly longer than deep, much compressed; culmen only slightly curved, or perfectly straight. Colors: dull olive-green and blackish, with or without yellow about the head.C.Wing much shorter than the tail.a.Head crested. Prevailing color red. Bill red or whitish.Pyrrhuloxia.Bill pyrrhuline, very short, and with the culmen greatly convex; shorter than high. Hind claw less than its digit; not much larger than the middle anterior one. Tarsus equal to the middle toe. Nest in bush or low tree; eggs white, spotted with lilac and olive.Cardinalis.Bill coccothraustine, very large; culmen very slightly convex. Wings more rounded. Feet as in the last, except that the tarsus is longer than the middle toe. Nest in bush or low tree; eggs white, spotted with lilac and olive.b.Head not crested. Colors black, brown, or olive, without red. Bill dusky, or bluish.Pipilo.Bill moderate; culmen and commissure curved. Hind claw very large and strong; longer than its digit. Tarsus less than the middle toe. Nest on ground or in low bush; eggs white sprinkled with red, or pale blue with black dots and lines round larger end.GenusCALAMOSPIZA,Bonap.Calamospiza,Bonap.List, 1838. (Type,Fringilla bicolor,Towns.)Corydalina,Audubon, Synopsis, 1839. (Same type.)Illustration: Calamospiza bicolorCalamospiza bicolor.5720♂Gen. Char.Bill rather large, much swollen at the base; the culmen broad, gently but decidedly curved; the gonys nearly straight; the commissure much angulated near the base, then slightly sinuated; lower mandible nearly as deep as the upper, the margins much inflected, and shutting under the upper mandible. Nostrils small, strictly basal. Rictus quite stiffly bristly. Legs large and stout. Tarsi a little longer than the middle toe; outer toe rather longer than the inner, and reaching to the concealed base of the middle claw; hind toe reaching to the base of the middle claw; hind claw about as long as its toe. Claws all strong, compressed, and considerably curved. Wings long and pointed; the first four nearly equal, and abruptly longest; the tertials much elongated, as long as the primaries. Tail a little shorter than the wings, slightly graduated; the feathers rather narrow and obliquely oval, rounded at the end.Color.Male, black, with white on the wings.Female, brown above, beneath white, with streaks.Illustration: Color plate 29PLATEXXIX.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 11.Poocætes gramineus. D. C., 10147.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 22.Calamospiza bicolor.♂Neb., 5720.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 33.Calamospiza bicolor.♀N. Mex., 6306.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 44.Guiraca cærulea.♂Philada., 6480.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 55.Guiraca cærulea.♀Cal.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail66.Cyanospiza parellina.♂N. Leon, Mex., 4074.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 77.Cyanospiza ciris.♂Texas, 6271.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 88.Cyanospiza ciris.♀.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 99.Cyanospiza versicolor.♂N. Leon, Mex., 4075.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1010.Cyanospiza versicolor.♀C. St. Lucas, 12984.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1111.Cyanospiza amœna.♂Ft. Union, Dak., 1898.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1212.Cyanospiza amœna.♀Nevada, 53551.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1313.Cyanospiza cyanea.♂Pa., 2645.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1414.Cyanospiza cyanea.♀Ga., 32426.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1515.Phonipara zena.♂Bahamas.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1616.Phonipara zena.♀Bahamas.Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1717.Spermophila moreleti.♂Costa Rica, 30524.Illustration: Calamospiza bicolorCalamospiza bicolor.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 AmericanSpizellinæ, with the tertials equal to the primaries in the closed wing, isPasserculus. 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.Maleentirely 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.Femalepale 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 itas closely allied to the Bobolink, and described it as aDolichonyx. 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 likeweet-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 disturbedthe 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 flightof 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 the32dparallel, 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 theEuspiza 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.GenusEUSPIZA,Bonap.Euspiza,Bonap.List, 1838. (Type,Emberiza americana,Gmelin.)Euspina,Cabanis,Mus. Hein.1851, 133. (Same type.)Illustration: Euspiza americanaEuspiza americana,Bonap.1459♂Gen. Char.Bill large and strong, swollen, and without any ridges; the lower mandible nearly as high as the upper; as broad at the base as the length of the gonys, and considerably broader than the upper mandible; the edges much inflexed, and shutting much within the upper mandible; the commissure considerably angulated at the base, then decidedly sinuated. The tarsus barely equal to the middle toe; the lateral toes nearly equal, not reaching to the base of the middle claw; the hind toe about equal to the middle one without its claw. The wings long and acute, reaching nearly to the middle of the tail; the tertials decidedly longer than the secondaries, but much shorter than the primaries; first quill longest, the others regularly graduated. Tail considerably shorter than the wings, though moderately long; nearly even, although slightly emarginate; the outer feathers scarcely shorter. Middle of back only striped; beneath without streaks.This genus comes nearer toCalamospiza, 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.ChesterCo., Pennsylvania.Euspiza americana,Bonap.BLACK-THROATED BUNTING.Emberiza americana,Gmelin,Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 872.—Wilson,Am. Orn. III, 1811, 86,pl. iii, f.2.—Aud.Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 579,pl. ccclxxxiv.—Ib.Syn.1839, 101.—Ib.Birds Am. III, 1841, 58,pl. clvi.—Max.Cab. J. VI, 1858, 341.Fringilla (Spiza) americana,Bonap.Obs. Wils.1825,No.85.Euspiza americana,Bonap.List, 1838 (type).—Ib.Conspectus, 1850, 469.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 494.—Samuels, 327.Euspina americana,Cabanis,Mus. Hein.1851, 133 (type).Fringilla flavicollis,Gmelin,Syst. Nat. I, 926. “Emberiza mexicana,Latham,”Syn. I, 1790, 412 (Gray).Passerina nigricollis,Vieillot.Yellow-throated Finch,Pennant,Arc. Zoöl. II, 374.Sp. Char.Male.Sides of the head and sides and back of the neck ash; crown tinged with yellowish-green and faintly streaked with dusky. A superciliary and short maxillary line, middle of the breast, axillaries, and edge of the wing yellow. Chin, loral region, patch on side of throat, belly, and under tail-coverts white. A black patch on the throat diminishing to the breast, and ending in a spot on the upper part of the belly. Wing-coverts chestnut. Interscapular region streaked with black; rest of back immaculate. Length, about 6.70; wing, 3.50.Femalewith 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.Illustration: Euspiza americanaEuspiza americana.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 toCoturniculus passerinusor toC. henslowi, but which are wholly wrong as applied to those of this bird. Nuttall, whose observations of North American birds were largely made in Massachusetts, speaks of this bird being quite common in that State, where it is certainly very rare, and describes, as its song, notes that have no resemblance to those of this Bunting, but which are a very exact description of the musical performances of the Yellow-winged Sparrow.It is found in the eastern portion of North America, from the base of the Black Hills to the Atlantic States, and from Massachusetts to South Carolina. I am not aware that on the Atlantic it has ever been traced farther south than that State, but farther west it is found as far at least as Southwestern Texas. During winter it is found in Central America, and in Colombia, South America.In Massachusetts it is extremely rare. Mr. Hopkins found it breeding in Williamstown, and sent me its eggs. I have also met with its nest and eggs, in a low meadow near the sea, in Hingham. In both of these instances the nest was on the ground. A specimen was shot in Newton by Mr. John Thaxter, June 26, 1857, that had all the appearance of being then in the process of incubation. Throughout Pennsylvania, and in the vicinity of Washington, these birds are quite common.Wilson states that they are very common in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where they make their appearance in the middle of May, and where they seem to prefer level fields covered with rye-grass, clover, or timothy. They are described as more conspicuous for the quantity than for the quality of their song. This consists of three notes, sounding likechip-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 theEmberiza citrinellaof 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 resemblethose of theEmberiza miliariaof 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 theCalamospiza 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; theinterscapular 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 theMus. Smith.).It is still a question whether this is a distinct species, or only a variety ofE. 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, ChesterCo. Penn., May 11, 1833.GenusHEDYMELES,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; notHabiaofLesson, 1831).Hedymeles,Cabanis,Mus. Hein.1851, 153. (Same type.)

SubfamilySPIZINÆ.

Char.Bill variable, always large, much arched, and with the culmen considerably curved; sometimes of enormous size, and with a greater development backward of the lower jaw, which is always appreciably, sometimes considerably, broader behind than the upper jaw at its base; nostrils exposed. Tail rather variable. Bill generally black, light blue, or red. Wings shorter than in the first group. Gape almost always much more strongly bristled. Few of the species sparrow-like or plain in their appearance; usually blue, red, or black and white; except in one or two instances the sexes very different in color.

The preceding diagnosis is intended to embrace the brightly colored passerine birds of North America, different in general appearance from the common Sparrows. It is difficult to draw the line with perfect strictness, so as to separate the species from those of the preceding group, but the bill is always more curved, as well as larger, and the colors are brighter. They resemble quite closely, at a superficial glance, theCoccothraustinæ, 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 toGuiraca, 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 inC. amænain which they are white);♀olive-brown. Nest in a bush; eggs plain bluish-white (except inC. ciris, in which they have reddish spots).

B.Wing and tail about equal. The smallest of AmericanConirostres. Nest in bushes. Eggs white, spotted.

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

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

C.Wing much shorter than the tail.

a.Head crested. Prevailing color red. Bill red or whitish.

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

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

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

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

GenusCALAMOSPIZA,Bonap.

Calamospiza,Bonap.List, 1838. (Type,Fringilla bicolor,Towns.)

Corydalina,Audubon, Synopsis, 1839. (Same type.)

Illustration: Calamospiza bicolorCalamospiza bicolor.5720♂

Calamospiza bicolor.5720♂

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

Color.Male, black, with white on the wings.Female, brown above, beneath white, with streaks.

Illustration: Color plate 29PLATEXXIX.

PLATEXXIX.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 11.Poocætes gramineus. D. C., 10147.

1.Poocætes gramineus. D. C., 10147.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 22.Calamospiza bicolor.♂Neb., 5720.

2.Calamospiza bicolor.♂Neb., 5720.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 33.Calamospiza bicolor.♀N. Mex., 6306.

3.Calamospiza bicolor.♀N. Mex., 6306.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 44.Guiraca cærulea.♂Philada., 6480.

4.Guiraca cærulea.♂Philada., 6480.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 55.Guiraca cærulea.♀Cal.

5.Guiraca cærulea.♀Cal.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail66.Cyanospiza parellina.♂N. Leon, Mex., 4074.

6.Cyanospiza parellina.♂N. Leon, Mex., 4074.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 77.Cyanospiza ciris.♂Texas, 6271.

7.Cyanospiza ciris.♂Texas, 6271.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 88.Cyanospiza ciris.♀.

8.Cyanospiza ciris.♀.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 99.Cyanospiza versicolor.♂N. Leon, Mex., 4075.

9.Cyanospiza versicolor.♂N. Leon, Mex., 4075.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1010.Cyanospiza versicolor.♀C. St. Lucas, 12984.

10.Cyanospiza versicolor.♀C. St. Lucas, 12984.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1111.Cyanospiza amœna.♂Ft. Union, Dak., 1898.

11.Cyanospiza amœna.♂Ft. Union, Dak., 1898.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1212.Cyanospiza amœna.♀Nevada, 53551.

12.Cyanospiza amœna.♀Nevada, 53551.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1313.Cyanospiza cyanea.♂Pa., 2645.

13.Cyanospiza cyanea.♂Pa., 2645.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1414.Cyanospiza cyanea.♀Ga., 32426.

14.Cyanospiza cyanea.♀Ga., 32426.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1515.Phonipara zena.♂Bahamas.

15.Phonipara zena.♂Bahamas.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1616.Phonipara zena.♀Bahamas.

16.Phonipara zena.♀Bahamas.

Illustration: Color plate 29 detail 1717.Spermophila moreleti.♂Costa Rica, 30524.

17.Spermophila moreleti.♂Costa Rica, 30524.

Illustration: Calamospiza bicolorCalamospiza bicolor.

Calamospiza bicolor.

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 AmericanSpizellinæ, with the tertials equal to the primaries in the closed wing, isPasserculus. 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.Maleentirely 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.

Femalepale 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 itas closely allied to the Bobolink, and described it as aDolichonyx. 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 likeweet-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 disturbedthe 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 flightof 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 the32dparallel, 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 theEuspiza 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.

GenusEUSPIZA,Bonap.

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

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

Illustration: Euspiza americanaEuspiza americana,Bonap.1459♂

Euspiza americana,Bonap.1459♂

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

This genus comes nearer toCalamospiza, 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.ChesterCo., Pennsylvania.

Euspiza americana,Bonap.

BLACK-THROATED BUNTING.

Emberiza americana,Gmelin,Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 872.—Wilson,Am. Orn. III, 1811, 86,pl. iii, f.2.—Aud.Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 579,pl. ccclxxxiv.—Ib.Syn.1839, 101.—Ib.Birds Am. III, 1841, 58,pl. clvi.—Max.Cab. J. VI, 1858, 341.Fringilla (Spiza) americana,Bonap.Obs. Wils.1825,No.85.Euspiza americana,Bonap.List, 1838 (type).—Ib.Conspectus, 1850, 469.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 494.—Samuels, 327.Euspina americana,Cabanis,Mus. Hein.1851, 133 (type).Fringilla flavicollis,Gmelin,Syst. Nat. I, 926. “Emberiza mexicana,Latham,”Syn. I, 1790, 412 (Gray).Passerina nigricollis,Vieillot.Yellow-throated Finch,Pennant,Arc. Zoöl. II, 374.

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

Femalewith 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.

Illustration: Euspiza americanaEuspiza americana.

Euspiza americana.

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 toCoturniculus passerinusor toC. henslowi, but which are wholly wrong as applied to those of this bird. Nuttall, whose observations of North American birds were largely made in Massachusetts, speaks of this bird being quite common in that State, where it is certainly very rare, and describes, as its song, notes that have no resemblance to those of this Bunting, but which are a very exact description of the musical performances of the Yellow-winged Sparrow.

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

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

Wilson states that they are very common in the vicinity of Philadelphia, where they make their appearance in the middle of May, and where they seem to prefer level fields covered with rye-grass, clover, or timothy. They are described as more conspicuous for the quantity than for the quality of their song. This consists of three notes, sounding likechip-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 theEmberiza citrinellaof 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 resemblethose of theEmberiza miliariaof 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 theCalamospiza 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; theinterscapular 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 theMus. Smith.).

It is still a question whether this is a distinct species, or only a variety ofE. 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, ChesterCo. Penn., May 11, 1833.

GenusHEDYMELES,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; notHabiaofLesson, 1831).

Hedymeles,Cabanis,Mus. Hein.1851, 153. (Same type.)

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