Illustration: Color plate 28PLATEXXVIII.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 11.Melospiza palustris.♂D. C., 38746.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 22.Melospiza palustris.♀Pa.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 33.Embernagra rufivirgata. Orizaba, 29229.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 44.Peucæa æstivalis.Ga., 10245.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 55.Peucæa cassini. Texas, 6329.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 66.Peucæa ruficeps.Cal., 6241.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 77.Passerella iliaca.Ad., Pa., 846.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 88.Passerella townsendi.♀ColumbiaR., 2874.Illustration: Color plate 28 details 9 and 109.Passerella schistacea. Utah, 11234.10.Passerella schistacea.var.megarhyncha.♂Utah.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 1111.Euspiza americana.♂Pa., 1459.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 1212.Euspiza americana.♀D. C., 10133.Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 1313.Euspiza townsendi.Pa., 10282. (Type.)From what is now known, we gather that it occurs throughout the eastern portions of North America, from the Southern States, in which it passes thewintry months, to high northern latitudes, where some find their way in the breeding-season, extending as far to the west at least as the Missouri River region.Three specimens were obtained at Fort Simpson, by Mr. Kennicott, in September, which indicates their probable summer presence in latitude 55°, and their near approach to the Pacific coast at the extreme northwestern portion of their distribution. Audubon also met with them in Newfoundland and in Labrador. They are known to breed as far to the south as Pennsylvania. They have been taken in the eastern portion of Nebraska, and breed in considerable numbers in Southern Wisconsin. Further investigations in regard to its distribution will probably show it to be a much more widely distributed as well as a more abundant bird than has been generally supposed.Mr. Ridgway writes me that this bird winters in Southern Illinois, and remains there very late in the spring, but he thinks that none remain to breed.Wilson states that it arrives in Pennsylvania early in April, where it frequents low grounds and river-courses, rears two and sometimes three broods in a season, and returns to the South as the cold weather commences. During the winter, he met with them in large numbers in the immense cypress swamps and extensive grassy flats of the Southern States, along the numerous rivers and rice plantations. These places abounded with their favorite seeds and other means of sustenance, and appeared to be their general places of resort at this season. From the river Trent, in North Carolina, to the Savannah River, and even farther south, Wilson found this species very numerous. They were not found in flocks, but skulked among the reeds and grass, were shy and timorous, and seemed more attached to the water than any others of this family. In April large numbers pass through Pennsylvania northward. Only a few remain behind, and these frequent the swamps and the reedy borders of creeks and rivers. He found their nests built in the ground, in tussocks of rank grass, surrounded by water, with four eggs of a dirty-white ground, spotted with rufous. He has found them feeding their young as late as the 15th of August. Their food seemed to be principally grass-seeds, wild oats, and insects. He supposed them to have no song, and that their only note was a singlecheeputtered in a somewhat hoarse tone. They flirt their tails as they fly, seldom or never take to trees, but run and skulk from one low bush to another.Except in regard to their song, Wilson’s account of their habits, so far as it goes, is quite accurate, although this bird really does have quite a respectable song, and one that improves as the season advances. At first it is only a succession or repetition of a few monotonous trilling notes, which might easily be mistaken for the song of the Field Sparrow, or even confounded with the feebler chant of thesocialis, although not so varied as the former, and is much more sprightly and pleasing than the other. Still later its music improves, and more effort is made. Like the Song Sparrow, itmounts some low twig, expands its tail-feathers, and gives forth a very sprightly trill that echoes through the swampy thicket with an effect which, once noticed and identified with the performer, is not likely to be ever mistaken. Nuttall calls this song loud, sweet, and plaintive. It is to my ear more sprightly than pathetic, and has a peculiarly ventriloquistic effect, as if the performer were at a much greater distance than he really is.Their food, when they first arrive, and that which they feed to their young, consists very largely of insects, principally coleopterous ones, with such few seeds as they can glean. After the breeding-season, when their young can take care of themselves, they eat almost exclusively the ripened seeds of the coarse water grasses and sedges. They are very devoted to their young, and often display great solicitude for their safety, even when able to take care of themselves, and often expose themselves to dangers they carefully avoid at other times, and are thus more easily procured. At all other times they are difficult to shoot, running, as they do, through the grass and tangled thickets, and rarely rising on the wing. They dive from thicket to thicket with great rapidity, and even when wounded have a wonderful power of running and hiding themselves.Mr. Audubon met with them, during autumn and winter, among the flat sand-bars of the Mississippi, which are overgrown with rank grasses. Though not in flocks, their numbers were immense. They fed on grass-seeds and insects, often wading for the latter in shallow water in the manner of theTringidæ, and when wounded and forced into the water swimming off to the nearest shelter. He also met with these birds abundantly dispersed in the swamps of Cuyaga Lake, as well as among those along the Illinois River in the summer, and in the winter up the Arkansas River.Mr. Townsend observed these birds on the head-waters of the Upper Missouri, but did not meet with them beyond.In Maine, Mr. Boardman gives it as a regular summer visitant at Calais, arriving there as early as March, becoming common in May, and breeding in that locality. Professor Verrill found it in Western Maine, a summer visitant and breeding, but did not regard it as common. From my own experience, in the neighborhood of Boston, I should have said the same as to its infrequency in Eastern Massachusetts, yet in certain localities it is a very abundant summer resident. Mr. William Brewster has found it breeding in large numbers in the marshes of Fresh Pond, where it arrives sometimes as early as the latter part of March, and where it remains until November. In the western part of the State it is more common as a migratory bird, and has not been found, in any numbers, stopping to breed. Mr. Allen never met with any later than May 25. They were observed to be in company with the Water Thrush, and to be in every way as aquatic in their habits. In the autumn he again met with it from the last of September through October, always in bushy marshes or wet places. Mr. McIlwraith states that in the vicinity of Hamilton, Ontario, it is a common summer resident, breedingthere in marshy situations. At Lake Koskonong, in Wisconsin, Mr. Kumlien has also met with these birds abundantly in suitable localities, and found their nests and eggs quite plentiful.Mr. Ridgway has recently found this Sparrow to be a very abundant winter resident in Southern Illinois, where it inhabits swampy thickets, and where it remains until May, but is not known to breed there.They always nest on the ground, usually in a depression sheltered by a tuft of grass. The nest is woven of fine grass-stems, but is smaller than the nest ofM. melodia.The eggs of this species, usually five in number, have an average measurement of .78 by .60 of an inch. Their ground-color is usually a light green, occasionally of a light clay, marked and blotched with reddish and purplish brown spots, varying in size and number, occasionally forming a confluent ring around the larger end.GenusPEUCÆA,Audubon.Peucæa,Aud.Synopsis, 1839. (Type,Fringilla æstivalis.)Sclater & Salvin, 1868, 322 (Synopsis.)Illustration: Peucæa æstivalis.Peucæa æstivalis.10245♂Gen. Char.Bill moderate. Upper outline and commissure decidedly curved. Legs and feet with the claws small; the tarsus about equal to the middle toe; the lateral toes equal, their claws falling considerably short of the middle one; the hind toe reaching about to the middle of the latter. The outstretched feet reach rather beyond the middle of the tail. The wing is very short, reaching only to the base of the tail; the longest tertials do not exceed the secondaries, while both are not much short of the primaries; the outer three or four quills are graduated. The tail is considerably longer than the wings; it is much graduated laterally; the feathers, though long, are peculiarly narrow, linear, and elliptically rounded at the ends.Color beneath plain whitish or brownish, with a more or less distinct dusky line each side of the chin. Above with broad obsolete brown streaks or blotches. Crown uniform, or the feathers edged with lighter.Species and Varieties.Common Characters.A light superciliary stripe, with a brownish one below it from the eye along upper edge of ear-coverts (not one along lower edge of ear-coverts, as inMelospiza). A narrow blackish “bridle” along side of throat (sometimes indistinct). Crown without a distinct median stripe, and lower parts without markings. Ground-color above ashy, sometimes of a brownish cast; dorsal region and nape with brown blotches, with or without dark centres. Crown blackish-brown streaked with ashy or plain rufous. Beneath plain brownish-white, lightest on the abdomen, darker across jugulum and along sides.A.Crown plain rufous; interscapulars without distinct black centres, and tertials without whitish border. Blackish “bridle” conspicuous. Bend of wing edged with white.1.P. ruficeps.Above olivaceous-ash, interscapulars with broad streaks of dull rufous, the shafts scarcely blackish. Crown bright rufous. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.70; bill, .29 from forehead, .20 deep; tarsus, .70; middle toe without claw, .55.Hab.California (and Mexico in winter?)…var.ruficeps.Darker, above brownish-plumbeous, dorsal streaks scarcely rufous, and with distinctly black shaft-streaks; crown darker rufous. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.60; bill, .34 and .25; tarsus, .77; middle toe, .57.Hab.Mexico (Orizaba; Oaxaca), in summer …var.boucardi.[7]B.Crown streaked; interscapulars with distinct black centres; tertials sharply bordered terminally with paler. “Bridle” obsolete; bend of wing edged with yellowish.2.P. æstivalis.Above uniformly marked with broad streaks or longitudinal blotches of deep rufous; black streaks confined to interscapulars and crown. Tail-feathers without darker shaft-stripe, and without indications of darker bars; the outer feathers without distinct white. Black marks on upper tail-coverts inconspicuous, longitudinal.The bluish-ash, and chestnut-rufous streaks above sharply contrasted; black dorsal streaks broad. Wing, 2.45; tail, 2.65; bill, .30 and .30; tarsus, .73; middle toe, .60.Hab.Southern States from Florida and Georgia to Southern Illinois …var.æstivalis.The dull ash and light rufous streaks above not sharply defined; black dorsal streaks narrow. Wing, 2.65; tail, 3.00; bill, .32 and .25; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .63.Hab.Southern border of the Arizona region of Middle Province of United States …var.arizonæ.Markings badly defined as in the last, but the rufous streaks darker (in summer plumage almost entirely black), with more black on the crown. Wing, 2.55; tail, 2.65; bill, .32 and .25; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .60.Hab.Mexico (Orizaba; Mirador, Colima) …var.botterii.[8]3.P. cassini.Above marked everywhere with broad short streaks of pale (not reddish) brown streaks, all black medially. Tail-feathers withdistinct blackish shaft-stripe, throwing off narrow, obsolete bars toward the edge of the feathers. Outer tail-feathers distinctly tipped (broadly) and edged with dull white. Black marks on upper tail-coverts very large, transverse. Beneath nearly uniform dull white, scarcely darker along sides and across breast; flanks with broad streaks of blackish-brown. Wing, 2.55; tail, 2.80; bill, .28 and .23; tarsus, .68; middle toe, .55.Hab.Rio Grande, region (San Antonio and Laredo), north to Kansas (Allen).Peucæa æstivalis,Cabanis.BACHMAN’S SPARROW.Fringilla æstivalis,Licht.Verz. Doubl.1823, 25,No.254.—Bonap.Conspectus, 1850, 481.Peucæa æstivalis,Cabanis,Mus. Hein.1850, 132.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 484.Fringilla bachmani,Aud.Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 366,pl. clxv.Ammodromus bachmani,Bon.List, 1838.Peucæa bachmani,Aud.Syn.1839.—Ib.Birds Am. III, 1841, 113,pl. clxxvi.—Bon.Consp.1850, 481 (type).Fringilla æstiva,Nutt.I, (2d ed.,)1840, 568. “Summer finch,Latham, Synopsis,(2d ed.,) VI, 136.”Nuttall.Illustration: Peucæa æstivalisPeucæa æstivalis.Sp. Char.All the feathers of the upper parts rather dark brownish-red or chestnut, margined with bluish-ash, which almost forms a median stripe on the crown. Interscapular region and upper tail-coverts with the feathers becoming black in the centre. An indistinct ashy superciliary stripe. Under parts pale yellow-brownish, tinged with ashy on the sides, and with darker brownish across the upper part of the breast. A faint maxillary dusky line. Indistinct streaks of chestnut along the sides. Edge of wing yellow; lesser coverts tinged with greenish. Innermost secondaries abruptly margined with narrow whitish. Legs yellow. Bill above dusky, yellowish beneath. Outer tail-feathers obsoletely marked with a long blotch of paler at end. Female considerably smaller. Young with rounded dusky specks on the jugulum, which is more ochraceous. Length, 6.25; wing, 2.30; tail, 2.78.Hab.Georgia; Florida; South Illinois, breeding (Ridgway). (Perhaps whole of Southern States from Florida to South Illinois.)Specimens from Southern Illinois (WabashCo., July, 1871; coll. of R. Ridgway) are similar to Florida examples.Habits.Bachman’s Finch has only been known, until very recently, as a species of a very restricted range, and confined within the limits of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Our principal, and for some time our only, knowledge of its habits was derived from the account furnished by Rev. Dr. Bachman to Mr. Audubon. That observing naturalist first met with it in the month of April, 1832, near Parker’s Ferry, on the Edisto River, in South Carolina. Dr. Henry Bryant afterwards met with this species at Indian River, in Florida, where he obtained specimens of its nestsand eggs. Dr. Alexander Gerhardt also found these Sparrows common at Varnell’s Station, in the northern part of Georgia. Professor Joseph Leconte has taken it near Savannah, and Mr. W. L. Jones has also obtained several specimens in Liberty County, in the same State.After meeting with this species on the Edisto, Dr. Bachman ascertained, upon searching for them in the vicinity of Charlestown, that they breed in small numbers on the pine barrens, about six miles north of that city. He was of the opinion that it is by no means so rare in that State as has been supposed, but that it is more often heard than seen. When he first heard it, the notes so closely resembled those of the Towhee Bunting that for a while he mistook them for those of that bird. Their greater softness and some slight variations at last induced him to suspect that the bird was something different, and led him to go in pursuit. After that it was quite a common thing for him to hear as many as five or six in the course of a morning’s ride, but he found it almost impossible to get even a sight of the bird. This is owing, not so much to its being so wild, as to the habit it has of darting from the tall pine-trees, on which it usually sits to warble out its melodious notes, and concealing itself in the tall broom-grass that is almost invariably found in the places it frequents. As soon as it alights it runs off, in the manner of a mouse, and hides itself in the grass, and it is extremely difficult to get a sight of it afterwards.It was supposed by Dr. Bachman—correctly, as it has been ascertained—to breed on the ground, where it is always to be found when it is not singing. He never met with its nest. In June, 1853, he observed two pairs of these birds, each having four young. They were pretty well fledged, and were following their parents along the low scrub-oaks of the pine lands.Dr. Bachman regarded this bird as decidedly the finest songster of the Sparrow family with which he was acquainted. Its notes are described as very loud for the size of the bird, and capable of being heard at a considerable distance in the pine woods where it occurs, and where at that season it is the only singer.He also states that, by the middle of November, they have all disappeared, probably migrating farther south. It is quite probable that they do not go beyond the limits of the United States, and that some remain in South Carolina during the whole of winter, as on the 6th of February, the coldest part of the year, Dr. Bachman found one of them in the long grass near Charleston.Mr. Audubon says that on his return from Florida, in June, 1832, travelling through both the Carolinas, he observed many of these Finches on the sides of the roads cut through the pine woods of South Carolina. They filled the air with their melodies. He traced them as far as the boundary line of North Carolina, but saw none within the limits of that State. They were particularly abundant about the Great Santee River.This Finch, hitherto assumed to be an exclusively southeastern species, hasrecently been detected by Mr. Ridgway in Southern Illinois, where it is a summer resident, and where it breeds, but is not abundant. It inhabits old fields, where, perched upon a fence-stake or an old dead tree, it is described as chanting a very delightful song. It was first taken on the 12th of July, 1871, on the road about half-way between Mount Carmel and Olney. The bird was then seen on a fence, and its unfamiliar appearance and fine song at once attracted his notice as he was riding by. As several were heard singing in the same neighborhood, it seemed common in that locality, and as a young bird was taken in its first plumage there is no doubt that it is a regular summer visitant of Southern Illinois, and breeds there. Mr. Ridgway speaks of its song as one of the finest he has ever heard, most resembling the sweet chant of the Field Sparrow, but is stronger, and varied by a clear, high, and very musical strain. He describes its song as resembling the syllablesthééééééé-til-lūt,lūt-lūt, the first being a very fine trill pitched in a very high musical key, the last syllable abrupt and metallic in tone.The food of this species, Dr. Bachman states, consists of the seeds of grasses, and also of coleopterous insects, as well as of a variety of the small berries so abundant in that part of the country. He speaks of its flight as swift, direct, and somewhat protracted, and adds that it is often out of sight before it alights.Dr. Coues did not meet with this Sparrow in South Carolina, but he was informed by Professor Leconte that it occurs about Columbia and elsewhere in the State, frequenting open pine woods and old dry fields.Dr. Bryant met with its nest in Florida, April 20. It was similar, in construction, to that of the Savannah Sparrow, and contained five eggs. It was the only Sparrow found by him in the pine barrens near Enterprise, and was only seen occasionally, when it was a very difficult bird to shoot, as it runs round in the grass more like a mouse than a bird, and will not fly until almost trodden on, then moving only a few feet at a time.The nests of this bird, found by Dr. Bryant in Florida and by Dr. Gerhardt in Northern Georgia, were all placed upon the ground and concealed in tufts of thick grass, and constructed entirely of coarse wiry grasses, with no other lining than this material. The eggs, four in number, are of a pure, almost brilliant white, of a rounded oval shape, and measure .74 by .60 of an inch.Peucæa æstivalisvar.arizonæ,Ridgway.ARIZONA SPARROW.Peucæa cassini,Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 486. (Los Nogales specimen.)Sp. Char.(6,327♂, Los Nogales, Northern Sonora, June, C. B. Kennerly.) Similar toP. æstivalis, but paler; wings and tail longer. Above light chestnut, all the feathers margined and tipped with bluish-gray, but the reddish prevailing. Interscapular andcrown feathers with a narrow streak of black, those on crown indistinct. Beneath dull white, tinged with ashy-ochraceous across the breast and along the sides; crissum pale ochraceous. An obsolete light superciliary, and narrow dusky maxillary stripe. Bend of wing yellow; lesser coverts tinged with greenish-yellow. Length, 6 inches; wing, 2.65; tail, 3.00; bill, .32 from nostril, .25 deep at base; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .63.Hab.Los Nogales, Sonora, and Southern Arizona.This race has a considerable resemblance toP. æstivalis, but differs in some appreciable points. The brown of the upper parts is paler, and the ashy edging to the feathers appears rather less extensive. The dark brown blotches on the back are of greater extent, the black streaks on the back confined to a mere streak along the shaft. There is less of an olive tinge across the breast.The proportions of the present race differ more from those ofæstivalisthan do the colors, the bill being more slender, and the wings and tail considerably longer.The resemblance toP. botterii(=æstivalis,var.botterii) of Sclater, from Middle Mexico (Orizaba, Colima, etc.), is very close; the difference being greater in the proportions than in the colors, the latter having a shorter wing and tail, with thicker bill, as invar.æstivalis. Inbotteriithere is rather a predominance of the black over the rufous in the streaks above.Habits.This, in its general habits, nesting, eggs, etc., probably resembles the varietyæstivalis.Peucæa cassini,Baird.CASSIN’S SPARROW.Zonotrichia cassini,Woodhouse,Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VI, April, 1852, 60 (San Antonio).Passerculus cassini,Woodhouse, Sitgreaves’sRep.Zuñi and Colorado, 1853, 85; Birds,pl. iv.Peucæa cassini,Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 485,pl. iv, f.2.—Heermann, X, c,p.12,pl. iv, f.2.—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 219 (not fromCal.).Sp. Char.(6,329♂, Texas; compared with type of species.) Ground-color of upper parts grayish-ash; the middle portion of each feather dull brown, in the form of a blotch, and with a black shaft-streak, the latter becoming modified on scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts, into transverse spots, those on the upper tail-coverts being large and conspicuous, and in the form of crescentic spots, the terminal margin of the feathers being lighter ashy in sharp contrast. Middle tail-feathers clear ashy, with a sharply defined shaft-streak of blackish, throwing off obsolete, narrow, transverse bars toward the edge; rest of tail clear dusky-brown, the lateral feather with whole outer web, and margin of the inner, dull white, all, except the intermediate, with a large, abruptly defined, terminal space of dilute brown (decreasing in size from the outer), the margin whitish. Upper secondaries broadly and sharply margined along both edges with dull ashy-white, the enclosed portion being clear dusky brown, intensified where adjoining the whitish. A very obsolete superciliary stripe of ashy, becoming whitish over the lore; auriculars more dingy, but without distinct stripe along upper edge. An uninterrupted but indistinct “bridle” along sides of throat. Lower parts dull white, without any ochraceous, but with a very faint ashy tinge ever the jugulum; flanks with broad, somewhat blendedstreaks of mixed brownish and dusky. Bend of wing edged with light yellow. Wing, 2.55; tail, 2.80; bill, .28 from nostril and .23 deep; tarsus, .68; middle toe, .55.Young.(45,277, Laredo, Texas, June 28.) Very similar, but with a few drop-shaped streaks of dark brown on the jugulum and along sides. The feathers above have a more appreciable terminal border of buff.Hab.Rio Grande region of Southern Middle Province; Kansas, breeding (Allen). San Antonio, Texas, summer (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 489; eggs); ? Orizaba,temp. reg.(Sum.M. B. S. I, 551).In the Birds of North America, the specimen characterized onp.637 of the present work asæstivalis,var.arizonæ, was referred toP. cassini, those specimens which are here retained as such being considered as in quite immature plumage. A more recent examination of additional material, however, has compelled us to change our view. In consequence of the similarity of the specimen in question toæstivalis, as noted in the article referred to above, the general acceptation of the namecassinihas been that of a term designating a variety of the common species; but we have as the result of the investigation in question found it necessary to retain under the head of “cassini” only the typical specimens from the Rio Grande region, and refer the supposed aberrant specimen toæstivalis. In this Los Nogales specimen we find existing such differences in proportions and colors as are sufficient to warrant our bestowing upon it a new name, and establishing it as the Middle Province race ofæstivalis, in this way connecting the South Atlantic and Mexican races (var.æstivalisandvar.botterii) by a more similar form than theP. cassini, which must be set apart as an independent form,—in all probability a good species. Several facts are favorable to this view. First, we have of theP. cassinispecimens which are beyond question in perfect adult plumage, and others which are undoubtedly immature; they differ from each other only in such respects as would be expected, and agree substantially in other characters, by which they are distinguished from the different styles ofæstivalis. Secondly, the region to be filled by a peculiar race ofæstivalisis represented by thevar.arizonæ, which is undoubtedly referable to that species; thus we have in one province these two different forms, which therefore are probably distinct.The present bird is hardly less distinct from the races ofæstivalisthan isruficeps; and we would be as willing to consider all the definable forms presented in the synopsis as varieties of a single species, as to refer the present bird toæstivalis.Habits.This Finch, in its general appearance, as well as in respect to habits, nesting, and eggs, is quite similar to Bachman’s Finch. It was first met with by Dr. Woodhouse, in the expedition to the Zuñi River, when he found it in Western Texas. He shot it on the prairies near San Antonio, on the 25th of April, 1851, mistaking it forPasserculus savanna, which, in its habits, it seemed to him very much to resemble, but upon examination it was found to be totally distinct.Dr. Heermann afterwards, being at Comanche Springs in Texas, had hisattention attracted by the new note of a bird unfamiliar to him. It was found, after some observation, to proceed from this species. He describes it as rising with a tremulous motion of its wings some twenty feet or more, and then descending again, in the same manner, to within a few yards of the spot whence it started, and as accompanying its entire flight with a lengthened and pleasing song. The country in that neighborhood is very barren, covered with low stunted bushes, in which the bird takes refuge on being alarmed, gliding rapidly through the grass and shrubbery, and very adroitly and effectually evading its pursuer. He observed them during four or five days of the journey of his party, and after that saw no more of them. They seemed, at the time, to be migrating, though their continued and oft-repeated song also showed that they were not far from readiness for the duties of incubation.ThePeucæa cassiniis said, by Mr. Sumichrast, to be a resident species in the valley of Orizaba, in the State of Vera Cruz, Mexico, and to be generally distributed throughout the temperate region of that district. It is very probable, however, that he has in view the Mexican race ofP. æstivalis(var.botterii), and not the present species.Mr. J. A. Allen, who considers this bird only a western form ofP. æstivalis, mentions (Am.Naturalist, May, 1872) finding it quite frequently near the streams in Western Kansas, where its sweetly modulated song greets the ear with the first break of dawn, and is again heard at night till the last trace of twilight has disappeared. Mr. Allen also states, in a letter, that this bird was “tolerably common along the streams near Fort Hays, but very retiring, singing mostly after nightfall and before sunrise, during the morning twilight. When singing, it had the habit of rising into the air. I shot three one morning thus singing, when it was so dark I could not find the birds. The one I obtained does not differ appreciably from specimens from Mr. Cassin’s collection, labelled by himPeucæa cassini, collected in Texas.”Mr. Ridgway regards this record of the manners of this bird, while singing, as indicating a specific difference fromP. æstivalis. The latter, in Southern Illinois, has never been heard by him to sing at night, or in the morning, nor even on the wing; but in broad midday, in the hottest days of June, July, and August, he often heard them singing vigorously and sweetly, as they perched upon a fence or a dead tree in a field, exactly after the manner of our commonSpizella pusilla.Among Dr. Heermann’s notes, quoted by Mr. Dresser, is one containing the statement that he found this species not rare on the prairies near the Medina River, in Texas, where it breeds. Mr. Dresser also states that when at Howard’s Ranche, early in May, he found this bird by no means uncommon. He confirms Dr. Heermann’s account, that it is easily distinguished as it rises in the air, from a bush, with a peculiar fluttering motion of the wings, at the same time singing, and then suddenly dropping into the bushes again.He adds that, in his absence, Dr. Heermann procured the eggs of this species on the Medina, and while he was himself travelling in July towards Loredo, he found a nest which he was fully confident belonged to this bird. It was placed in a low bush not above a foot from the ground, and in its construction resembled that of thePoospiza bilineata. The eggs were three in number, pure white, closely agreeing with those taken by Dr. Heermann, and larger and more elongated than those of thebilineata.An egg of this species, taken in Texas by Dr. H. R. Storer, the identification of which, however, was incomplete, is more oblong than the eggs ofP. æstivalis, and smaller, measuring .72 by .58 of an inch. It is pure white also.Peucæa ruficeps,Baird.RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW.Ammodromus ruficeps,Cassin,Pr. A. N. Sc. VI, Oct.1852, 184 (California).—Ib.Illust. I,V, 1854, 135,pl. xx.Peucæa ruficeps,Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 486.—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 218.Sp. Char.Above brownish-ashy. The crown and nape uniform brownish-chestnut, the interscapular region and neck with the feathers of this color, except around the margins. A superciliary ashy stripe, whiter at the base of the bill. Beneath pale yellowish-brown, or brownish-yellow, darker and more ashy across the breast and on the sides of body; middle of belly and chin lighter; the latter with a well-marked line of black on each side. Edge of wing white. Under tail-coverts more rufous. Legs yellow. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.35; tail, 2.85.Hab.Coast of California, to Mexico; ? Oaxaca, March (Scl.1859, 380); ? Vera Cruz, temperate region; resident (Sum.M. B. S. I, 552).This plainly colored species has the bill rather slender; tail rather long, and considerably rounded; the outer feathers .40 of an inch shorter than the middle; the feathers soft, and rounded at the tip. The wing is short; the primaries not much longer than the tertials; the second, third, fourth, and fifth nearly equal; the first scarcely longer than the secondaries.There is a blackish tinge on the forehead, separated by a short central line of white, as inSpizella socialis. The eyelids are whitish, and there is a short black line immediately over the upper lid. There is a faint chestnut streak back of the eye. The chestnut of the nape is somewhat interrupted by pale edgings. The blotches on the back melt almost insensibly into the colors of the margins of the feathers. The outer edges of the secondaries and tertials, and the outer surface of the tail, are yellowish-rusty.This bird is similar in general appearance to theP. æstivalis, but has the head above more continuous chestnut; the black cheek-stripe more distinct, and the edge of wing whitish, not yellow, the bill more slender. A Mexican specimen has a stouter bill.TheP. boucardiof Sclater (=ruficeps,var.boucardi; see table,p.634), from Mexico, is exceedingly similar, it being very difficult to present the differencesin a diagnosis. This trouble is partly the result of the insufficient series at our command, for there are such different combinations of colors, according to the season, that it is almost impossible to select the average characters of two definable forms.Habits.This species was first described, in 1852, by Mr. Cassin, from a specimen obtained in California by Dr. Heermann. Very little is known as to its history, and it appears to have been generally overlooked by naturalists who have studied the ornithology of that State. The extent of its distribution or of its numbers remains unknown,—a circumstance due undoubtedly to the nature of the country which it frequents.Dr. Heermann states that in the fall of 1851 he shot on the Cosumnes River a single specimen of this bird from among a large flock of Sparrows of various kinds. In the spring of the following year, among the mountains, near the Calaveras River, he found it quite abundant. It was then flying in pairs, engaged in picking grass-seed from the ground, and when started it never extended its flight beyond a few yards. Its notes, in their character, reminded him of the ditty of our common little Chipping Sparrow (Spizella socialis). He obtained several specimens. Its flight seemed feeble, and when raised from the ground, from which it would not start until almost trodden on, it would fly but a short distance, and almost immediately drop again into the grass.Dr. Cooper has only met with this species on Catalina Island, in June, where a few kept about the low bushes, feeding on the ground. They were very difficult even to get a sight of. He heard them sing a few musical notes, that reminded him of those of theCyanospizæ. They flew only a short distance, and in their habits reminded him of theMelospizæ. Their favorite places of resort he supposes to be pine woods, as in the eastern species.The fact that this species has been found by Mr. Sumichrast to be a permanent resident throughout all the temperate regions of Vera Cruz is a very interesting one, and is suggestive of different manners and habits from those supposed to belong to it as a bird allied with theAmmodrami. They are abundant, and breed there, as in the United States, but nothing is given throwing any positive light upon their general habits.GenusEMBERNAGRA,Lesson.Embernagra,Lesson,Traité d’Ornith., 1831 (Agassiz). (Type,Saltator viridis,Vieillot.)Gen. Char.Bill conical, elongated, compressed; the upper outline considerably curved, the lower straight; the commissure slightly concave, and faintly notched at the end. Tarsi lengthened; considerably longer than the middle toe. Outer toe a little longer than the inner, not reaching quite to the base of the middle claw. Hind toe about as long as the middle without its claw. Wings very short, and much rounded; the tertials nearly equal to the primaries; the secondaries a little shorter; the outer four primaries much graduated, even the second shorter than any other quill. The tail is moderate,about as long as the wings, much graduated; the feathers rather narrow, linear, and elliptically rounded at the end; the outer webs more than usually broad in proportion to the inner, being more than one third as wide. The upper parts are olive-green, the under whitish.The position of this genus is a matter of considerable uncertainty. On some accounts it would be better placed among theSpizinæ.There are numerous tropical species of this genus; none of them are nearly allied, however, to the single North American species.Embernagra rufivirgata,Lawrence.TEXAS SPARROW.Embernagra rufivirgata,Lawrence,Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, May, 1851, 112,pl. v, f.2 (Texas).—Sclater,Pr. Zoöl. Soc.1856, 306.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 487,pl. lv. f.2.—Ib.Mex. Bound. II, Birds, 16,pl. xvii, f.2.Zonotrichia plebeja,Licht. Bon.ComptesRend.43, 1856, 413.
Illustration: Color plate 28PLATEXXVIII.
PLATEXXVIII.
PLATEXXVIII.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 11.Melospiza palustris.♂D. C., 38746.
1.Melospiza palustris.♂D. C., 38746.
1.Melospiza palustris.♂D. C., 38746.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 22.Melospiza palustris.♀Pa.
2.Melospiza palustris.♀Pa.
2.Melospiza palustris.♀Pa.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 33.Embernagra rufivirgata. Orizaba, 29229.
3.Embernagra rufivirgata. Orizaba, 29229.
3.Embernagra rufivirgata. Orizaba, 29229.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 44.Peucæa æstivalis.Ga., 10245.
4.Peucæa æstivalis.Ga., 10245.
4.Peucæa æstivalis.Ga., 10245.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 55.Peucæa cassini. Texas, 6329.
5.Peucæa cassini. Texas, 6329.
5.Peucæa cassini. Texas, 6329.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 66.Peucæa ruficeps.Cal., 6241.
6.Peucæa ruficeps.Cal., 6241.
6.Peucæa ruficeps.Cal., 6241.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 77.Passerella iliaca.Ad., Pa., 846.
7.Passerella iliaca.Ad., Pa., 846.
7.Passerella iliaca.Ad., Pa., 846.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 88.Passerella townsendi.♀ColumbiaR., 2874.
8.Passerella townsendi.♀ColumbiaR., 2874.
8.Passerella townsendi.♀ColumbiaR., 2874.
Illustration: Color plate 28 details 9 and 109.Passerella schistacea. Utah, 11234.10.Passerella schistacea.var.megarhyncha.♂Utah.
9.Passerella schistacea. Utah, 11234.10.Passerella schistacea.var.megarhyncha.♂Utah.
9.Passerella schistacea. Utah, 11234.10.Passerella schistacea.var.megarhyncha.♂Utah.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 1111.Euspiza americana.♂Pa., 1459.
11.Euspiza americana.♂Pa., 1459.
11.Euspiza americana.♂Pa., 1459.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 1212.Euspiza americana.♀D. C., 10133.
12.Euspiza americana.♀D. C., 10133.
12.Euspiza americana.♀D. C., 10133.
Illustration: Color plate 28 detail 1313.Euspiza townsendi.Pa., 10282. (Type.)
13.Euspiza townsendi.Pa., 10282. (Type.)
13.Euspiza townsendi.Pa., 10282. (Type.)
From what is now known, we gather that it occurs throughout the eastern portions of North America, from the Southern States, in which it passes thewintry months, to high northern latitudes, where some find their way in the breeding-season, extending as far to the west at least as the Missouri River region.
Three specimens were obtained at Fort Simpson, by Mr. Kennicott, in September, which indicates their probable summer presence in latitude 55°, and their near approach to the Pacific coast at the extreme northwestern portion of their distribution. Audubon also met with them in Newfoundland and in Labrador. They are known to breed as far to the south as Pennsylvania. They have been taken in the eastern portion of Nebraska, and breed in considerable numbers in Southern Wisconsin. Further investigations in regard to its distribution will probably show it to be a much more widely distributed as well as a more abundant bird than has been generally supposed.
Mr. Ridgway writes me that this bird winters in Southern Illinois, and remains there very late in the spring, but he thinks that none remain to breed.
Wilson states that it arrives in Pennsylvania early in April, where it frequents low grounds and river-courses, rears two and sometimes three broods in a season, and returns to the South as the cold weather commences. During the winter, he met with them in large numbers in the immense cypress swamps and extensive grassy flats of the Southern States, along the numerous rivers and rice plantations. These places abounded with their favorite seeds and other means of sustenance, and appeared to be their general places of resort at this season. From the river Trent, in North Carolina, to the Savannah River, and even farther south, Wilson found this species very numerous. They were not found in flocks, but skulked among the reeds and grass, were shy and timorous, and seemed more attached to the water than any others of this family. In April large numbers pass through Pennsylvania northward. Only a few remain behind, and these frequent the swamps and the reedy borders of creeks and rivers. He found their nests built in the ground, in tussocks of rank grass, surrounded by water, with four eggs of a dirty-white ground, spotted with rufous. He has found them feeding their young as late as the 15th of August. Their food seemed to be principally grass-seeds, wild oats, and insects. He supposed them to have no song, and that their only note was a singlecheeputtered in a somewhat hoarse tone. They flirt their tails as they fly, seldom or never take to trees, but run and skulk from one low bush to another.
Except in regard to their song, Wilson’s account of their habits, so far as it goes, is quite accurate, although this bird really does have quite a respectable song, and one that improves as the season advances. At first it is only a succession or repetition of a few monotonous trilling notes, which might easily be mistaken for the song of the Field Sparrow, or even confounded with the feebler chant of thesocialis, although not so varied as the former, and is much more sprightly and pleasing than the other. Still later its music improves, and more effort is made. Like the Song Sparrow, itmounts some low twig, expands its tail-feathers, and gives forth a very sprightly trill that echoes through the swampy thicket with an effect which, once noticed and identified with the performer, is not likely to be ever mistaken. Nuttall calls this song loud, sweet, and plaintive. It is to my ear more sprightly than pathetic, and has a peculiarly ventriloquistic effect, as if the performer were at a much greater distance than he really is.
Their food, when they first arrive, and that which they feed to their young, consists very largely of insects, principally coleopterous ones, with such few seeds as they can glean. After the breeding-season, when their young can take care of themselves, they eat almost exclusively the ripened seeds of the coarse water grasses and sedges. They are very devoted to their young, and often display great solicitude for their safety, even when able to take care of themselves, and often expose themselves to dangers they carefully avoid at other times, and are thus more easily procured. At all other times they are difficult to shoot, running, as they do, through the grass and tangled thickets, and rarely rising on the wing. They dive from thicket to thicket with great rapidity, and even when wounded have a wonderful power of running and hiding themselves.
Mr. Audubon met with them, during autumn and winter, among the flat sand-bars of the Mississippi, which are overgrown with rank grasses. Though not in flocks, their numbers were immense. They fed on grass-seeds and insects, often wading for the latter in shallow water in the manner of theTringidæ, and when wounded and forced into the water swimming off to the nearest shelter. He also met with these birds abundantly dispersed in the swamps of Cuyaga Lake, as well as among those along the Illinois River in the summer, and in the winter up the Arkansas River.
Mr. Townsend observed these birds on the head-waters of the Upper Missouri, but did not meet with them beyond.
In Maine, Mr. Boardman gives it as a regular summer visitant at Calais, arriving there as early as March, becoming common in May, and breeding in that locality. Professor Verrill found it in Western Maine, a summer visitant and breeding, but did not regard it as common. From my own experience, in the neighborhood of Boston, I should have said the same as to its infrequency in Eastern Massachusetts, yet in certain localities it is a very abundant summer resident. Mr. William Brewster has found it breeding in large numbers in the marshes of Fresh Pond, where it arrives sometimes as early as the latter part of March, and where it remains until November. In the western part of the State it is more common as a migratory bird, and has not been found, in any numbers, stopping to breed. Mr. Allen never met with any later than May 25. They were observed to be in company with the Water Thrush, and to be in every way as aquatic in their habits. In the autumn he again met with it from the last of September through October, always in bushy marshes or wet places. Mr. McIlwraith states that in the vicinity of Hamilton, Ontario, it is a common summer resident, breedingthere in marshy situations. At Lake Koskonong, in Wisconsin, Mr. Kumlien has also met with these birds abundantly in suitable localities, and found their nests and eggs quite plentiful.
Mr. Ridgway has recently found this Sparrow to be a very abundant winter resident in Southern Illinois, where it inhabits swampy thickets, and where it remains until May, but is not known to breed there.
They always nest on the ground, usually in a depression sheltered by a tuft of grass. The nest is woven of fine grass-stems, but is smaller than the nest ofM. melodia.
The eggs of this species, usually five in number, have an average measurement of .78 by .60 of an inch. Their ground-color is usually a light green, occasionally of a light clay, marked and blotched with reddish and purplish brown spots, varying in size and number, occasionally forming a confluent ring around the larger end.
GenusPEUCÆA,Audubon.
Peucæa,Aud.Synopsis, 1839. (Type,Fringilla æstivalis.)Sclater & Salvin, 1868, 322 (Synopsis.)
Illustration: Peucæa æstivalis.Peucæa æstivalis.10245♂
Peucæa æstivalis.10245♂
Gen. Char.Bill moderate. Upper outline and commissure decidedly curved. Legs and feet with the claws small; the tarsus about equal to the middle toe; the lateral toes equal, their claws falling considerably short of the middle one; the hind toe reaching about to the middle of the latter. The outstretched feet reach rather beyond the middle of the tail. The wing is very short, reaching only to the base of the tail; the longest tertials do not exceed the secondaries, while both are not much short of the primaries; the outer three or four quills are graduated. The tail is considerably longer than the wings; it is much graduated laterally; the feathers, though long, are peculiarly narrow, linear, and elliptically rounded at the ends.
Color beneath plain whitish or brownish, with a more or less distinct dusky line each side of the chin. Above with broad obsolete brown streaks or blotches. Crown uniform, or the feathers edged with lighter.
Species and Varieties.
Common Characters.A light superciliary stripe, with a brownish one below it from the eye along upper edge of ear-coverts (not one along lower edge of ear-coverts, as inMelospiza). A narrow blackish “bridle” along side of throat (sometimes indistinct). Crown without a distinct median stripe, and lower parts without markings. Ground-color above ashy, sometimes of a brownish cast; dorsal region and nape with brown blotches, with or without dark centres. Crown blackish-brown streaked with ashy or plain rufous. Beneath plain brownish-white, lightest on the abdomen, darker across jugulum and along sides.
A.Crown plain rufous; interscapulars without distinct black centres, and tertials without whitish border. Blackish “bridle” conspicuous. Bend of wing edged with white.
1.P. ruficeps.
Above olivaceous-ash, interscapulars with broad streaks of dull rufous, the shafts scarcely blackish. Crown bright rufous. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.70; bill, .29 from forehead, .20 deep; tarsus, .70; middle toe without claw, .55.Hab.California (and Mexico in winter?)…var.ruficeps.
Darker, above brownish-plumbeous, dorsal streaks scarcely rufous, and with distinctly black shaft-streaks; crown darker rufous. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.60; bill, .34 and .25; tarsus, .77; middle toe, .57.Hab.Mexico (Orizaba; Oaxaca), in summer …var.boucardi.[7]
B.Crown streaked; interscapulars with distinct black centres; tertials sharply bordered terminally with paler. “Bridle” obsolete; bend of wing edged with yellowish.
2.P. æstivalis.Above uniformly marked with broad streaks or longitudinal blotches of deep rufous; black streaks confined to interscapulars and crown. Tail-feathers without darker shaft-stripe, and without indications of darker bars; the outer feathers without distinct white. Black marks on upper tail-coverts inconspicuous, longitudinal.
The bluish-ash, and chestnut-rufous streaks above sharply contrasted; black dorsal streaks broad. Wing, 2.45; tail, 2.65; bill, .30 and .30; tarsus, .73; middle toe, .60.Hab.Southern States from Florida and Georgia to Southern Illinois …var.æstivalis.
The dull ash and light rufous streaks above not sharply defined; black dorsal streaks narrow. Wing, 2.65; tail, 3.00; bill, .32 and .25; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .63.Hab.Southern border of the Arizona region of Middle Province of United States …var.arizonæ.
Markings badly defined as in the last, but the rufous streaks darker (in summer plumage almost entirely black), with more black on the crown. Wing, 2.55; tail, 2.65; bill, .32 and .25; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .60.Hab.Mexico (Orizaba; Mirador, Colima) …var.botterii.[8]
3.P. cassini.Above marked everywhere with broad short streaks of pale (not reddish) brown streaks, all black medially. Tail-feathers withdistinct blackish shaft-stripe, throwing off narrow, obsolete bars toward the edge of the feathers. Outer tail-feathers distinctly tipped (broadly) and edged with dull white. Black marks on upper tail-coverts very large, transverse. Beneath nearly uniform dull white, scarcely darker along sides and across breast; flanks with broad streaks of blackish-brown. Wing, 2.55; tail, 2.80; bill, .28 and .23; tarsus, .68; middle toe, .55.Hab.Rio Grande, region (San Antonio and Laredo), north to Kansas (Allen).
Peucæa æstivalis,Cabanis.
BACHMAN’S SPARROW.
Fringilla æstivalis,Licht.Verz. Doubl.1823, 25,No.254.—Bonap.Conspectus, 1850, 481.Peucæa æstivalis,Cabanis,Mus. Hein.1850, 132.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 484.Fringilla bachmani,Aud.Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 366,pl. clxv.Ammodromus bachmani,Bon.List, 1838.Peucæa bachmani,Aud.Syn.1839.—Ib.Birds Am. III, 1841, 113,pl. clxxvi.—Bon.Consp.1850, 481 (type).Fringilla æstiva,Nutt.I, (2d ed.,)1840, 568. “Summer finch,Latham, Synopsis,(2d ed.,) VI, 136.”Nuttall.
Illustration: Peucæa æstivalisPeucæa æstivalis.
Peucæa æstivalis.
Sp. Char.All the feathers of the upper parts rather dark brownish-red or chestnut, margined with bluish-ash, which almost forms a median stripe on the crown. Interscapular region and upper tail-coverts with the feathers becoming black in the centre. An indistinct ashy superciliary stripe. Under parts pale yellow-brownish, tinged with ashy on the sides, and with darker brownish across the upper part of the breast. A faint maxillary dusky line. Indistinct streaks of chestnut along the sides. Edge of wing yellow; lesser coverts tinged with greenish. Innermost secondaries abruptly margined with narrow whitish. Legs yellow. Bill above dusky, yellowish beneath. Outer tail-feathers obsoletely marked with a long blotch of paler at end. Female considerably smaller. Young with rounded dusky specks on the jugulum, which is more ochraceous. Length, 6.25; wing, 2.30; tail, 2.78.
Hab.Georgia; Florida; South Illinois, breeding (Ridgway). (Perhaps whole of Southern States from Florida to South Illinois.)
Specimens from Southern Illinois (WabashCo., July, 1871; coll. of R. Ridgway) are similar to Florida examples.
Habits.Bachman’s Finch has only been known, until very recently, as a species of a very restricted range, and confined within the limits of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Our principal, and for some time our only, knowledge of its habits was derived from the account furnished by Rev. Dr. Bachman to Mr. Audubon. That observing naturalist first met with it in the month of April, 1832, near Parker’s Ferry, on the Edisto River, in South Carolina. Dr. Henry Bryant afterwards met with this species at Indian River, in Florida, where he obtained specimens of its nestsand eggs. Dr. Alexander Gerhardt also found these Sparrows common at Varnell’s Station, in the northern part of Georgia. Professor Joseph Leconte has taken it near Savannah, and Mr. W. L. Jones has also obtained several specimens in Liberty County, in the same State.
After meeting with this species on the Edisto, Dr. Bachman ascertained, upon searching for them in the vicinity of Charlestown, that they breed in small numbers on the pine barrens, about six miles north of that city. He was of the opinion that it is by no means so rare in that State as has been supposed, but that it is more often heard than seen. When he first heard it, the notes so closely resembled those of the Towhee Bunting that for a while he mistook them for those of that bird. Their greater softness and some slight variations at last induced him to suspect that the bird was something different, and led him to go in pursuit. After that it was quite a common thing for him to hear as many as five or six in the course of a morning’s ride, but he found it almost impossible to get even a sight of the bird. This is owing, not so much to its being so wild, as to the habit it has of darting from the tall pine-trees, on which it usually sits to warble out its melodious notes, and concealing itself in the tall broom-grass that is almost invariably found in the places it frequents. As soon as it alights it runs off, in the manner of a mouse, and hides itself in the grass, and it is extremely difficult to get a sight of it afterwards.
It was supposed by Dr. Bachman—correctly, as it has been ascertained—to breed on the ground, where it is always to be found when it is not singing. He never met with its nest. In June, 1853, he observed two pairs of these birds, each having four young. They were pretty well fledged, and were following their parents along the low scrub-oaks of the pine lands.
Dr. Bachman regarded this bird as decidedly the finest songster of the Sparrow family with which he was acquainted. Its notes are described as very loud for the size of the bird, and capable of being heard at a considerable distance in the pine woods where it occurs, and where at that season it is the only singer.
He also states that, by the middle of November, they have all disappeared, probably migrating farther south. It is quite probable that they do not go beyond the limits of the United States, and that some remain in South Carolina during the whole of winter, as on the 6th of February, the coldest part of the year, Dr. Bachman found one of them in the long grass near Charleston.
Mr. Audubon says that on his return from Florida, in June, 1832, travelling through both the Carolinas, he observed many of these Finches on the sides of the roads cut through the pine woods of South Carolina. They filled the air with their melodies. He traced them as far as the boundary line of North Carolina, but saw none within the limits of that State. They were particularly abundant about the Great Santee River.
This Finch, hitherto assumed to be an exclusively southeastern species, hasrecently been detected by Mr. Ridgway in Southern Illinois, where it is a summer resident, and where it breeds, but is not abundant. It inhabits old fields, where, perched upon a fence-stake or an old dead tree, it is described as chanting a very delightful song. It was first taken on the 12th of July, 1871, on the road about half-way between Mount Carmel and Olney. The bird was then seen on a fence, and its unfamiliar appearance and fine song at once attracted his notice as he was riding by. As several were heard singing in the same neighborhood, it seemed common in that locality, and as a young bird was taken in its first plumage there is no doubt that it is a regular summer visitant of Southern Illinois, and breeds there. Mr. Ridgway speaks of its song as one of the finest he has ever heard, most resembling the sweet chant of the Field Sparrow, but is stronger, and varied by a clear, high, and very musical strain. He describes its song as resembling the syllablesthééééééé-til-lūt,lūt-lūt, the first being a very fine trill pitched in a very high musical key, the last syllable abrupt and metallic in tone.
The food of this species, Dr. Bachman states, consists of the seeds of grasses, and also of coleopterous insects, as well as of a variety of the small berries so abundant in that part of the country. He speaks of its flight as swift, direct, and somewhat protracted, and adds that it is often out of sight before it alights.
Dr. Coues did not meet with this Sparrow in South Carolina, but he was informed by Professor Leconte that it occurs about Columbia and elsewhere in the State, frequenting open pine woods and old dry fields.
Dr. Bryant met with its nest in Florida, April 20. It was similar, in construction, to that of the Savannah Sparrow, and contained five eggs. It was the only Sparrow found by him in the pine barrens near Enterprise, and was only seen occasionally, when it was a very difficult bird to shoot, as it runs round in the grass more like a mouse than a bird, and will not fly until almost trodden on, then moving only a few feet at a time.
The nests of this bird, found by Dr. Bryant in Florida and by Dr. Gerhardt in Northern Georgia, were all placed upon the ground and concealed in tufts of thick grass, and constructed entirely of coarse wiry grasses, with no other lining than this material. The eggs, four in number, are of a pure, almost brilliant white, of a rounded oval shape, and measure .74 by .60 of an inch.
Peucæa æstivalisvar.arizonæ,Ridgway.
ARIZONA SPARROW.
Peucæa cassini,Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 486. (Los Nogales specimen.)
Sp. Char.(6,327♂, Los Nogales, Northern Sonora, June, C. B. Kennerly.) Similar toP. æstivalis, but paler; wings and tail longer. Above light chestnut, all the feathers margined and tipped with bluish-gray, but the reddish prevailing. Interscapular andcrown feathers with a narrow streak of black, those on crown indistinct. Beneath dull white, tinged with ashy-ochraceous across the breast and along the sides; crissum pale ochraceous. An obsolete light superciliary, and narrow dusky maxillary stripe. Bend of wing yellow; lesser coverts tinged with greenish-yellow. Length, 6 inches; wing, 2.65; tail, 3.00; bill, .32 from nostril, .25 deep at base; tarsus, .80; middle toe, .63.
Hab.Los Nogales, Sonora, and Southern Arizona.
This race has a considerable resemblance toP. æstivalis, but differs in some appreciable points. The brown of the upper parts is paler, and the ashy edging to the feathers appears rather less extensive. The dark brown blotches on the back are of greater extent, the black streaks on the back confined to a mere streak along the shaft. There is less of an olive tinge across the breast.
The proportions of the present race differ more from those ofæstivalisthan do the colors, the bill being more slender, and the wings and tail considerably longer.
The resemblance toP. botterii(=æstivalis,var.botterii) of Sclater, from Middle Mexico (Orizaba, Colima, etc.), is very close; the difference being greater in the proportions than in the colors, the latter having a shorter wing and tail, with thicker bill, as invar.æstivalis. Inbotteriithere is rather a predominance of the black over the rufous in the streaks above.
Habits.This, in its general habits, nesting, eggs, etc., probably resembles the varietyæstivalis.
Peucæa cassini,Baird.
CASSIN’S SPARROW.
Zonotrichia cassini,Woodhouse,Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VI, April, 1852, 60 (San Antonio).Passerculus cassini,Woodhouse, Sitgreaves’sRep.Zuñi and Colorado, 1853, 85; Birds,pl. iv.Peucæa cassini,Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 485,pl. iv, f.2.—Heermann, X, c,p.12,pl. iv, f.2.—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 219 (not fromCal.).
Sp. Char.(6,329♂, Texas; compared with type of species.) Ground-color of upper parts grayish-ash; the middle portion of each feather dull brown, in the form of a blotch, and with a black shaft-streak, the latter becoming modified on scapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts, into transverse spots, those on the upper tail-coverts being large and conspicuous, and in the form of crescentic spots, the terminal margin of the feathers being lighter ashy in sharp contrast. Middle tail-feathers clear ashy, with a sharply defined shaft-streak of blackish, throwing off obsolete, narrow, transverse bars toward the edge; rest of tail clear dusky-brown, the lateral feather with whole outer web, and margin of the inner, dull white, all, except the intermediate, with a large, abruptly defined, terminal space of dilute brown (decreasing in size from the outer), the margin whitish. Upper secondaries broadly and sharply margined along both edges with dull ashy-white, the enclosed portion being clear dusky brown, intensified where adjoining the whitish. A very obsolete superciliary stripe of ashy, becoming whitish over the lore; auriculars more dingy, but without distinct stripe along upper edge. An uninterrupted but indistinct “bridle” along sides of throat. Lower parts dull white, without any ochraceous, but with a very faint ashy tinge ever the jugulum; flanks with broad, somewhat blendedstreaks of mixed brownish and dusky. Bend of wing edged with light yellow. Wing, 2.55; tail, 2.80; bill, .28 from nostril and .23 deep; tarsus, .68; middle toe, .55.
Young.(45,277, Laredo, Texas, June 28.) Very similar, but with a few drop-shaped streaks of dark brown on the jugulum and along sides. The feathers above have a more appreciable terminal border of buff.
Hab.Rio Grande region of Southern Middle Province; Kansas, breeding (Allen). San Antonio, Texas, summer (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 489; eggs); ? Orizaba,temp. reg.(Sum.M. B. S. I, 551).
In the Birds of North America, the specimen characterized onp.637 of the present work asæstivalis,var.arizonæ, was referred toP. cassini, those specimens which are here retained as such being considered as in quite immature plumage. A more recent examination of additional material, however, has compelled us to change our view. In consequence of the similarity of the specimen in question toæstivalis, as noted in the article referred to above, the general acceptation of the namecassinihas been that of a term designating a variety of the common species; but we have as the result of the investigation in question found it necessary to retain under the head of “cassini” only the typical specimens from the Rio Grande region, and refer the supposed aberrant specimen toæstivalis. In this Los Nogales specimen we find existing such differences in proportions and colors as are sufficient to warrant our bestowing upon it a new name, and establishing it as the Middle Province race ofæstivalis, in this way connecting the South Atlantic and Mexican races (var.æstivalisandvar.botterii) by a more similar form than theP. cassini, which must be set apart as an independent form,—in all probability a good species. Several facts are favorable to this view. First, we have of theP. cassinispecimens which are beyond question in perfect adult plumage, and others which are undoubtedly immature; they differ from each other only in such respects as would be expected, and agree substantially in other characters, by which they are distinguished from the different styles ofæstivalis. Secondly, the region to be filled by a peculiar race ofæstivalisis represented by thevar.arizonæ, which is undoubtedly referable to that species; thus we have in one province these two different forms, which therefore are probably distinct.
The present bird is hardly less distinct from the races ofæstivalisthan isruficeps; and we would be as willing to consider all the definable forms presented in the synopsis as varieties of a single species, as to refer the present bird toæstivalis.
Habits.This Finch, in its general appearance, as well as in respect to habits, nesting, and eggs, is quite similar to Bachman’s Finch. It was first met with by Dr. Woodhouse, in the expedition to the Zuñi River, when he found it in Western Texas. He shot it on the prairies near San Antonio, on the 25th of April, 1851, mistaking it forPasserculus savanna, which, in its habits, it seemed to him very much to resemble, but upon examination it was found to be totally distinct.
Dr. Heermann afterwards, being at Comanche Springs in Texas, had hisattention attracted by the new note of a bird unfamiliar to him. It was found, after some observation, to proceed from this species. He describes it as rising with a tremulous motion of its wings some twenty feet or more, and then descending again, in the same manner, to within a few yards of the spot whence it started, and as accompanying its entire flight with a lengthened and pleasing song. The country in that neighborhood is very barren, covered with low stunted bushes, in which the bird takes refuge on being alarmed, gliding rapidly through the grass and shrubbery, and very adroitly and effectually evading its pursuer. He observed them during four or five days of the journey of his party, and after that saw no more of them. They seemed, at the time, to be migrating, though their continued and oft-repeated song also showed that they were not far from readiness for the duties of incubation.
ThePeucæa cassiniis said, by Mr. Sumichrast, to be a resident species in the valley of Orizaba, in the State of Vera Cruz, Mexico, and to be generally distributed throughout the temperate region of that district. It is very probable, however, that he has in view the Mexican race ofP. æstivalis(var.botterii), and not the present species.
Mr. J. A. Allen, who considers this bird only a western form ofP. æstivalis, mentions (Am.Naturalist, May, 1872) finding it quite frequently near the streams in Western Kansas, where its sweetly modulated song greets the ear with the first break of dawn, and is again heard at night till the last trace of twilight has disappeared. Mr. Allen also states, in a letter, that this bird was “tolerably common along the streams near Fort Hays, but very retiring, singing mostly after nightfall and before sunrise, during the morning twilight. When singing, it had the habit of rising into the air. I shot three one morning thus singing, when it was so dark I could not find the birds. The one I obtained does not differ appreciably from specimens from Mr. Cassin’s collection, labelled by himPeucæa cassini, collected in Texas.”
Mr. Ridgway regards this record of the manners of this bird, while singing, as indicating a specific difference fromP. æstivalis. The latter, in Southern Illinois, has never been heard by him to sing at night, or in the morning, nor even on the wing; but in broad midday, in the hottest days of June, July, and August, he often heard them singing vigorously and sweetly, as they perched upon a fence or a dead tree in a field, exactly after the manner of our commonSpizella pusilla.
Among Dr. Heermann’s notes, quoted by Mr. Dresser, is one containing the statement that he found this species not rare on the prairies near the Medina River, in Texas, where it breeds. Mr. Dresser also states that when at Howard’s Ranche, early in May, he found this bird by no means uncommon. He confirms Dr. Heermann’s account, that it is easily distinguished as it rises in the air, from a bush, with a peculiar fluttering motion of the wings, at the same time singing, and then suddenly dropping into the bushes again.He adds that, in his absence, Dr. Heermann procured the eggs of this species on the Medina, and while he was himself travelling in July towards Loredo, he found a nest which he was fully confident belonged to this bird. It was placed in a low bush not above a foot from the ground, and in its construction resembled that of thePoospiza bilineata. The eggs were three in number, pure white, closely agreeing with those taken by Dr. Heermann, and larger and more elongated than those of thebilineata.
An egg of this species, taken in Texas by Dr. H. R. Storer, the identification of which, however, was incomplete, is more oblong than the eggs ofP. æstivalis, and smaller, measuring .72 by .58 of an inch. It is pure white also.
Peucæa ruficeps,Baird.
RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW.
Ammodromus ruficeps,Cassin,Pr. A. N. Sc. VI, Oct.1852, 184 (California).—Ib.Illust. I,V, 1854, 135,pl. xx.Peucæa ruficeps,Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 486.—Cooper,Orn. Cal.1, 1870, 218.
Sp. Char.Above brownish-ashy. The crown and nape uniform brownish-chestnut, the interscapular region and neck with the feathers of this color, except around the margins. A superciliary ashy stripe, whiter at the base of the bill. Beneath pale yellowish-brown, or brownish-yellow, darker and more ashy across the breast and on the sides of body; middle of belly and chin lighter; the latter with a well-marked line of black on each side. Edge of wing white. Under tail-coverts more rufous. Legs yellow. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.35; tail, 2.85.
Hab.Coast of California, to Mexico; ? Oaxaca, March (Scl.1859, 380); ? Vera Cruz, temperate region; resident (Sum.M. B. S. I, 552).
This plainly colored species has the bill rather slender; tail rather long, and considerably rounded; the outer feathers .40 of an inch shorter than the middle; the feathers soft, and rounded at the tip. The wing is short; the primaries not much longer than the tertials; the second, third, fourth, and fifth nearly equal; the first scarcely longer than the secondaries.
There is a blackish tinge on the forehead, separated by a short central line of white, as inSpizella socialis. The eyelids are whitish, and there is a short black line immediately over the upper lid. There is a faint chestnut streak back of the eye. The chestnut of the nape is somewhat interrupted by pale edgings. The blotches on the back melt almost insensibly into the colors of the margins of the feathers. The outer edges of the secondaries and tertials, and the outer surface of the tail, are yellowish-rusty.
This bird is similar in general appearance to theP. æstivalis, but has the head above more continuous chestnut; the black cheek-stripe more distinct, and the edge of wing whitish, not yellow, the bill more slender. A Mexican specimen has a stouter bill.
TheP. boucardiof Sclater (=ruficeps,var.boucardi; see table,p.634), from Mexico, is exceedingly similar, it being very difficult to present the differencesin a diagnosis. This trouble is partly the result of the insufficient series at our command, for there are such different combinations of colors, according to the season, that it is almost impossible to select the average characters of two definable forms.
Habits.This species was first described, in 1852, by Mr. Cassin, from a specimen obtained in California by Dr. Heermann. Very little is known as to its history, and it appears to have been generally overlooked by naturalists who have studied the ornithology of that State. The extent of its distribution or of its numbers remains unknown,—a circumstance due undoubtedly to the nature of the country which it frequents.
Dr. Heermann states that in the fall of 1851 he shot on the Cosumnes River a single specimen of this bird from among a large flock of Sparrows of various kinds. In the spring of the following year, among the mountains, near the Calaveras River, he found it quite abundant. It was then flying in pairs, engaged in picking grass-seed from the ground, and when started it never extended its flight beyond a few yards. Its notes, in their character, reminded him of the ditty of our common little Chipping Sparrow (Spizella socialis). He obtained several specimens. Its flight seemed feeble, and when raised from the ground, from which it would not start until almost trodden on, it would fly but a short distance, and almost immediately drop again into the grass.
Dr. Cooper has only met with this species on Catalina Island, in June, where a few kept about the low bushes, feeding on the ground. They were very difficult even to get a sight of. He heard them sing a few musical notes, that reminded him of those of theCyanospizæ. They flew only a short distance, and in their habits reminded him of theMelospizæ. Their favorite places of resort he supposes to be pine woods, as in the eastern species.
The fact that this species has been found by Mr. Sumichrast to be a permanent resident throughout all the temperate regions of Vera Cruz is a very interesting one, and is suggestive of different manners and habits from those supposed to belong to it as a bird allied with theAmmodrami. They are abundant, and breed there, as in the United States, but nothing is given throwing any positive light upon their general habits.
GenusEMBERNAGRA,Lesson.
Embernagra,Lesson,Traité d’Ornith., 1831 (Agassiz). (Type,Saltator viridis,Vieillot.)
Gen. Char.Bill conical, elongated, compressed; the upper outline considerably curved, the lower straight; the commissure slightly concave, and faintly notched at the end. Tarsi lengthened; considerably longer than the middle toe. Outer toe a little longer than the inner, not reaching quite to the base of the middle claw. Hind toe about as long as the middle without its claw. Wings very short, and much rounded; the tertials nearly equal to the primaries; the secondaries a little shorter; the outer four primaries much graduated, even the second shorter than any other quill. The tail is moderate,about as long as the wings, much graduated; the feathers rather narrow, linear, and elliptically rounded at the end; the outer webs more than usually broad in proportion to the inner, being more than one third as wide. The upper parts are olive-green, the under whitish.
The position of this genus is a matter of considerable uncertainty. On some accounts it would be better placed among theSpizinæ.
There are numerous tropical species of this genus; none of them are nearly allied, however, to the single North American species.
Embernagra rufivirgata,Lawrence.
TEXAS SPARROW.
Embernagra rufivirgata,Lawrence,Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, May, 1851, 112,pl. v, f.2 (Texas).—Sclater,Pr. Zoöl. Soc.1856, 306.—Baird,Birds N. Am.1858, 487,pl. lv. f.2.—Ib.Mex. Bound. II, Birds, 16,pl. xvii, f.2.Zonotrichia plebeja,Licht. Bon.ComptesRend.43, 1856, 413.