1. A. caudacutus. Ad. Above olive, the dorsal feathers darker and edged with whitish-ochraceous; superciliary and maxillary stripes deep ochraceous; jugulum and sides tinged with the same, and sharply streaked with black. Juv. Wholly ochraceous, darker above; crown and back streaked with black, the former divided medially by a pale-brown stripe; breast and sides streaked with black. Hab. Atlantic coast of United States.

2. A. maritimus. Ad. Above ashy, the dorsal feathers obsoletely darker centrally; superciliary stripe yellowish-ashy, bright yellow over the lores; maxillary stripe white; jugulum and sides tinged with ashy, the former obsoletely streaked with dark ashy. Juv. Above olivaceous, the crown and back streaked with black, the former not divided by a lighter median line; breast and sides washed with ochraceous and distinctly streaked with black. Hab. Atlantic coast of United States.

Ammodromus caudacutus, Swainson.

SHARP-TAILED BUNTING.

Oriolus caudacutus, Gmelin, I, 1788, 394.—Latham, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 186 (not Fringilla caudacuta, Lath.). Fringilla caudacuta, Wilson, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 70, pl. xxxiv, f. 3.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 281; V, 499, pl. cxlix. Fringilla (Spiza) caudacuta, Bon. Syn. 1828, 110. Passerina caudacuta, Vieillot. Ammodramus caudacutus, Swainson, Birds, II, 1837, 289.—Aud. Synopsis, 1839, 111.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 108, pl. clxxiv.—Bonap. Conspectus, 1850, 482.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 453.—Samuels, 307. Fringilla littoralis, Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 504 (2d ed. 1840, 590). Sharp-tailed Oriole, Pennant, Arctic Zoöl. II, 261, New York.

Sp. Char. Upper parts brownish-olivaceous. Head brownish, streaked with black on the sides, and a broad central stripe of ashy. Back blotched with darker; edges of interscapular feathers and inner secondaries whitish, just exterior to a blackish suffusion. A broad superciliary and maxillary stripe, meeting behind the ashy ear-coverts, and a band across the upper breast, buff-yellow. The sides of the throat with a brown stripe; the upper part of the breast and the sides of the body streaked with black; rest of under parts whitish. Edge of wing yellowish-white. Bill yellowish below; dusky above. The female appears to have more buff on the breast than the male. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.30.

Hab. Atlantic coast of the United States.

The young is of a more yellowish tinge above and below; the streaks on the back more conspicuous; the scapular feathers without the whitish edging.

Habits. The Sharp-tailed Finch is one of the most striking and well-characterized of land-birds, and as peculiar to the sea-shore as the Tringæ. In habits it very closely resembles the whole family of Waders in many striking respects. Like them it feeds upon small crustaceans and minute marine insects, keeping about the water’s edge, walking upon the floating weeds and other substances raised by the tide, preferring this mode of life to a more inland residence, and only resorting to the uplands to feed upon the seeds of grasses and sedges when their food fails them at the water’s edge.

Dr. Coues is of the opinion that this bird does not breed in the neighborhood of Beaufort, N. C., and that it leaves for the North in May, having a more northern habitat than A. maritima. He does not coincide with those who detect a resemblance between the actions of the Ammodrami and of the Sandpipers. He thinks the manner in which they climb the reeds, slide up and down, and hang from them in various attitudes, is more like that of Nuthatches and Titmice. On the ground they seem to him unmistakably sparrow-like.

This Sharp-tailed Finch is abundant along the coasts of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and is also found in Massachusetts, though sparingly, and only in a few congenial localities. In the marshes of Charles River, near Boston, this species is occasionally common in the breeding-season. In the summer of 1869, Mr. H. W. Henshaw found quite a number of their nests. Mr. Maynard has also taken it among the marshes of Ipswich, which is probably about its extreme northern limit. It has not, so far as I am aware, been traced to Maine. In these localities it probably raises two broods in a season, as it appears there in May, and remains until into October. They are eminently terrestrial, run on the ground like mice, are difficult to flush, and can only be shot while on the wing. They lie close to the ground, and conceal themselves in the grass.

They are also very numerous in the marshes in the neighborhood of New York, and especially so in New Jersey, breeding along that coast to Cape May. How much farther south than this they are found I cannot state, but I did not meet with any at Cape Charles, where the maritimus was very abundant.

In the winter this species is found in large flocks along the shores of South Carolina and Georgia. Mr. Audubon, however, did not find any in Florida. In the marshes near Charleston they are found in immense flocks, so much so that Audubon has known of forty being killed at a single shot. They search in the sedgy marshes for their food when the tide is out, and, on the approach of the returning waters, retreat to the higher shores and to the rice embankments.

Mr. Audubon states that during the winter the Sharp-tailed Finch is furnished with an extra quantity of feathers on the rump, for which he finds it difficult to account.

These birds are essentially maritime, are found only in the vicinity of the sea, and always keep immediately about the water, except when the inclemency of the weather drives them to the high grass of the uplands for shelter. They walk and run, or remain feeding on the floating weeds and other substances raised by the tide, with all the ease and fearlessness with which they move on the land. They are gregarious in the winter, and in the Southern marshes are found feeding in companies. During the breeding-season they keep more in pairs, and are found more isolated. At this time they are also shy, and difficult to detect. Their usual call-note is only a single tweet, and in the love-season their series of twitters Mr. Audubon thinks hardly worthy to be called a song. They feed indiscriminately on seeds, insects, small crustaceans, and various forms of refuse matter floated or thrown up by the tides.

On the coast of New Jersey, where these birds are found in the greatest abundance, they have at least two broods in a season. Their nest is on the ground, in a small tussock of grass or sedges, but little removed from the reach of the tide, and is placed in a depression apparently excavated for the purpose. They are loosely made of soft and slender grasses, arranged in a circular form. The nest is large for the bird, spacious and deep, and is softly lined with finer and similar materials.

Their eggs, five or six in number, are of a somewhat rounded oval shape, having an average breadth of .59 of an inch, and vary in length from .78 to .70. Their ground-color is a light green, occasionally a dull white, with hardly a perceptible tinge of greenish, thickly sprinkled equally over the entire egg, with fine rusty-brown dots. These are of various sizes, but all fine. In a few the larger dots are confluent in a ring around the larger end; in others, the finer dots are so small as to be only distinguishable under a glass, concealing the ground-color, and giving to the egg an almost uniform rusty color. These eggs vary but little in shape, and are nearly equally rounded at either end, though never entirely so.

SEASIDE BUNTING.

Fringilla maritima, Wilson, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 68, pl. xxxiv, f. 2.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, pl. xciii. Ammodromus maritimus, Sw. Zoöl. Jour. III, 1827, 328.—Bonap. List, 1838.—Ib. Consp. 1850, 482.—Aud. Synopsis, 1839, 110.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 103, pl. clxxii.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 454.—Samuels, 308. Fringilla (Ammodromus) maritima, Nutt. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 592. Fringilla macgillivrayi, Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 285; IV, 1838, 394; V, 1839, 499, pl. ccclv. Ammodromus macgillivrayi, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 482.—Aud. Syn. 1839.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 106, pl. clxxiii. Fringilla (Ammodromus) macgillivrayi, Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 593.

Sp. Char. Above olivaceous ashy-brown; nearly uniform, but with the centres of interscapular feathers darker and edged faintly with paler; very obsoletely, almost inappreciably streaked elsewhere, especially on the head, which has a faintly defined median stripe of purer ashy. Beneath white; the breast and sides and under tail-coverts with rather indistinct streaks of dark ashy-brown, tending to form a large spot in centre of breast; an ashy mandibular stripe continued into the ashy sides of neck, and cutting off and enclosing a white stripe above it. A spot of yellow anterior to eye, continued over it as an almost inappreciable grayish stripe. Edge of wing sulphur-yellow. Bill lead-color; feet dusky. Length about 6 inches; wing, 2.50. In autumn the breast and sides tinged with fulvous; the back with rufous.

Young birds (A. macgillivrayi?) have markings much more distinct, and closely resemble A. caudacuta, though larger. They will be most readily distinguished by the absence of the fulvous superciliary stripe.

Hab. Atlantic sea-coast of United States, northward to Long Island Sound.

The same seasonal differences in coloration are observable in this species as in A. caudacutus.

Habits. The Seaside Finch has very nearly the same distribution, habits, and manners of life, as the Sharp-tailed species, and the description of these in one would answer almost equally well for the other. There are, however, certain shades of difference in several respects to be observed.

This bird is, if anything, more southern in its distribution than the other, and does not extend its visits in summer so far north. While the Sharp-tailed Finch is not an uncommon bird on the shores of the New England States, as far to the north as Ipswich, the Seaside Finch is comparatively rare, much more so now than it was formerly. Mr. Maynard states that he has searched carefully for it from the Merrimack to the extreme southern shores of Massachusetts without finding any specimens, nor could he find any on the island of Nantucket, a very natural and congenial locality. Dr. Coues states that it is abundant on the New Hampshire coast, but recent endeavors have failed to detect it. In 1836 and 1837 a few isolated pairs built in the marshes of Stony Brook, near Boston, above tide-water, nesting not on the ground, but in low bushes. They were identified by Mr. Audubon.

Rev. C. M. Jones informs me that at Madison, Conn., on the coast, the Seaside and the Sharp-tailed Finches occur in about equal numbers in the salt marshes. He was not able to observe any specific difference in their mode of nesting, except that the maritimus seemed to be more common in that part of the marsh nearest the shore, while the caudacutus was more abundant farther back towards the highlands, though this was not the invariable rule. He sometimes found the nests suspended in the salt grass, the latter being interwoven with the other materials. In all such cases the entrance was on the side of the nest, in the manner of the Marsh Wren. At other times he found the nest placed under a quantity of lodged grass, but resting on a portion still lower. In such cases it is generally open at the top. He has also found them on the ground, and, when thus placed, always much more bulky than when built as above, a considerable quantity of dead grass being laid down to keep the nest above the wet, though not always with success. On Cobb’s Island, Va., Mr. Jones only found the maritimus, the nests of which were in bushes, from one foot to eighteen inches from the ground.

The call-note of this species is said to be a monotonous chirp, and its song hardly to deserve that name. The notes of which it is composed are few, and have neither variety, emphasis, nor attractiveness.

Dr. Coues states that this Finch begins to sing when mating, and is afterwards, during the incubating, particularly earnest and persevering about it. Each pair usually claims some particular copse, and the male usually has his favorite singing-post, to which it continually resorts. He adds that its simple song is something like that of the Yellow-shouldered Sparrow, beginning with a few slow notes, then a rapid trill, finally slurred, till it sounds like the noise made by some of the grasshoppers.

These birds are at all times shy and difficult to be approached. When their nest is visited, the parents leave it and secrete themselves, and cannot be traced without great difficulty. When thus hidden, they will almost suffer themselves to be trodden upon before they will fly up.

Mr. Audubon thinks they have two broods, their first being hatched out early in June. Their nests, he states, are usually placed next to the ground, but not sunk in it. Their food consists of marine insects, small crabs, and snails, as well as small sand-beetles and seeds. Their flesh has a rank, unsavory flavor, so much so that, having had some made into a pie, he could not eat it. He states also that they are resident in the Southern States, and are found along the Gulf coast as far as Texas.

Genus CHONDESTES, Swainson.

Chondestes, Swainson, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 435.—Ib. Fauna Bor.-Am. II, 1831. (Type, Chondestes strigatus, Sw., equal to Fringilla grammaca, Say.)

Gen. Char. Bill swollen; both outlines gently curved; the lower mandible as high as the upper; the commissure angulated at the base, and then slightly sinuated. Lower mandible rather narrower at the base than the length of the gonys; broader than the upper. Tarsi moderate, about equal to the middle toe; lateral toes equal and very short, reaching but little beyond the middle of the penultimate joint of the middle toe, and falling considerably short of the base of middle claw. Wings, long, pointed, reaching nearly to the middle of the tail; the tertials not longer than the secondaries; the first quill shorter than the second and third, which are equal. The tail is moderately long, considerably graduated, the feathers rather narrow, and elliptically rounded at the end.

Streaked on the back. Head with well-defined large stripes. Beneath white, with a pectoral spot. Only one species recognized.

Chondestes grammaca, Bonap.

LARK SPARROW.

Fringilla grammaca, Say, in Long’s Exped. R. Mts. I, 1823, 139.—Bon. Am. Orn. I, 1825, 47, pl. v, f. 3.—Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 17, pl. cccxc. Chondestes grammaca, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 479.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 456.—Cooper & Suckley, 200.—Maynard, Birds E. Mass. 1870, 112 (Massachusetts).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 193. Emberiza grammaca, Aud. Synopsis, 1839, 101.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 63, pl. clviii.—Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 343. Chondestes strigatus, Swainson, Philos. Mag. I, 1827, 435.

Sp. Char. Hood chestnut, tinged with black towards the forehead, and with a median stripe and superciliary stripe of dirty whitish. Rest of upper parts pale grayish-olive, the interscapular region alone streaked with dark brown. Beneath white, a round spot on the upper part of the breast, a broad maxillary stripe cutting off a white stripe above, and a short line from the bill to the eye, continued faintly behind it, black. A white crescent under the eye, bordered below by black and behind by chestnut, on the ear-coverts. Tail-feathers dark brown, the outermost edged externally and with more than terminal third white, with transverse outline; the white decreasing to the next to innermost, tipped broadly with white. Length, 6 inches; wing, 3.30.

The colors of the female are duller than in the male, the chestnut less bright, the black not so intense; the pattern, however, is the same.

The young bird has the breast and throat with a good many spots of dark brown instead of the single large one on the breast. The other markings are more obscure.

Habits. The Lark Finch is found from Eastern Illinois to the Pacific, and from Oregon to Texas. Within this wide area of distribution it is everywhere abundant in the open prairies and plains. It is not found in wooded regions. This bird was described by Say, and was first met with by Long’s expedition to the Missouri River. It was not known to either Wilson or Audubon, and its habits were very imperfectly known to Nuttall.

Mr. Dresser found this bird very abundant in Texas throughout the summer, arriving in the neighborhood of San Antonio in March, and leaving there early in October. He found their nests quite common, and usually built in a mesquite tree or bush, of fine roots and grasses. Dr. Heermann also found it abundant in New Mexico. In Arizona, Dr. Coues found it, chiefly in spring and autumn, a migrant, and, at those seasons, very numerous. Many remain during the summer to breed, and a few are found in the winter. It was met with near New Leon, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch, but was not obtained in Vera Cruz by Sumichrast. It was taken near Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr. Boucard. A single specimen was obtained at Fort Dalles in Oregon, by Dr. Suckley, but it was not met with by him west of the Cascade Mountains. Mr. Townsend states that he also found it in that region.

Dr. Cooper did not find this species in the Colorado Valley, though it has been obtained at Fort Yuma in December; and, as he has met with them in large flocks in the valleys of San Diego in February, he concludes that they winter in the southern part of California. They breed from San Diego throughout California, and as far north as the Columbia, where they arrive early in May. Dr. Cooper has never found their nest in California, but has frequently met with it in Kansas and Nebraska in May and June. He found them on the ground, and their nests were constructed chiefly of grass.

A single specimen of this bird was shot in Massachusetts in 1845, by Mr. Samuel Jillson. It was taken in Gloucester, on the coast, where its appearance was, of course, purely accidental.

We are indebted to the careful observations of Mr. Ridgway for the principal portion of our knowledge of the manners and mode of life of this species, which he has recently ascertained to be an abundant summer resident in Southern Illinois. It is probably equally abundant throughout the State, and is found as far east as Ohio, where it becomes rare.

The Prairie Lark-Finch was found by that accurate observer very abundant at Sacramento, Cal., where it frequented alike the oak groves, the cottonwood and willow copses, and the weedy fields and meadows. At Sacramento it was eminently arboreal, quite in contrast with its habits as observed in Illinois. It was also met with in the interior, wherever the locality was suited to it. Near Salt Lake City it is one of the most numerous of the birds inhabiting the artemisia grounds, in the outskirts of the town, in company with Poospiza bilineata and Spizella breweri. It is called by the Utah boys the Snake-Bird, from the supposed resemblance of its striped head to that of a snake. At Sacramento it is greatly prized as a cage-bird, and young birds readily sell there for four dollars a pair. He states that the delightful song of this bird has no parallel among the North American Fringillidæ, and claims that in this respect it is pre-eminently superior to that of all the other members of this family. As it perches upon the summit of a small tree, on the telegraph wire, or upon a fence, its notes may be heard throughout the day, in the morning before those of any others, and late in the evening, when all except for this irrepressible songster is silence.

The song of this species is described as composed of regularly divided parts, almost perfect in compass, in vigor and continuity unsurpassed, if not unequalled, by any other North American species. It begins with a series of chants, the style reminding one somewhat of the Cyanospiza cyanea, but each syllable loud, rich, and clear, and uttered with a peculiar emotional trill, the whole seemingly delivered in a hurried manner, in one continuous gush of sprightly silvery notes, each accompanied by a metallic tremolo. As if exhausted, the singer falters, and the notes become scarcely audible, then suddenly reviving, as if in great joy, the song is resumed in all its vivacity, until the bird at last really appears to be overcome by its efforts.

The nests were found by Mr. Ridgway in various situations; the larger number were upon the ground, but several were in trees varying in height from six to twenty feet from the ground. They were found from the latter part of May through June. A nest obtained in Southern Wisconsin by Mr. Thure Kumlien is very homogeneous in structure, consisting entirely of loosely intertwined stems of dry grasses, sedges, and carices. It was built on the ground, is nearly flat, and has only a very shallow cavity. Its entire height is less than two inches, and the depth of its depression not half an inch. The diameter of the nest is three and a half inches, and that of the cavity at the rim three inches.

The maximum number of their eggs is five. Their average measurement is .85 by .65 of an inch. The ground-color is usually a grayish-white, rarely a light brown, marbled and streaked with waving lines, and a few dots of black or a blackish-brown.

Genus ZONOTRICHIA, Swainson.

Zonotrichia, Swainson, Fauna Bor.-Am. II, 1831. (Type, Emberiza leucophrys.)

Gen. Char. Body rather stout. Bill conical, slightly notched, somewhat compressed, excavated inside; the lower mandible rather lower than the upper; gonys slightly convex; commissure nearly straight. Feet stout; tarsus rather longer than middle toe; the lateral toes very nearly equal. Hind toe longer than the lateral ones; their claws just reaching to base of middle one. Inner claw contained twice in its toe proper; claws all slender and considerably curved. Wings moderate, not reaching to the middle of the tail, but beyond the rump; secondaries and tertials equal and considerably less than longest primaries; second and third quills longest; first about equal to the fifth, much longer than tertials. Tail rather long, moderately rounded; the feathers not very broad.

Back streaked. Rump and under parts immaculate, except in young. Head black, or with white streaks, entirely different from the back.

This genus embraces some of the most beautiful of American Sparrows, all of the largest size in their subfamily.

All the species properly belonging to this genus are North American; several South American species, have, however, been assigned to it; but they are none of them strictly congeneric with those given below.

A. Black of the crown divided by a median light stripe. Jugulum ashy.

a. Throat ashy, uniform with the breast.

1. Z. leucophrys. Median stripe of the crown white. A black stripe from behind the eye, and a white superciliary stripe.

α. A black stripe from the eye to forehead, across lore. Hab. Eastern Province of North America, west throughout Rocky Mountains; Cape St. Lucas in winter … var. leucophrys.

β. No black streak in front of eye, the lores being wholly ashy. Hab. Western Province North America, east to Rocky Mountains … var. gambeli.

2. Z. coronata. Median stripe of crown yellow for anterior and ash for posterior half. Black of crown coming down to eye and ear coverts, leaving no light superciliary stripe. Hab. Pacific Province of North America; accidental east of Sierra Nevada.

b. Throat pure white, in sharp contrast with the dark ash of cheeks and jugulum.

3. Z. albicollis. Median stripe of crown white. A light superciliary stripe, yellow anterior to the eye, and white behind it; a black streak along upper edge of ear-coverts. Hab. Eastern Province of North America.

B. Black of the crown not divided, but continuous. Jugulum white.

4. Z. querula. Lores, forepart of cheeks, with the chin and throat, deep black; whole side of head behind the eye, ashy. Lower parts pure white. Hab. Missouri Plains.

Zonotrichia leucophrys, Swainson.

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.

Emberiza leucophrys, Forster, Philos. Trans. LXII, 1772, 382, 426.—Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 874.—Wilson, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 49, pl. xxxi, f. 4. Fringilla (Zonotrichia) leucophrys, Sw. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 255. Zonotrichia leucophrys, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Consp. 1850, 478.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 458, pl. lxix, f. 2.—Coues, P. A. N. S. 1861, 224.—Maynard, Birds E. Mass. 1870, 118.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 196.—Samuels, 309. Fringilla leucophrys, Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 88; V, 515, pl. cxiv.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 121.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 157, pl. cxcii. ? Spizella maxima, Bonap. Comp. Rend. 1853 (either this or Z. gambeli). White-crowned Sparrow, Pennant.

Figured in Buffon, Ois. IV, 192, pl. ccxxiii, f. 2. Winter.

Sp. Char. Head above, upper half of loral region from the bill, and a narrow line through and behind the eye to the occiput, black; a longitudinal patch in the middle of the crown, and a short line from above the anterior corner of the eye, the two confluent on the occiput, white. Sides of the head, forepart of breast, and lower neck all round, pale ash, lightest beneath, and shading insensibly into the whitish of the belly and chin; sides of belly and under tail-coverts tinged with yellowish-brown. Interscapular region streaked broadly with dark chestnut-brownish. Edges of the tertiaries brownish-chestnut. Two white bands on the wing.

Hab. United States from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, where they become associated with Z. gambeli. Cape St. Lucas; Greenland (Reinhardt, Ibis, III, 7). Breed in Wahsatch Mountains (Ridgway).

The white of the crown separates two black stripes on either side, rather narrower than itself. The black line behind the eye is continued anterior to it into the black at the base of the bill. The lower eyelid is white. There are some obscure cloudings of darker on the neck above. The rump is immaculate. No white on the tail, except very obscure tips. The white on the wings crosses the ends of the middle and greater coverts.

The character distinguishing the western representative (Z. gambeli) of leucophrys is apparently very trifling, but is very constant.

Habits. The White-crowned Sparrow is found from the Rocky Mountains eastward to the Atlantic, and in all the intervening territory, from the Southern States to the Arctic regions. In the high meadows of the Wahsatch Mountains, Mr. Ridgway found this bird very abundant, and one very characteristic, breeding there quite as numerously as any other species. In all that region Mr. Ridgway did not meet with a single individual of Z. gambeli, its western representative. At the encampment at Parley’s Park these birds soon became on very familiar terms with the party. They were very sociable, and paid frequent visits to the cook’s tent, and picked up, without the slightest signs of fear, the crumbs from the ground. Their sweet morning carol was, he states, delightful to the ear, and they were held in great favor by all. A nest of these birds was found on the ground, at Parley’s Park, June 26. It was built in a bunch of Geranium. Specimens of this species were obtained, in winter, at Cape St. Lucas, Lower California, by Mr. Xantus.

Mr. Audubon found these Sparrows very abundant in Labrador, where they were apparently late in breeding. It was not until the 6th of July that he found one of their nests. This was placed among the moss at the foot of a low fir. It was made externally of dry hypnum mosses, matted in bunches like the coarse hair of some quadruped, and internally of fine dry grasses, arranged with great neatness, to the thickness of half an inch, with a full lining of the delicate yellow fibrous roots of the Coptis trifolia. The nest was five inches in its external diameter, and two in depth, the cavity two and a quarter wide and one and three quarters deep. The eggs, five in number, he describes as of a light sea-green color, mottled towards the larger end with brownish spots and blotches, a few spots of a lighter tint being dispersed over the whole. All the nests found were placed on the ground or among the moss, and all were alike in their construction. By the beginning of August the party met with young that were able to fly. By the middle of that month they had commenced their southern migrations.

Dr. Coues also found this Sparrow breeding in great numbers along the entire coast of Labrador. Found in all situations, it seemed to be particularly fond of deep, thickly wooded, and secluded ravines, surrounded by high precipitous cliffs, and, when in more open districts, confining itself to tangled patches of juniper and scrubby firs. He describes it as a very active and sprightly bird, almost continually in motion. It seldom alights without rapidly jerking and flirting its tail, and uttering its loud chirpings. While the female is incubating, the male usually mounts to the top of the cliff or a neighboring tree, and repeats his loud and not unpleasing, though somewhat monotonous, notes for the space of half an hour or more. He describes its song as very similar to that of the White-throated Sparrow, consisting of two long-drawn syllables with a rising intonation, then three more in a quick, hurried manner, with a falling cadence,—pēé-dēé-dē-dē-dē; the whole is delivered in a mellow whistle. If approached while thus engaged, the performer becomes instantly silent, and dives hastily into the nearest cover. The nest was always placed on the ground, and usually in little patches of low heath, abundant wherever the ground was dry. He found a nest on the 23d of July, containing young just hatched. The female flutters off in silence when her nest is disturbed, but the male bird vociferates his angry remonstrance, flirting his tail and jerking his body in an energetic manner.

Dr. Coues did not find this bird abundant in South Carolina during the winter, and conjectures that it does not go so far to the south. Its migrations do not appear to be well defined, and nowhere is it known to be abundant during this season. Lieutenant Couch met with it at Brownville, Texas, and Tamaulipes, Mexico, and at Charco Escondido, in March, at which time they were in flocks, indicating a more southern migration than is generally supposed.

It extends its northern migrations to the extreme northern and northeastern portions of the continent, and also to Greenland. On the Yukon and Anderson Rivers it is replaced by the Z. gambeli. It is not abundant in Greenland. Holböll obtained a single specimen only in August; and afterwards met with a flock of young birds. He infers that they breed in the interior, but are restricted to a very narrow strip of territory.

Eggs of this species, from Wyoming Territory, measure from .90 to .95 of an inch in length by .70 in breadth, and are of an oblong-oval shape. The ground-color is a light greenish-white, thickly marked with reddish-brown and lighter markings of an obscure purplish-brown. The intensity, depth of coloring, and size of the darker brown markings, vary. They are principally disposed about the larger end.

Zonotrichia leucophrys var. gambeli, Gambel.

WESTERN WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW.

Fringilla gambeli, Nutt. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 556.—Gambel, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. I, 1843, 262 (California.) Zonotrichia gambeli, Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. 2d series, I, Dec. 1847, 50.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 460, pl. lxix, f. 1.—Lord, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 1864, 119 (British Columbia).—Cooper & Suckley, 201.—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 284 (Alaska).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 195. Zonotrichia leucophrys, Newberry, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route; Rep. P. R. R. VII, iv, 1857, 87.

Sp. Char. Precisely similar to Z. leucophrys, but rather smaller; the lores are gray throughout, this color continuous with a white superciliary stripe along the side of the head. Length, 6.25; wing, 2.83; tail, 3.08.

Hab. Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, north to Nulato and Fort Kenai, east through the valley of the Mackenzie River, and south to Jalisco and Mazatlan, Mexico.

We cannot give any positive character by which immature specimens of leucophrys and gambeli may be distinguished, unless that the short dark line from forehead to eye of the former is indicated by a greater amount of dusky at the base of the feathers of that region.

The young of this species, like that of leucophrys, is streaked with blackish on side of the throat, across the breast, and on the sides of body, instead of being entirely unmarked beneath, as in the adult.

One specimen, collected in the West Humboldt Mountains, connects this form with leucophrys, and may possibly be a hybrid. In this there is a black spot in front of the eye, but separated from the black of the crown by the usual light superciliary stripe of gambeli.

Some specimens from the coast region of California have the ash of head and breast duller, and with a brownish cast, and the spots on the back black instead of deep dark brown.

Habits. The Western White-crowned Sparrow is found in great abundance, from Mexico to the Arctic Ocean, between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific. Dr. Suckley found this bird very abundant at Fort Dalles and at Puget Sound, at both of which places it is a constant summer resident. It was always found in excellent condition. He states that it makes its nest in low bushes, among the stalks of lupins and other shrub-like weeds. Dr. Cooper also mentions that this bird is very abundant in all the prairie districts of Washington Territory, especially where there are low bushes. Unlike most of the Sparrows, it was also common on the coast prairies, where he found it breeding. They arrive at the Straits of Fuca at the end of March in large numbers, and leave for the South in October. He afterwards found them at Fort Mohave, in the Colorado Valley, quite common throughout the winter, some remaining until the 15th of May, but he does not think that any remain there to breed. They are also abundant, in winter, from San Francisco south, through all the inhabitable country. In summer they are found in the Sierra Nevada, to their summits, and are also plentiful in the regions north of the Columbia. A few remain, during the summer, in the cool district about San Francisco. In June, 1854, Dr. Cooper met with its nest near the mouth of the Columbia. It was built in a bush, about a foot from the ground, formed of neatly interwoven grasses, and lined with softer materials. He describes its song as loud, but short and melancholy, heard at intervals during the whole year, and frequently at night.

Mr. Bannister states that this bird was tolerably abundant among the alder-bushes in certain parts of St. Michael’s Island. Mr. Dall found it common at Nulato, and especially so at Fort Yukon. It arrived at Nulato about May 20. Its nests and eggs were obtained from Indians at Nowikakat, on the Yukon River. Dr. Kennerly met with these birds, in February, at White Cliff Creek, New Mexico. They were first observed on approaching the Big Sandy, and from thence to the Colorado they were found in abundance. They were mostly in flocks, and were generally found among the bushes, in the vicinity of water. He also met with it in the valley of the Rio Grande, Corralitos, and Janos Rivers. It seemed to prefer the vicinity of settlements, where it was always seen in greater numbers than elsewhere.

Mr. Dresser found these birds common about San Antonio, Texas, during the winter, arriving late in September. Some may remain and breed, as several were observed there in June. Dr. Coues also found them abundant in Arizona, where he first observed them September 15. After this they became exceedingly numerous, and remained so until January. Later than this only a few stragglers were seen, until April, when they again became abundant. By far the greater part left, and proceeded north to breed.

These Sparrows were found breeding on the Yukon and at Fort Anderson in great numbers by Messrs. MacFarlane, Lockhart, and Ross. Their nests were in nearly all cases found upon the ground, often in tufts of grass, clumps of Labrador tea, or other low bushes. They were composed of hay, and, in nearly every instance, were lined with deer’s hair, and in a few with feathers. A few were without any lining. In selecting a situation for their nests, they seemed generally to give the preference to open or thinly wooded tracts. The male bird was usually seen, or its note heard, in the immediate vicinity of the nest. The eggs were obtained from the 4th of June to the 1st of July. Their maximum number was six; the most common, four.

When started from her nest, the female flies off a few yards and flutters silently along the ground to divert attention. If unsuccessful, she flies about her nest uttering sharp, harsh notes of anxiety. The male is less bold on such occasions. Their favorite habitat is light open bushes, affecting neither open plains nor deep woods and never perching so high as twenty feet from the ground, and usually, in all their movements, keeping close to the earth.

Its food, so far as could be observed, consisted almost wholly of seeds, sought mostly on the ground. It hatches only a single brood in a year.

Mr. B. R. Boss adds that this is the most abundant Sparrow throughout the Mackenzie River region, and also the most interesting. Through the spring and summer its melodious song, which strongly calls to mind the first notes of the old air, “O Dear! what can the Matter be?” may be heard from every thicket, both night and day. When sleeping in the woods, Mr. Boss states that he has often been awakened by several of these birds singing near him, answering each other, throughout the short night, when all the other birds were silent. On this account, but for the richness and melody of its song the bird would have made itself quite disagreeable.

The Cree Indians name this Sparrow Wah-si-pis-chan, because they think this resembles its notes, the last of which are supposed to imitate the sound of running water. It sings long after the breeding-season is past, and its notes may be heard even into August.

The eggs measure .85 of an inch in length by .65 in breadth, and have a ground of a greenish-white marked with a rusty-brown. They are of a rounded-oval shape.