GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROW.

Emberiza coronata, Pallas, Zoög. Rosso-Asiat. II, 1811, 44, plate. Zonotrichia c., Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 461.—Heerm. X, S, 48 (nest).—Cooper & Suckley, 201.—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 284 (Alaska).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 197. Emberiza atricapilla, Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 47, pl. cccxciv (not of Gmelin). Fringilla atricapilla, Aud. Synopsis, 1839, 122.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 162, pl. cxciii. Fringilla aurocapilla, Nuttall, Man. I, (2d. ed.,) 1840, 555. Zonotrichia aurocapilla, Bon. Consp. 1850, 478.—Newberry, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV. 1857, 88. Emberiza atricapilla, Gm. I, 1788, 875 (in part only).—Lath. Ind. 415. Black-crowned Bunting, Pennant, Arc. Zoöl. II, 364.—Lath. II, I, 202, 49, tab. lv.

Sp. Char. Hood, from bill to upper part of nape, pure black, the middle longitudinal third occupied by yellow on the anterior half, and pale ash on the posterior. Sides and under parts of head and neck, with upper part of breast, ash-color, passing insensibly into whitish on the middle of the body; sides and under tail-coverts tinged with brownish. A yellowish spot above the eye, bounded anteriorly by a short black line from the eye to the black of the forehead. This yellow spot, however, reduced to a few feathers in spring dress. Interscapular region, with the feathers, streaked with dark brown, suffused with dark rufous externally. Two narrow white bands on the wings. Bill dusky above, paler beneath; legs flesh-color.

Autumnal specimens have more or less of the whole top of head greenish-yellow; the feathers somewhat spotted with dusky; the black stripe of the hood reduced to a narrow superciliary line, or else to a spot anterior to the eye. Length about 7 inches; wing, 3.30.

Hab. Pacific coast from Russian America to Southern California; West Humboldt Mountains, Nev. Black Hills of Rocky Mountains?

Habits. This species, described and figured by Mr. Audubon as the Fringilla atricapilla, is found in western North America, from Alaska to Southern California and Cape St. Lucas, and is almost entirely confined to the Pacific Province, being known east of the Cascade Mountains and Sierra Nevada only as stragglers. In its general habits it is said to greatly resemble the Z. gambeli. In the vicinity of Fort Dalles, and also in the neighborhood of Fort Steilacoom, Dr. Suckley found it quite abundant in the summer.

Dr. Cooper says that it is only a straggler in the forest regions west of the Cascade Mountains, but that it probably migrates more abundantly to the open plains eastward of them. He met with them but once near Puget Sound, May 10, when they were apparently migrating. Dr. Cooper found a few of this species wintering as far south as San Diego, associating with Z. gambeli. They were much less familiar, did not come about the houses, but kept among the dense thickets. They were then silent, nor has he ever heard them utter any song. He met with none near the summit of the Sierra Nevada.

Dr. Newberry found these birds abundant in the vicinity of San Francisco in winter.

Dr. Heermann found this species very abundant in the fall season, generally associated with the California Song Sparrow and the Z. gambeli. It resorts to the deep shady thickets and woods, where it passes the greater part of its time. In the mountainous districts it prefers the hillsides, covered with dense undergrowth. It occasionally breeds in California, as Dr. Heermann found its nest in a bush near Sacramento City. It was composed of coarse stalks of weeds, and lined internally with fine roots. The eggs were four in number, and are described as having been of an ashy-white ground, with markings of brown umber, at times appearing almost black from the depth of their shade. They were marked also with a few spots of a neutral tint.

Many of these birds were obtained in Sitka and in Kodiak, by Bischoff, and also in British Columbia by Elliot.

Only one specimen of this species was met with by Mr. Ridgway in his explorations with Mr. Clarence King’s survey. This was taken October 7, 1867, in the West Humboldt Mountains, in company with a flock of Z. gambeli.

Zonotrichia albicollis, Bonap.

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.

Fringilla albicollis, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 926.—Wilson, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 51, pl. xxii, f. 2.—Licht. Verz. Doubl. No. 247.(1823). Zonotrichia albicollis, Bp. Consp. 1850, 478.—Cab. Mus. Hein. 1851, 132.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 463.—Samuels, 311. Passer pennsylvanicus, Brisson, 1760, Appendix, 77. Fringilla pennsylvanica, Lath. Index, I, 1790, 445.—Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 42; V, 497, pl. viii.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 121.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 153, pl. cxci.—Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 276. Fringilla (Zonotrichia) pennsylvanica, Sw. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 256. Zonotrichia pennsylvanica, Bon. List, 1838.

Sp. Char. Two black stripes on the crown, separated by a median one of white. A broad superciliary stripe from the base of the mandible to the occiput, yellow as far as the middle of the eye and white behind this. A broad black streak on the side of the head from behind the eye. Chin white, abruptly defined against the dark ash of the sides of the head and upper part of the breast, fading into white on the belly, and margined by a narrow black maxillary line. Edge of wing and axillaries yellow. Back and edges of secondaries rufous-brown, the former streaked with dark brown. Two narrow white bands across the wing-coverts. Length, 7 inches; wing, 3.10; tail, 3.20. Young of the year not in the collection.

Hab. Eastern Province of North America to the Missouri. Breeding in most of the northern United States and British Provinces, and wintering in the United States almost to their southern limit. Aberdineshire, England, August 17, 1867 (Zoölogist, Feb., 1869, 1547; P. Z. S. 1857, 52). Scotland (Newton, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1870, 52).

Habits. The White-throated Sparrow is, at certain seasons, an abundant bird in all parts of North America, from the Great Plains to the Atlantic, and from Georgia to the extreme Arctic regions. A few breed in favorable situations in Massachusetts, especially in the extreme northwestern part of the State. It breeds abundantly in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, and in all the British Provinces.

Sir John Richardson states that they reach the Saskatchewan in the middle of May, and spread throughout the fur countries, as far, at least, as the 66th parallel, to breed. He states that he saw a female sitting on seven eggs near the Cumberland House, as early as June 4. The nest was placed under a fallen tree, was made of grass, lined with deer’s hair and a few feathers. Another, found at Great Bear’s Lake, was lined with the setæ of the Bryum uliginosum. He describes the eggs as of a pale mountain-green, thickly marbled with reddish-brown. When the female was disturbed, she ran silently off in a crouching manner, like a Lark. He describes the note of this bird as a clear song of two or three notes, uttered very distinctly, but without variety,—a very incomplete description.

Mr. Kennicott states that this species does not extend its migrations as far to the north as Z. gambeli, and is even much less numerous on the south shores of the Slave Lake, where he did not observe half so many of this as of the other. It also nests later, as he found the first nest observed on the 22d of June, with the eggs quite fresh, incubation not having commenced, and found others after that date. On English River he found two nests with eggs on the 9th and 17th of July, and one near the Cumberland House on the 30th of June. Two of these were in low swampy ground among large trees, the other on high ground among small bushes. They were constructed on large bases of moss, and lined with soft grasses. When startled from her nest, the female always crept silently away through the grass.

He met with this species in considerable flocks, accompanied by small numbers of Z. leucophrys, on the north shore of Lake Superior, on the 11th of May. He saw individuals on the 29th of May, near the Lake of the Woods, and it doubtless breeds as far south as that region. In the fall it was not seen at Fort Simpson later than the last of September. As it is a much more eastern bird than Z. gambeli, it is probably in greater abundance on the eastern end of Slave Lake. Its song he regards as by no means so attractive as that of Z. gambeli or of Z. leucophrys. Its general habits are very much like those of the former, and though by no means a strictly terrestrial bird, it rarely perches high on trees, and generally flies near the ground, except in its long migratory flights.

Among the White Mountains I have repeatedly found its nests. They were always on the ground, usually sheltered by surrounding grass, and at the foot of bushes or a tree, or in the woods under a fallen log. In that region it retained all its wild, shy habits, rarely being found in the neighborhood of dwellings or in cultivated grounds. But at Halifax this was not so. There I found them breeding in gardens, on the edge of the city, and in close proximity to houses, apparently not more shy than the common Song Sparrow.

Wilson states that these birds winter in most of the States south of New England, and he found them particularly numerous near the Roanoke River, collecting in flocks on the borders of swampy thickets, among long rank weeds, the seeds of which formed their principal food. He gives the 20th of April as the date of their disappearance, but I have observed them lingering in the Capitol grounds in Washington several weeks after that date. They pass through Eastern Massachusetts from the 10th to the 20th of May, and repass early in October. A few stragglers sometimes appear at earlier dates, but irregularly. In Western Maine, where it is quite common, Professor Verrill states that it sometimes arrives by the middle of April. Near Springfield, Mass., Mr. Allen noted their appearance between the last of April and the 20th of May; in fall, from the last of September through October. Their favorite haunts are moist thickets. The young males do not acquire their full plumage until the second spring, but sing and breed in the plumage of the females, as Mr. Allen ascertained by dissection. Mr. Hildreth observed a pair near Springfield during three successive summers, and although he could not find the nest, he saw them feeding their scarcely fledged young birds.

At Columbia, S. C., Dr. Coues found these Sparrows very abundant, from October through April. They sing, more or less, all winter, and during the last few weeks of their stay are quite musical. Many hundreds pass the months of March and April in the gardens of that city, though during the winter they were mostly to be found in thickets and fields, in company with many other species.

A single specimen of this bird was killed in Aberdeenshire, August 17, 1867, and a second was lately captured alive near Brighton (P. Z. S., June 4, 1872).

When kept in confinement these birds become quite tame, and in the spring will sing at all hours of the day or night.

The nest of this bird is usually, if not always, on the ground, but in various situations, as I have found them on a hillside, in the midst of low underbrush, in a swampy thicket, at the foot of some large tree in a garden, as at Halifax, by the edge of a small pond, or in a hollow and decaying stump. Their nest is large, deep, and capacious, with a base of moss or coarse grasses, woven with finer stems above and lined with hair, a few feathers, fine rootlets of plants or soft grasses. The eggs vary from four to seven in number. Their ground-color is of a pale green or a greenish-white, marked over the entire egg with a fox-colored or rusty brown. Occasionally these markings are sparsely scattered, permitting the ground to be plainly visible, but generally they are so very abundant as to cover the entire egg so closely as to conceal all other shade, and give to the whole a deep uniform rufous-brown hue, through which the under color of light green is hardly distinguishable. They measure .90 by .68 of an inch.

Zonotrichia querula, Gambel.

HARRIS’S SPARROW; BLACK-HOODED SPARROW.

Fringilla querula, Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 555 (Westport, Mo.). Zonotrichia querula, Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. 2d Ser. I, 1847, 51.—Bonap. Consp. 1850, 478.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 462.—Allen, Amer. Naturalist, May, 1872. Fringilla harrisi, Aud. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 331, pl. cccclxxxiv. Fringilla comata, Pr. Max. Reise II, 1841.—Ib. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 279. Zonotrichia comata, Bp. Consp. 1850, 479.

Sp. Char. Hood and nape, sides of head anterior to and including the eyes, chin, throat, and a few spots in the middle of the upper part of the breast and on its sides, black. Sides of head and neck ash-gray, with the trace of a narrow crescent back of the ear-coverts. Interscapular region of back with the feathers reddish-brown streaked with dark brown. Breast and belly clear white. Sides of body light brownish, streaked. Two narrow white bands across the greater and middle coverts. Length about 7 inches; wing, 3.40; tail, 3.65.

Hab. Missouri River, above Fort Leavenworth. Chillicothe, Mo. (Hoy). Very common in Eastern Kansas (Allen). San Antonio, Texas, spring (Dresser, Ibis, 1865, 488).

The bill of this species appears to be yellowish-red. More immature specimens vary in having the black of the head above more restricted, the nape and sides of the head to the bill pale reddish-brown, lighter on the latter region. Others have the feathers of the anterior portion of the hood edged with whitish. In all there is generally a trace of black anterior to the eye.

Habits. This species was first described in 1840, by Mr. Nuttall, from specimens obtained by him near Independence, Mo., near the close of the month of April. He again met with them on the following 5th of May, when not far from the banks of the Little Vermilion River, a branch of the Kansas. He found them frequenting thickets, and uttering, chiefly in the early morning, but also occasionally at other parts of the day, a long, drawling, faint, solemn, and monotonous succession of notes, resembling tē-dē-dē-dē.

Since then but little additional information has been obtained in regard to their general habits, their geographical distribution, or their mode of breeding, single specimens only having been taken at considerable intervals in the valley of the Missouri and elsewhere until 1872. Two specimens were secured by Mr. Dresser, near San Antonio, in Western Texas, occurring on the Medina River during their spring migrations. More recently this bird was taken twice by Mr. H. W. Parker, in Jasper County, Iowa. The latest of these was secured May 19.

Professor F. H. Snow, in his List of Kansas Birds, published April, 1872, enumerates this species as a bird frequently taken in Kansas in the winter, and probably resident; and Mr. J. A. Allen (American Naturalist, May, 1872) states that Harris’s Finch was, next to the Cardinal, the most abundant species of the family of Sparrows and Finches in the vicinity of Leavenworth, as it was also one of the largest and handsomest. He found it almost exclusively frequenting the damper parts of the woods, associating with the White-throated Sparrow, much resembling it both in habits and in song. Nothing has so far been published respecting the nest and eggs.

Genus JUNCO, Wagler.

Junco, Wagler, Isis, 1831. (Type, Fringilla cinerea, Sw.)

Niphæa, Audubon, Syn. 1839. (Type, Emberiza hyemalis, Gm.)

The essential characters of this genus are the middle toe rather shorter than the short tarsus; the lateral toes slightly unequal, the outer reaching the base of the middle claw; the tail a little shorter than the wings, slightly emarginate. In Junco cinereus the claws are longer; the lower mandible a little lower than the upper.

Species and Varieties.

Common Characters. Prevailing color plumbeous; abdomen, crissum, and lateral tail-feathers white.

A. Bill entirely light flesh-colored, dusky only at extreme point. Color of jugulum (deep ash or plumbeous-black) abruptly defined against the pure white of the abdomen.

a. Posterior outline of the dark color of the jugulum convex; sides pinkish.

4. J. cinereus. Whole back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and tertials rufous.

Some specimens (No. 52,702 and 52,701, males) from Sun River, Dakota, appear to be hybrids with oregonus. They have the general appearance of hyemalis, the back being nearly uniform with the head (with a wash of sepia-brown, however), and the head and neck of the same dark plumbeous; the sides, however, are pinkish, and the plumbeous on the jugulum has its posterior outline convex, as in oregonus. If, as there is every reason to believe, these specimens are really hybrids, then we have the two extreme forms of the genus connected by specimens of such a condition; thus, hyemalis with oregonus, oregonus with caniceps (= annectens, Baird), and caniceps with cinereus (= dorsalis, Henry). It may perhaps be considered a serious question whether all (including alticola) are not, in reality, geographical races of one species. However, as there is no possibility of ever proving this, it may be best to consider them as representative species, and these specimens of intermediate characters as hybrids.

Habits. The common familiar Snowbird of the Eastern States is found throughout all North America, east of the Black Hills, from Texas to the Arctic regions. Wherever found, it is at certain seasons a very abundant and an equally familiar bird.

It nests as far south, in mountainous regions, as Virginia, and thence to New York and the northern parts of the New England States, breeding only in the highlands, but descending more and more into the plains as we proceed north. As it is a very hardy bird, its migrations are irregular and uncertain. In some seasons I have observed but few at irregular intervals; and in others, in which the spring was cold and backward, I have met with them in every month except July and August.

Mr. Kennicott found but few birds of this species breeding as far south as Fort Resolution or Slave Lake, and was unable to find any of their nests, though he met with a few birds that were evidently breeding there. He found it afterwards nesting in the greatest abundance about latitude 65°. They were very numerous on the Yukon, and Mr. MacFarlane found them breeding plentifully on the Anderson River, at the edge of the barren-ground region.

Mr. Ross states that this species frequents all the Mackenzie River region in summer, arriving about the 20th of April, and leaving about the 10th of October. Besides its call-note, or chirp, it has a very pretty song.

Mr. Dall also remarks that they were quite common at Nulato in the spring, not arriving there, however, until about the first of June.

According to Mr. Dresser, it is found occasionally about San Antonio in winter, and Dr. Woodhouse says that it is also common in the Indian Territory in fall and winter. According to Mr. Audubon, it makes its appearance in Louisiana in November, and remains there until early spring. It is also abundant in South Carolina, arriving there in October and leaving in April.

This species was observed by Mr. Aiken in Colorado Territory for about three weeks following March 20, after which they were seen no more.

It breeds more or less abundantly in the northern and eastern portions of Maine. About Calais and in all the islands of the Bay of Fundy, and throughout New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, I found this by far the most common and familiar species, especially at Pictou, where it abounded in the gardens, in repeated instances coming within the outbuildings to build its nests. In a woodshed connected with the dwelling of Mr. Dawson, my attention was called to the nests of several of these birds, built within reach of the hand, and in places where the family were passing and repassing throughout the day. In Pictou they were generally called the Bluebird by the common people. On my ride from Halifax to Pictou, I also found these birds breeding by the roadside, often under the shelter of a projecting bank, in the manner of the Passerculus savanna. I afterward found them nesting in similar situations among the White Mountains, the roadsides seeming to be a favorite situation. In habits and notes, at Pictou, they reminded me of the common Spizella socialis, but were, if anything, more fearless and confiding, coming into the room where the family were at their meals, and only flying away when they had secured a crumb of sufficient size.

In Western Massachusetts they breed in all parts of the range of Green Mountains, from Blandford to North Adams. They appear about Springfield in October and November, and are for a while abundant, and are then gone until March, when they return in full song, and remain numerous into April, and less common until into May. In the eastern part of the State they are found from October to late in May, with some irregularity and in varying numbers. Mr. Audubon did not meet with any on the coast of Labrador, and Dr. Coues did not find them so abundant as he expected, and did not observe any until the latter part of July, at which time the young were already hatched, and they were associated in small companies. They kept entirely in the thick woods, and seemed rather timid.

During the winter the Snowbird appears to be rather more numerous in the Middle and Southern States than in New England. In the former they appear late in October, at first on the borders of woods, searching for food among the fallen and decaying leaves. Later in the season, as the weather becomes colder, and the snow deprives them of this means of feeding, they resort to the roadsides and feed on the seeds of the taller weeds, and to the farm-houses and farm-yards, and even enter within the limits of large cities, where they become very tame and familiar. They are much exposed to attacks from several kinds of Hawks, and the apparent timidity they evince at certain times and places is due to their apprehensions of this danger. The sudden rustle of the wings of a harmless fowl will cause the whole flock to take at once to flight, returning as soon as their alarm is found to be needless, but repeated again and again when the same dreaded sounds are heard.

Neither Wilson, Nuttall, nor Audubon appear to have ever met with the nests or eggs of this bird, though the first met with them breeding both among the Alleghanies, in Virginia, and the highlands of Pennsylvania and New York. In Otsego County, in the latter State, Mr. Edward Appleton was the first to discover and identify their nest and eggs, as cited by Mr. Audubon in the third volume of his Birds of America. They were found in considerable numbers in the town of Otsego. Their nests were on the ground in sheltered positions, some of them with covered entrances. Their complement of eggs was four. One of their nests was sent me, and was characteristic of all I have since seen, having an external diameter of four and a half inches and a depth of two. The cavity was deep and capacious for the bird. The base and periphery of the nest were made of slender strips of bark, coarse straws, fine roots, and horsehair, lined with fine mosses and the fur of smaller animals. The eggs were of a rounded-oval shape; their ground-color is a creamy yellowish-white, marked with spots and blotches of a reddish-brown confluent around the larger portion of the egg, but rarely covering either end. They measure .75 by .60 of an inch, not varying in size from those of J. oregonus.

WHITE-WINGED SNOWBIRD.

Sp. Char. Generally similar to J. hyemalis, but considerably larger, with more robust bill; two white bands on the wing, and three, instead of two, outer tail-feathers entirely white. No. 61,302 ♂, El Paso Co., Colorado, December 11, 1871, C. E. Aiken: Head, neck, jugulum, and entire upper parts clear ash; the back with a bluish tinge; the lores, quills, and tail-feathers darker; middle and secondary wing-coverts rather broadly tipped with white, forming two conspicuous bands. Lower part of the breast, abdomen, and crissum pure white, the anterior outline against the ash of the jugulum convex; sides tinged with ash. Three lateral tail-feathers entirely white, the third, however, with a narrow streak of dusky on the terminal third of the outer web; the next feather mostly plumbeous, with the basal fourth of the outer web, and the terminal half of the inner, along the shaft, white. Wing, 3.40; tail, 3.20; culmen, .50; depth of bill at base, .30; tarsus, .80.

Hab. El Paso County, Colorado.

At first sight, this bird appears to be a very distinct species, being larger than any other North American form, and possessing in the white bands on the wing characters entirely peculiar. Its large size, however, we can attribute to its alpine habitat, agreeing in this respect, as compared with J. hyemalis, with the J. alticola of Guatemala, which we can only consider an alpine or somewhat local form of J. cinereus. That the white bands on the wing do not constitute a character sufficiently important to be considered of specific value is proved by the fact that in many specimens of J. oregonus, and occasionally in J. hyemalis, there is sometimes quite a distinct tendency to these bands in the form of obscure white tips to the coverts.

Habits. But little is known as to the habits of this variety; probably they do not differ from those of its congeners. It was met with by Mr. C. E. Aiken, near Fountain, El Paso County, in Colorado Territory, in the winter of 1871-72. They were rare in the early winter, became rather common during the latter part of February and the first of March, and had all disappeared by the first of April. During winter only males were seen, but, in the spring, the females were the most numerous. They were usually seen singly, or in companies of two or three, and not, like the others, in larger flocks.

Junco oregonus, Sclater.

OREGON SNOWBIRD.

Sp. Char. Head and neck all round sooty-black; this color extending to the upper part of the breast, but not along the sides under the wings, and with convex outline behind. Interscapular region of the back and exposed surface of the wing-coverts and secondaries dark rufous-brown, forming a square patch. A lighter, more pinkish tint of the same on the sides of breast and belly. Rest of under parts clear white. Rump brownish-ash. Upper tail-coverts dusky. Outer two tail-feathers white; the third with only an obscure streak of white. Bill flesh-color, dusky at tip. Legs flesh-color. Length about 6.50 inches; wing, 3.00.

Hab. Pacific coast of the United States to the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, and north to Alaska. Stragglers as far east as Fort Leavenworth in winter and Great Bend of Missouri.

Sitka and Oregon specimens have the back of a darker rufous than those from California and the Middle Province, in which this portion of the body, as well as the sides, is paler, and in more abrupt contrast with the head.

Immature and the majority of winter specimens do not have the black of the head and neck so well defined, but edged above more or less with the color of the back, below with light ashy.

The Oregon Snowbird in full plumage is readily distinguishable from the eastern species by the purer white of the belly; the more sharply defined outline of the black of the head passes directly across the upper part of the breast, and is even convex in its posterior outline, without extending down the side of the breast, with its posterior outline strongly concave, as in hyemalis. The absence of black or ashy-brown under the wings, with the rufous tinge, are highly characteristic of oregonus. The head and neck are considerably blacker; the rufous of the back and wings does not exist in the other. The wings and quills are more pointed; the second quill usually longest, instead of the third, etc. The dusky of the throat reaches in J. oregonus only to the upper part of the breast; to its middle region in hyemalis.

Sometimes, in adult males, the middle and greater wing-coverts are faintly tipped with white, indicating two inconspicuous bands.

In a large series of Juncos collected at Fort Whipple, Arizona, by Dr. Coues, are several specimens so decidedly intermediate between J. oregonus and J. caniceps as to suggest the probability of their being hybrids; others, from Fort Burgwyn and Fort Bridger, are exactly like them. With the ashy head and jugulum, and black lores, as well as bright rufous back, of the latter, the sides are pinkish as in the former; while, as in this too, the posterior outline of the ash on jugulum is convex, not concave, and the rufous of the back has a tendency to tinge the wings, instead of being confined to the interscapulars. (See foot-note to synoptical table, p. 579.)

Mr. Ridgway also regards the western Snowbird as, in all appreciable respects, an exact counterpart of the eastern hyemalis. In summer he found it inhabiting the pine woods of the mountains, but in winter descending to the lowlands, and entering the towns and gardens in the same manner with the eastern species.

Dr. Cooper states this species to be numerous in winter in nearly every part of California. In the summer it resides among the mountains down to the 32d parallel. On the coast he has not determined its residence farther south than Monterey. The coolness of that locality, and its extensive forests of pines extending to the coast, favor the residence of such birds during the summer. At San Diego he observed them until the first of April, when they retired to the neighboring mountains. A few also were found in the Colorado Valley in the winter. On the Coast Mountains south of Santa Clara he found them breeding in large numbers in May, 1864. One nest contained young, just ready to fly, as early as May 13. This was built in a cavity among the roots of a large tree on a steep bank. It was made of leaves, grasses, and fine root-fibres. On the outside it was covered with an abundant coating of green moss, raised above the surface of the ground. The old birds betrayed the presence of the nest by their extreme anxiety. On the 20th he found another nest on the very summit of the mountains, supposed to be a second laying, as it contained but three eggs. It was slightly sunk in the ground under a fern, and formed like the other, but with less moss around its edge. It was lined with cows’ and horses’ hair. The eggs were bluish-white, with blackish-brown spots of various sizes thickly sprinkled around the larger end, and measuring .74 by .60 of an inch.

The only song Dr. Cooper noticed, of this species, was a faint trill much like that of the Spizella socialis, delivered from the top of some low tree in March and April. At other times they have only a sharp call-note, by which they are distinguishable from other Sparrows. While some migrate far to the south in winter, others remain as far north as the Columbia River, frequenting, in large numbers, the vicinity of barns and houses, especially when the snow is on the ground. They raise two broods in a season.

Dr. Coues found this species a very common winter resident in Arizona, arriving at Fort Whipple about October 10, soon becoming very abundant, and continuing so until the second week in April. Stragglers were seen until May 10.

Dr. Kennerly frequently saw these birds near the Pueblo of Zuñi in New Mexico; in the months of October and November they were very abundant among the cedars to the westward of that settlement as far as the Little Colorado. Dr. Heermann also met with them near Fort Yuma in December, having previously noticed them during the fall, migrating in large flocks.

Mr. Aiken frequently found this species throughout the winter in Colorado. It was very common during March and the first of April. By May only a few straggling females were seen, and then they all disappeared.

The nests of this species have a general resemblance in structure to those of the common hyemalis. They are well constructed and remarkably symmetrical, made externally of mosses and other coarse materials, within which is very nicely woven an inner nest of fine, bent stems of grasses, lined with hair. The eggs, four or five in number, resemble those of the hyemalis, but are lighter. They have a ground-color of greenish-white, marked about the larger end with fine dots of reddish-brown. Their measurement is .75 by .60 of an inch.

Junco caniceps, Baird.

RED-BACKED SNOWBIRD.

Struthus caniceps, Woodhouse, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. VI, Dec. 1852, 202 (New Mexico and Texas).—Ib. Sitgreaves’s Report Zuñi & Colorado, 1853, 83, pl. iii. Junco caniceps, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 468, pl. lxxii, f. 1.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 201.

Sp. Char. Bill yellowish; black at the tip. Above ashy (of the same shade before and behind); the head and neck all round of this color, which extends (paling a little) along the sides, leaving the middle of the belly and crissum quite abruptly white. Lores conspicuously but not very abruptly darker. Interscapular region abruptly reddish chestnut-brown, which does not extend on the wings, and makes a triangular patch. Two outer tail-feathers entirely white; third with a long white terminal stripe on the inner web. Young streaked with blackish above and below, except along middle of belly and behind. Length, 6.00; wing, 3.23; tail, 3.04.

Hab. Rocky Mountains; from Black Hills to San Francisco Mountains, Arizona. Wahsatch and Uintah Mountains (Ridgway).

This species is similar to the common J. hyemalis in color, though paler; the tint of the under parts and sides is not quite so dark, and is less abruptly defined against the white. The conspicuous chestnut patch on the back and the dusky lores will distinguish them. The edge of the outer web of the third tail-feather is brown, not white. It differs from oregonus and cinereus in having no chestnut on the wings, especially the tertials, and from the former in the extension of the ash of the neck along the sides and much lighter head.

Young birds are streaked above and below as in other species; they may be distinguished from those of cinereus by the rufous being confined to the interscapular region, the same as in the adult.

Habits. This species was first discovered and described by Dr. Woodhouse from specimens obtained by him among the San Francisco Mountains in Arizona. When procured, it was feeding in company with the Junco oregonus and various species of Parus. Its habits appeared to be very similar to those of the western Snowbird, as well as to those of the common J. hyemalis.

Dr. Coues states that he found this bird a not very common winter resident at Fort Whipple, where its times of arrival and departure, as well as its general habits, were identical with those of J. oregonus, with which it very freely associated. From this we may naturally infer that in New Mexico and Arizona it appears only as a winter visitant, and that in summer it goes elsewhere to breed. Its summer resorts, as well as our knowledge of its breeding-habits, nest, and eggs, remain to be determined, or are only imperfectly known. It evidently retires to the highlands and to mountain regions to breed, and probably has a much more extended habitat than that of which we now have any knowledge. Upon this problem Mr. Ridgway’s observations have already shed some valuable and suggestive light. He met with this bird only among the pine woods of the Wahsatch Mountains, where, however, it was a very common bird, and where it was also breeding. Its manners and notes were scarcely different from those of J. oregonus. It is, however, a shyer bird than the latter, and its song, which is only a simple trill, is rather louder than that of either the hyemalis or the oregonus.

Dr. Coues writes me that both “the Gray-head and the Oregon Snowbirds are common species about Fort Whipple in winter, arriving about the middle of October, and remaining in numbers until early in April, when they thin off, although some may usually be observed during the month, and even a part of the next. Oregonus far outnumbers caniceps. So far as I could see, their habits are precisely the same as those of the eastern Snowbird. During snow-storms they used to come familiarly about our quarters, and I once captured several of both species, enticing them into a tent in which some barley had been strewn, and having the flap fixed so that it could be pulled down with a string in a moment. They always associated together, and once, on firing into a flock, I picked up a number of each kind, and one Junco hyemalis. The latter can only be considered a straggler in this region, although I secured three specimens one winter.”

This species was very rare in Colorado, according to Mr. Aiken, in the winter of 1871-72, but became common in March, and a few remained up to the 3d of May. No females of this species were observed by him.

Genus POOSPIZA, Cabanis.

Poospiza, Cabanis, Wiegmann’s Archiv, 1847, I, 349. (Type, Emberiza nigro-rufa, D’Orb., or Pipilo personata, Sw.)