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NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
LAND BIRDS.
VOL. II.
[Illustration: RED-HEADED WOODPECKER.
(Melanerpes erythrocephalus.)
Adult male.]
A
HISTORY
OF
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS
BY
S. F. BAIRD, T. M. BREWER, AND R. RIDGWAY
LAND BIRDS
_ILLUSTRATED BY 64 PLATES AND 593 WOODCUTS_
VOLUME II.
[Illustration: sketch of nest with eggs]
BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1905
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874,
BY LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
Printers
S. J. PARKHILL & CO., BOSTON, U. S. A.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Family FRINGILLIDÆ. The Finches. (_Continued._) 1
Subfamily SPIZELLINÆ. (_Continued._) 1
Subfamily PASSERELLINÆ 48
Subfamily SPIZINÆ 58
Family ALAUDIDÆ. The Larks 135
Family ICTERIDÆ. The Orioles 147
Subfamily AGELAINÆ 148
Subfamily ICTERINÆ 179
Subfamily QUISCALINÆ 202
Family STURNIDÆ. The Starlings 228
Family CORVIDÆ. The Crows 231
Subfamily CORVINÆ 231
Subfamily GARRULINÆ 263
Family TYRANNIDÆ. The Tyrant Flycatchers 306
Family ALCEDINIDÆ. The Kingfishers 391
Family CAPRIMULGIDÆ. The Goatsuckers 398
Subfamily CAPRIMULGINÆ 398
Family CYPSELIDÆ. The Swifts 421
Subfamily CYPSELINÆ 423
Subfamily CHÆTURINÆ 427
Family TROCHILIDÆ. The Humming-Birds 437
Family CUCULIDÆ. The Cuckoos 470
Subfamily COCCYGINÆ 470
Family PICIDÆ. The Woodpeckers 491
Subfamily PICINÆ 492
Family PSITTACIDÆ. The Parrots 585
Subfamily SITTACINÆ 585
INDEX TO THE PLATES.
PLATES 27-56.
NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS.
FAMILY FRINGILLIDÆ.—THE FINCHES. (_Continued._)
GENUS SPIZELLA, BONAP.
_Spizella_, BONAP. Geog. and Comp. List, 1838. (Type, _Fringilla
canadensis_, LATH.)
_Spinites_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. (Type, _Fringilla
socialis_, WILS.)
[Line drawing: _Spizella monticola._
871 ♂]
GEN. CHAR. Bill conical, the outlines slightly curved; the lower
mandible decidedly larger than the upper; the commissure gently
sinuated; the roof of the mouth not knobbed. Feet slender; tarsus
rather longer than the middle toe; the hinder toe a little longer than
the outer lateral, which slightly exceeds the inner; the outer claw
reaching the base of the middle one, and half as long as its toe.
Claws moderately curved. Tertiaries and secondaries nearly equal; wing
somewhat pointed, reaching not quite to the middle of the tail. First
quill a little shorter than the second and equal to the fifth; third
longest. Tail rather long, moderately forked, and divaricated at the
tip; the feathers rather narrow. Back streaked; rump and beneath
immaculate. Young streaked beneath.
This genus differs from _Zonotrichia_ principally in the smaller size
and longer and forked, instead of rounded tail.
Birds of the year of this genus are very difficult to distinguish,
even by size, except in _monticola_. The more immature birds are also
very closely related. In these the entire absence of streaks on a
plumbeous head point to _atrigularis_; the same character in a reddish
cap, and a reddish upper mandible to _pusilla_; a dusky loral spot
with dark streaks and generally a rufous shade on top of head, to
_socialis_. _S. breweri_, with a streaked head, lacks the dusky lore
and chestnut shade of feathers. _S. pallida_ generally has a median
light stripe in the cap, and a dusky mandibular line.
COMMON CHARACTERS. Interscapular region with black streaks. Rump and
lower parts without streaks (except in young). Wing with two narrow
light bands (indistinct in _atrigularis_).
A. Crown different from the sides of the head, a plain
light superciliary stripe. Young with crown and breast
streaked.
_a._ Crown rufous and plain in adult; in young, grayish
and with streaks.
_I._ _Streak behind eye, and tinge on side of breast,
rufous. Egg pale blue, or bluish-white, blotched with
pale brown, or sprinkled with reddish._
1. S. monticola. Crown bright rufous, undivided
medially; a dusky spot on lore; wing-bands sharply
defined, pure white. A black spot on breast; jugulum
tinged with ashy. Bill black above, yellow below.
Length, 6.25; wing, 3.00. _Hab._ Whole of North
America; north of the United States only, in summer.
2. S. pusilla. Crown dull rufous, indistinctly
divided medially; lores entirely whitish; wing-bands
not sharply defined, pale brown. No black spot on
breast; jugulum tinged with buff. Bill entirely light
brownish-red.
Wing, 2.70; tail, 2.80; bill, from forehead, .37.
_Hab._ Eastern Province United States var. _pusilla_.
“Similar, but colors clearer, and bill more
robust.” _Hab._ Peten, Guatemala var. _pinetorum_.[1]
_II._ _Streak behind the eye blackish. No rufous tinge on
side of breast. Egg deep blue, with black dots and streaks
round larger end._
3. S. socialis. Crown bright rufous, not distinctly
divided, generally plain. Forehead black, divided
medially with white. Streak of black on lore and
behind eye. Rump pure bluish-ash. Bill blackish,
lower mandible paler.
Auriculars deep ash, in strong contrast with pure
white of the superciliary stripe and throat; breast
without ashy tinge. Dorsal streaks broad. Wing,
2.80; tail, 2.30. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United
States var. _socialis_.
Auriculars lighter ash, less strongly contrasted
with the white above and below; breast strongly
tinged with ash. Dorsal streaks narrow. Wing, 3.00;
tail, 2.90. _Hab._ Western Province of United
States, and table-lands of Mexico var. _arizonæ_.
_b._ Crown light grayish-brown, with distinct black
streaks; young differing in streaked. Egg deep blue, with
black streaks and dots (precisely as in _socialis_).
4. S. pallida.
Crown divided medially by a distinct pale stripe;
whitish superciliary stripe, and blackish
post-ocular streak sharply defined. A dusky
sub-maxillary streak. Nape ashy in contrast with
the crown and back. Wing, 2.50; tail, 2.40. _Hab._
Plains of United States, from the Saskatchewan
southward var. _pallida_.
Crown without a distinct median stripe. Markings on
side of head not sharply defined. No dusky
sub-maxillary stripe, and nape scarcely different
from crown and back. Wing, 2.50; tail, 2.60. _Hab._
Middle and western Provinces var. _breweri_.
B. Crown not different from the sides of head; no light
superciliary stripe.
5. S. atrigularis. Head and neck all round, and rump,
uniform dark ash, gradually fading into white on the
abdomen; wing-bands indistinct; bill light
brownish-red. _Ad._ Lores, chin, and upper part of
throat black. _Juv._ without black about the head.
(Eggs unknown.) _Hab._ Adjacent portions of Mexico
and southern Middle Province of United States (Fort
Whipple, Arizona, COUES; Cape St. Lucas, XANTUS).
[1] _Spizella pinetorum_, Salvin, Pr. Z. S. 1863, p. 189.
(“Similis _S. pusillæ_, ex Amer. Sept. et Mexico, sed
coloribus clarioribus et rostro robustiore differt.”)
Spizella monticola, BAIRD.
TREE SPARROW.
_Fringilla monticola_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 912. _Zonotrichia
monticola_, GRAY, Genera. _Spinites monticolus_, CABANIS, Mus.
Hein. 1851, 134. _Spizella monticola_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
472.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1861, 224 (Labrador).—COOPER &
SUCKLEY, 203 (Washington Ter.).—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac.
I, 1869, 285.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 206.—SAMUELS, 317. _Passer
canadensis_, BRISSON, Orn. III, 1760, 102. _Fringilla
canadensis_, LATH. Index, I, 1790, 434.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II,
1834, 511; V, 504, pl. clxxxviii.—MAX. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858,
280. _Emberiza canadensis_, SW. F. B. Am. II, 1831, 252.—AUD.
Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 83, pl. clxvi. _Spizella
canadensis_, BON. List, 1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850, 480.
_Fringilla arborea_, WILS. Am. Orn. II, 1810, 12, pl. xii, f. 3.
_Moineau du Canada_, BUFFON, Pl. Enl. 223, f. 2. “_Mountain
Finch_,” LATH. Syn. II, I, 265.
[Illustration: _Spizella monticola._]
SP. CHAR. Middle of back with the feathers dark brown centrally, then
rufous, and edged with pale fulvous (sometimes with whitish). Hood and
upper part of nape continuous chestnut; a line of the same from behind
the eye, as well as a short maxillary stripe. Sides of head and neck
ashy. A broad light superciliary band. Beneath whitish, tinged with
fulvous; the throat with ashy; a small circular blotch of brownish in
the middle of the upper part of the breast; the sides chestnut. Edges
of tail-feathers, primary quills, and two bands across the tips of the
secondaries, white. Tertiaries nearly black; edged externally with
rufous, turning to white near the tips. Lower jaw yellow; upper black.
Young bird streaked on throat and breast, as well as on crown. Length,
6.25 inches; wing, 3.00.
HAB. Eastern North America to the Missouri, north to Arctic Ocean;
also on Pole Creek and Little Colorado River, New Mexico; Western
Nevada.
This species varies in the amount of whitish edging to the quills and
tail.
HABITS. Essentially a northern bird, the Tree Sparrow breeds in high
Arctic regions, only appearing in winter within the United States. It
is then common as far south as Pennsylvania. A few winter in South
Carolina.
It arrives on the Saskatchewan in the latter part of April, where it
only makes a short halt, proceeding farther north to breed. Bischoff
obtained a specimen at Sitka. Mr. Kennicott found its nest and eggs on
the Yukon, and Mr. Dall obtained it at Nulato, and more sparingly
below that point. Mr. MacFarlane met with it breeding in large numbers
at Fort Anderson. The nests were in various situations, the larger
proportion on the ground, a few in bushes near the ground, and only
one is mentioned as having been several feet above it. One was in the
cleft of a low willow on the edge of a small lake; another, in a bush,
was nearly four feet from the ground; and a third was in a clump of
willows and fourteen inches above the ground. Nearly all the other
nests mentioned were built directly upon the ground.
The nests were constructed of dry bark and grasses, loosely put
together, and very warmly lined with feathers. On the ground they were
usually concealed in a tuft of grass. In all instances the female
alone was found on the nests, the male being very rarely seen in their
vicinity. The usual number of eggs in a nest was four or five,
occasionally six, and even seven.
Dr. Suckley obtained a single specimen at Fort Dalles, and Dr. Cooper
saw a flock in September, 1863, and again in 1864 at the mouth of the
Columbia. Lieutenant Bryan met with them among the Rocky Mountains in
latitude 39°, in August. Mr. Ridgway found them very common during the
winter in the interior.
Dr. Coues found this Sparrow common in all the wooded districts of
Labrador. It was very tame and unsuspicious, showing no fear even when
closely approached. I have never met with any, in summer, in any part
of New Brunswick or Nova Scotia.
This Sparrow is occasionally abundant in Massachusetts early in
October, but rarely appears in full numbers until November. Some
remain in the gardens in and about Boston during the winter, and
during November the marshes of Fresh Pond are filled with them, when
their wailing autumnal chant is in marked contrast with the sweet and
sprightly song with which they enliven the spring, just before they
are about to depart for their summer homes. They remain until the
latter part of April, and Mr. Allen has observed them at Springfield
till about the first of May.
In regard to their song, Mr. William Brewster informs me that they
usually commence singing about the 25th of March. Their song is a
loud, clear, and powerful chant, starting with two high notes, then
falling rapidly, and ending with a low, sweet warble. He has heard a
few singing with their full vigor in November and December, but this
is rare.
Dr. Coues found them not common in South Carolina, but Dr. Kennerly
states that they were quite abundant in December on the Little
Colorado, in New Mexico, feeding on the fruit of the wild grape and
upon seeds.
During the love-season the Tree Sparrow is quite a fine musician, its
song resembling that of the Canary, but finer, sweeter, and not so
loud. In their migrations, Mr. Audubon states, a flock of twenty or
more will perch upon the same tree, and join in a delightful chorus.
Their flight is elevated and graceful, and in waving undulations. On
opening the stomachs of those he shot at the Magdeleine Islands, Mr.
Audubon found them containing minute shell-fish, coleopterous insects,
hard seeds, berries, and grains of sand.
Nests obtained near Fort Anderson confirm the descriptions given by
Mr. Hutchins, as observed in the settlement at Hudson’s Bay. The eggs,
which are much larger than those of the other species of _Spizella_,
measure .85 by .65 of an inch. Their ground-color is a light green,
over which the eggs are very generally freckled with minute markings
of a foxy brown. These markings are distributed with great regularity,
but so sparsely as to leave the ground distinctly visible.
Spizella pusilla, BONAP.
FIELD SPARROW.
_Fringilla pusilla_, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 121, pl. xvi, f.
2.—LICHT. Verzeich. Doubl. 1823, No. 252.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II,
1834, 299, pl. cxxxix. _Spizella pusilla_, BONAP. List,
1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850, 480.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
473.—SAMUELS, 319. _Emberiza pusilla_, AUD. Syn. 1839,
104.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 77, pl. clxiv. _Spinites
pusillus_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. _Fringilla juncorum_,
NUTT. Man. I, 1832, 499 (2d ed.,) 1840, 577 (supposed by him to
be _Motacilla juncorum_, GMELIN, I, 952; _Sylvia juncorum_,
LATHAM, Ind. II, 511; _Little Brown Sparrow_, CATESBY, Car. I,
35).
SP. CHAR. Bill red. Crown continuous rufous-red, with a faint
indication of an ashy central stripe, and ashy nuchal collar. Back
somewhat similar, with shaft-streaks of blackish. Sides of head and
neck (including a superciliary stripe) ashy. Ear-coverts rufous.
Beneath white, tinged with yellowish anteriorly. Tail-feathers and
quills faintly edged with white. Two whitish bands across the
wing-coverts. Autumnal specimens more rufous. Length about 5.75; wing,
2.34.
HAB. Eastern North America to the Missouri River; San Antonio, Texas
in winter (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 489).
This species is about the size of _S. socialis_, but is more rufous
above; lacks the black forehead and eye stripe; has chestnut ears,
instead of ash; has the bill red, instead of black; lacks the clear
ash of the rump; has a longer tail, etc. It is more like _monticola_,
but is much smaller; lacks the spot on the breast, and the
predominance of white on the wings, etc. The young have the breast and
sides streaked, and the crown slightly so.
HABITS. The common Field Sparrow occupies a well-defined and somewhat
compact area, being resident within the United States, and in its
migrations not removing far from its summer abode. In the summer it
breeds from Virginia to Maine, as far as the central and western
portions. It is not found near Calais, but occurs and breeds near
Norway, Oxford County. In the interior it is found still farther
north, in Canada, Iowa, and Wisconsin, to the Red River settlements,
where it was found breeding by Donald Gunn. At Hamilton, Ontario, Mr.
McIlwraith states it to be a rather rare summer resident. It breeds in
Southern Wisconsin and in Iowa, but is not abundant. It does not
appear to have been found west of the Missouri Valley.
This Sparrow arrives in Massachusetts early in April, and is found
almost exclusively in open pastures, old fields, and in clearings
remote from villages. It is a shy, retiring bird, and seems to avoid
the near presence of man. Wilson states that it has no song, nothing
but a kind of chirruping, not much superior to the chirping of a
cricket. But this is quite a mistake, as it is in reality a very
varied and fine singer. Its notes are not very powerful, and cannot be
heard any distance, but they are very pleasing, although little known
or appreciated. It continues in full song until into July, when the
second brood is about hatching, when its notes relax, but do not cease
until just before its departure in September or early October.
Mr. D. D. Hughes, of Grand Rapids, Mich., in an interesting paper on
the habits of this species, speaks of its beautiful tinkling song as
one of its most marked features. To his ear it resembles the ringing
of a tiny bell more nearly than anything else. In the early morning
and at evening the fields ring with their plaintive and tender peals.
It sings at all hours of the day, during the nesting-season, even in
the noonday heat of summer, when most other birds are silent.
In Virginia these birds may be found throughout the year, though
probably not the same birds in the same localities, some retiring
farther south and others coming to take their places from the north.
In winter they are found, in the greatest abundance in South Carolina
and Georgia, occurring in large loose flocks, found chiefly along the
roadsides and in old fields and pastures in the rural districts.
The Field Sparrow nests both on the ground and in low bushes, or among
tangled clusters of vines. I have found their nests in all these
situations, and have no doubt the nature of the surface may have
something to do with the position. In high dry pastures, in sheltered
situations, I have always found their nests on the ground. In the wet
meadows and fields subject to a rise of water, as about the Potomac,
near Washington, where these birds are very abundant, they almost
invariably nest in bushes at a height of two or three feet.
Mr. Audubon says that during the winter these birds are quite common
throughout Louisiana, and the country about the Mississippi, as far as
Kentucky. They begin to depart from the South early in March, and move
slowly northward as the season advances. He states that they begin to
nest in May, and raise three broods in a season. This is not the case
in New England, where they do not often have more than a single brood.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVII.
1. Spizella socialis. _Ad._, Pa., 10150.
2. ” pusilla. ♀ Pa., 1378.
3. ” pallida. _Ad._
4. ” breweri. _Ad._, Rocky Mts., 2890.
5. ” monticola.
6. Melospiza melodia. Pa., 2637.
7. ” samuelis. Cal., 7098.
8. ” insignis. Kodiak, 52477.
9. ” heermanni. ♂ Sierra Nevada, 53529.
10. ” fallax. ♀ Nevada, 53537.
11. ” rufina. Sitka, 46007.
12. ” guttata. Washington Ter.
13. ” lincolni. Pa., 937.]
Their nests are constructed in a manner very similar to those of the
Chipping Sparrow, loosely made of a few stems of vegetables, grasses,
and sedges, and lined with hair or fine rootlets. Those placed on the
ground are larger and more bulky, and those wrought into the twigs of
a bush are made with more care and neatness of interweaving. The eggs
are usually five in number, of an oblong-oval shape. The ground is a
whitish clay-color, marked more or less fully with blotches of a
ferruginous-brown. In some these markings are few, and arranged only
about the larger end. In others they are generally diffused, and
impart a deep ferruginous color to the whole egg, and disguise or
conceal the ground. They vary also in size,—in length from .70 to .63
of an inch, and in breadth from .52 to .50. Their usual size is .70 by
.52.
Two nests of this bird taken in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. George O. Welch,
are characteristic of their usual style in architecture. One of these
has a diameter of four and a height of two and a half inches. Its
base, as well as the great mass of its periphery, is made of a very
loose intertwining of minute stems of vegetables and dry grasses. The
ends of these project from the exterior of the nest at the upper rim,
and present a very peculiar appearance, as of an enclosure of
palisades. The interior is lined with horsehair. The other is made of
similar materials, of a less rigid character and closer texture. Its
rim presents the same peculiarities of projecting ends, arranged like
a fence above the nest itself. Its dimensions also are about the same.
It is, however, much more compactly constructed, with thicker walls
and a less open network of dry grasses, and stiff wiry stems of dried
plants intermixed with a few pine leaves. The whole is very carefully
and warmly lined with horsehair and the softer fur of small
quadrupeds. These nests contained, one three, and the other four eggs.
Spizella socialis, BONAP.
CHIPPING SPARROW; CHIPPY.
_Fringilla socialis_, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 127, pl. xvi, f.
5.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 21; V, 517, pl. civ. _Spizella
socialis_, BON. List, 1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850, 480.—BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 473.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 203.—SAMUELS, 320.
_Emberiza socialis_, AUD. Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841,
80, pl. clxv. _Spinites socialis_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133.
SP. CHAR. Rump, back of neck, and sides of neck and head, ashy.
Interscapular region with black streaks, margined with pale rufous.
Crown continuous and uniform chestnut. Forehead black, separated in
the middle by white. A white streak over the eye to nape, and a black
one from the base of the bill through and behind the eye. Lores dusky.
Under parts unspotted whitish, tinged with ashy on the sides and
across the upper breast. Tail-feathers and primaries edged with paler,
not white. Two narrow white bands across the wing-coverts. Bill black.
Length, 5.75; wing, nearly 3.00; tail, 2.50 (or less).
_Young._ Immature birds and frequently the adult females with the cap
streaked with blackish lines, the chestnut nearly or sometimes quite
wanting. Birds of the year streaked beneath and on rump.
The color of bill varies; sometimes entirely black throughout,
sometimes very light (but never reddish as in _S. pusilla_), with all
intermediate stages. There is usually, however, a dusky tinge in the
upper bill, wanting in _pusilla_, and the lores are almost always more
or less dusky in all stages of plumage.
HAB. Eastern Province of North America; north to Great Slave Lake, and
south to Orizaba, Eastern Mexico, where it is resident. Oaxaca
(perhaps var. _arizonæ_), Jan. (SCL. 858, 304); Xalapa (SCL. 1859,
365); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 305); Cuba (LAWR. 1860, VII., 1269).
HABITS. The common Chipping Sparrow, so familiar to all in the eastern
portion of the United States, is not only one of the most abundant,
but one of the most widely distributed of our North American birds. It
is found from the Atlantic to the Pacific in its two races, and breeds
from Georgia to the Arctic Circle. At different seasons of the year it
is found in all portions of North America to Mexico. Along the
Atlantic coast it nests at least as far north as New Brunswick and
Nova Scotia; in the extreme northern portion of the latter Province I
found it one of the most abundant birds.
The late Mr. Robert Kennicott met with them in considerable numbers at
Fort Resolution, on Great Slave Lake, and there he obtained quite a
number of their nests, all of which were in trees or bushes, from two
to three feet above the ground. These were all met with between the
1st and the 26th of June. Mr. B. R Ross also met with these birds in
considerable numbers at Fort Simpson and at Fort Rae.
On the Pacific coast the Chipping Sparrow is stated by Dr. Cooper to
be quite as abundant in the northern parts of California, and in
Oregon and Washington Territory, as on the Atlantic coast. He found
them wintering in the Colorado Valley in large numbers, but met with
none about San Diego. They spend their summers in the northern part of
California, building their nests, as with us, in the shrubbery of the
gardens, and coming familiarly about the doorsteps to pick up crumbs.
In autumn they collect in large flocks, and frequent the open fields
and pastures. Dr. Cooper found them in flocks on Catalina Island in
June, but could discover no nests. They were all old birds, and the
conclusion was that they had delayed their more northern migrations.
Dr. Suckley found this species extremely abundant in the open
districts on the Columbia River, as well as upon the gravelly prairies
of the Puget Sound district. It is not named as having been met with
by Mr. Dall or any of the Russian Telegraph party in Alaska.
It was found in abundance during the summer by Mr. Ridgway in all the
wooded portions of the country of the Great Basin. He did not meet
with any among the cottonwoods of the river-valleys, its favorite
haunts appearing to be the cedars and the nut-pines of the mountains.
In July and August, in such localities, on the East Humboldt
Mountains, it was not only the most numerous species, but also very
abundant, nesting in the trees. About the middle of August they
congregated in large numbers, preparing for their departure.
At Sacramento it was also very abundant among the groves of small
oaks. He could not observe the slightest difference in habits or notes
between the eastern and the western specimens of this form. He found
them breeding at Salt Lake City, June 19, the nest being in a
scrub-oak, six feet from the ground.
In Arizona, Dr. Coues found the Chippy a very abundant summer
resident, arriving the third week of March and remaining until the
latter part of November. A few may spend the winter there. As
described, it seems more gregarious than it is with us, arriving in
the spring, and remaining for a month or more in large flocks of fifty
or upwards. In New England they always come in pairs, and only
assemble in flocks just on the eve of their departure. Mr. Dresser met
with these Sparrows, and obtained specimens of them, near San Antonio,
on the 10th of April. Dr. Heermann, in his Report upon the birds
observed in Lieutenant Williamson’s route between the 32d and 35th
parallels, speaks of finding this species abundant.
Dr. Gerhardt found this Sparrow not uncommon in the northern portions
of Georgia, where it is resident throughout the year, and where a few
remain in the summer to breed. Dr. Coues also states that a limited
number summer in the vicinity of Columbia, S. C., but that their
number is insignificant compared with those wintering there between
October and April. They collect in large flocks on their arrival, and
remain in companies of hundreds or more.
Mr. Sumichrast states that it is a resident bird in the temperate
region of Vera Cruz, Mexico, where it remains throughout the year, and
breeds as freely and commonly as it does within the United States.
Although found throughout the country in greater or less numbers, they
are noticeably not common in the more recent settlements of the West,
as on the unsettled prairies of Illinois and Iowa. Mr. Allen found
them quite rare in both States, excepting only about the older
settlements. As early as the first week in April, 1868, I noticed
these birds very common and familiar in the streets of St. Louis,
especially so in the business part of that city, along the wharves and
near the grain-stores, seeking their food on the ground with a
confidence and fearlessness quite unusual to it in such situations.
The tameness and sociability of this bird surpass that of any of the
birds I have ever met with in New England, and are only equalled by
similar traits manifested by the Snowbird (_J. hyemalis_) in Pictou.
Those that live about our dwellings in rural situations, and have been
treated kindly, visit our doorsteps, and even enter the houses, with
the greatest familiarity and trust. They will learn to distinguish
their friends, alight at their feet, call for their accustomed food,
and pick it up when thrown to them, without the slightest signs of
fear. One pair which, summer after summer, had built their nest in a
fir-tree near my door, became so accustomed to be fed that they would
clamor for their food if they were any morning forgotten. One of these
birds, the female, from coming down to the ground to be fed with
crumbs, soon learned to take them on the flat branch of the fir near
her nest, and at last to feed from my hand, and afterwards from that
of other members of the family. Her mate, all the while, was
comparatively shy and distrustful, and could not be induced to receive
his food from us or to eat in our presence.
This Sparrow is also quite social, keeping on good terms and
delighting to associate with other species. Since the introduction of
the European House Sparrow into Boston, I have repeatedly noticed it
associating with them in the most friendly relations, feeding with
them, flying up with them when disturbed, and imitating all their
movements.
The Chipping Sparrow has very slight claims to be regarded as one of
our song-birds. Its note of complaint or uneasiness is a simple
_chip_, and its song, at its best, is but a monotonous repetition of a
single note, sounding like the rapid striking together of two small
pebbles. In the bright days of June this unpretending ditty is kept up
incessantly, hours at a time, with only rare intermissions.
The nest of this bird is always in trees or bushes. I have in no
instance known of its being built on the ground. Even at the Arctic
regions, where so many of our tree-builders vary from this custom to
nest on the ground, no exceptional cases are reported in regard to it,
all its nests being upon trees or in bushes. These are somewhat rudely
built, often so loosely that they may readily be seen through.
Externally they are made of coarse stems of grasses and vegetable
branches, and lined with the hair of the larger animals.
These birds are devoted parents, and express great solicitude whenever
their nests are approached or meddled with. They feed their young
almost exclusively with the larvæ of insects, especially with young
caterpillars. When in neighborhoods infested with the destructive
canker-worm, they will feed their young with this pest in incredible
numbers, and seek them from a considerable distance. Living in a
district exempt from this scourge, yet but shortly removed from them,
in the summer of 1869, I noticed one of these Sparrows with its mouth
filled with something which inconvenienced it to carry. It alighted on
the gravel walk to adjust its load, and passed on to its nest, leaving
two canker-worms behind it, which, if not thus detected, would have
introduced this nuisance into an orchard that had previously escaped,
showing that though friends to those afflicted they are dangerous to
their neighbors. This Sparrow is also the frequent nurse of the Cow
Blackbird, rearing its young to the destruction of its own, and
tending them with exemplary fidelity.
Their eggs, five in number, are of an oblong-oval shape, and vary
greatly in size. They are of a bluish-green color, and are sparingly
spotted about the larger end with markings of umber, purple, and dark
blackish-brown, intermingled with lighter shadings of faint purple.
The largest specimen I have ever noticed of this egg, found in the
Capitol Grounds, Washington, measures .80 by .58 of an inch; and the
smallest, from Varrell’s Station, Ga., measures .60 by .50. Their
average measurement is about .70 by .54. They are all much pointed at
the smaller end.
Spizella socialis, var. arizonæ, COUES.
WESTERN CHIPPING SPARROW.
_Spizella socialis_, var. _arizonæ_, COUES, P. A. N. S.
1866.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 207.
SP. CHAR. Similar to _socialis_, but tail and wing longer, the bill
narrower, and colors paler and grayer. Rufous of the crown lighter and
less purplish, generally (always in specimens from southern Rocky
Mountains) with fine black streaks on the posterior part. Ash of the
cheeks paler, throwing the white of the superciliary stripe and throat
into less contrast. Black streaks of the back narrower, and without
the rufous along their edges, merely streaking a plain light
brownish-gray ground-color. A strong ashy shade over the breast, not
seen in _socialis_; wing-bands more purely white. Wing, 3.00; tail,
2.80; bill, .36 from forehead, by .18 deep. (40,813 ♂, April 24, Fort
Whipple, Ariz., DR. COUES.)
HAB. Western United States from Rocky Mountains to the Pacific; south
in winter into Middle and Western Mexico.
All the specimens of a large series from Fort Whipple, Arizona, as
well as most others from west of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific
coast, agree in the characters given above, as distinguished from
eastern specimens of _socialis_. The variations with age and season
are simple parallels of those in _socialis_.
HABITS. The references in the preceding article to the Chipping
Sparrow as occurring in the Middle and Western Provinces of the United
States, are to be understood as applying to the present race.
Spizella pallida, BONAP.
CLAY-COLORED SPARROW.
_Emberiza pallida_, SW. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 251 (not of AUDUBON).
_Spizella pallida_, BONAP. List, 1838.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 474. _Spinites pallidus_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133.
_Emberiza shattucki_, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 347, pl.
ccccxciii. _Spizella shattucki_, BONAP. Conspectus, 1850, 480.
SP. CHAR. Smaller than _S. socialis_. Back and sides of hind neck
ashy. Prevailing color above pale brownish-yellow, with a tinge of
grayish. The feathers of back and crown streaked conspicuously with
blackish. Crown with a median pale ashy and a lateral or superciliary
ashy-white stripe. Beneath whitish, tinged with brown on the breast
and sides, and an indistinct narrow brown streak on the edge of
the chin, cutting off a light stripe above it. Ear-coverts
brownish-yellow, margined above and below by dark brown, making three
dark stripes on the face. Bill reddish, dusky towards tip. Legs
yellow. Length, 4.75; wing, 2.55.
HAB. Upper Missouri River and high central plains to the Saskatchewan
country. Cape St. Lucas, Oaxaca, March (SCL. 1859, 379); Fort Mohave
(COOPER, P. A. N. S. Cal. 1861, 122); San Antonio, Texas, spring
(DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 489; common).
The ashy collar is quite conspicuous, and streaked above with brown.
The rump is immaculate. The streaks on the feathers of the crown
almost form continuous lines, about six in number. The brown line
above the ear-coverts is a post-ocular one. That on the side of the
chin forms the lower border of a white maxillary stripe which widens
and curves around behind the ear-coverts, fading into the ashy of the
neck. The wing-feathers are all margined with paler, and there is an
indication of two light bands across the ends of the coverts.
The young of this species is thickly streaked beneath over the throat,
breast, and belly, with brown, giving to it an entirely different
appearance from the adult. The streaks in the upper parts, too, are
darker and more conspicuous. The margins of the feathers are rather
more rusty.
This species is readily distinguishable from the other American
_Spizellas_, except _S. breweri_ (which see), in the dark streaks and
median ashy stripe on the crown, the paler tints, the dark line on the
side of the chin, etc.
HABITS. The Clay-colored Bunting was first discovered by Richardson,
and described by Swainson, in the Fauna Bor.-Amer. The only statement
made in regard to it is that it visited the Saskatchewan in
considerable numbers, frequented the farm-yard at Carlton House, and
was in all respects as familiar and confiding as the common House
Sparrow of Europe.
The bird given by Mr. Audubon as the _pallida_ has been made by Mr.
Cassin a different species, _S. breweri_, and the species the former
gives in his seventh volume of the Birds of America as _Emberiza
shattucki_ is really this species. It was found by Mr. Audubon’s party
to the Yellowstone quite abundant throughout the country bordering
upon the Upper Missouri. It seemed to be particularly partial to the
small valleys found, here and there, along the numerous ravines
running from the interior and between the hills. Its usual demeanor is
said to greatly resemble that of the common Chipping Sparrow, and,
like that bird, it has a very monotonous ditty, which it seems to
delight to repeat constantly, while its mate is more usefully employed
in the duties of incubation. When it was approached, it would dive and
conceal itself amid the low bushes around, or would seek one of the
large clusters of wild roses so abundant in that section. The nest of
this species is mentioned as having been usually placed on a small
horizontal branch seven or eight feet from the ground, and
occasionally in the broken and hollow branches of trees. These nests
are also stated to have been formed of slender grasses, but in so
slight a manner as, with their circular lining of horse or cattle
hair, to resemble as much as possible the nest of the common
_socialis_. The eggs were five in number, and are described as being
blue with reddish-brown spots. These birds were also met with at the
Great Slave Lake region by Mr. Kennicott, in the same neighborhood by
B. R. Ross and J. Lockhart, and in the Red River settlements by Mr. C.
A. Hubbard and Mr. Donald Gunn.
Captain Blakiston noted the arrival of this bird at Fort Carlton on
the 21st of May. He speaks of its note as very peculiar, resembling,
though sharper than, the buzzing made by a fly in a paper box, or a
faint imitation of the sound of a watchman’s rattle. This song it
utters perched on some young tree or bush, sometimes only once, at
others three or four times in quick succession.
Their nests appear to have been in all instances placed in trees or in
shrubs, generally in small spruces, two or three feet from the ground.
In one instance it was in a clump of small bushes not more than six
inches from the ground, and only a few rods from the buildings of Fort
Resolution.
Both this species and the _S. breweri_ were found by Lieutenant Couch
at Tamaulipas in March, 1855. It does not appear to have been met with
by any other of the exploring expeditions, but in 1864, for the first
time, as Dr. Heermann states, to his knowledge, these birds were found
quite plentiful near San Antonio, Texas, by Mr. Dresser. This was in
April, in the fields near that town. They were associating with the
_Melospiza lincolni_ and other Sparrows. They remained about San
Antonio until the middle of May, after which none were observed.
The eggs of this species are of a light blue, with a slight tinge of
greenish, and are marked around the larger end with spots and blotches
of a purplish-brown, rather finer, perhaps, than in the egg of _S.
socialis_, though very similar to it. They average .70 of an inch in
length, and vary in breadth from .50 to .52 of an inch.
Spizella pallida, var. breweri, CASSIN.
BREWER’S SPARROW.
_Emberiza pallida_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 66, pl. cccxcviii, f.
2.—IB. Synopsis, 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 71, pl. clxi
(not of SWAINSON, 1831). _Spizella breweri_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N.
Sc. VIII, Feb. 1856, 40.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
475.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 209.
SP. CHAR. Similar to _S. pallida_; the markings including the nuchal
collar more obsolete; no distinct median and superciliary light
stripes. The crown streaked with black. Some of the feathers on the
sides with brown shafts. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.50. Young streaked
beneath, as in _pallida_.
HAB. Rocky Mountains of United States to the Pacific coast.
This race is very similar to the _S. pallida_, and requires close and
critical comparison to separate it. The streaks on the back are
narrower, and the central ashy and lateral whitish stripes of the
crown are scarcely, if at all, appreciable. The clear unstreaked ash
of the back of the neck, too, is mostly wanting. The feathers along
the sides of the body, near the tibia, and occasionally elsewhere on
the sides, have brownish shafts, not found in the other. The
differences are perhaps those of race, rather than of species, though
they are very appreciable.
HABITS. This species bears a very close resemblance to the _S.
pallida_ in its external appearance, but there are certain constant
differences which, with the peculiarities of their distinctive
distributions and habits, seem to establish their specific separation.
The present bird is found from the Pacific coast to the Rocky
Mountains, and from the northern portion of California to the Rio
Grande and Mexico. Dr. Kennerly found it in February, 1854, throughout
New Mexico, from the Rio Grande to the Great Colorado, along the
different streams, where it was feeding upon the seeds of several
kinds of weeds.
Dr. Heermann, while accompanying the surveying party of Lieutenant
Williamson, between the 32d and 35th parallels, found these Sparrows
throughout his entire route, both in California and in Texas. On the
passage from the Pimos villages to Tucson he observed large flocks
gleaning their food among the bushes as they were moving southward. In
the Tejon valley, during the fall season, he was constantly meeting
them associated with large flocks of other species of Sparrows,
congregated around the cultivated fields of the Indians, where they
find a bountiful supply of seeds. For this purpose they pass the
greater part of the time upon the ground.
Dr. Woodhouse also met with this Sparrow throughout New Mexico,
wherever food and water were to be found in sufficient quantity to
sustain life.
In Arizona, near Fort Whipple, Dr. Coues states that this bird is a
rare summer resident. He characterizes it as a shy, retiring species,
keeping mostly in thick brush near the ground.
Mr. Ridgway states that he found this interesting little Sparrow,
while abundant in all fertile portions, almost exclusively an
inhabitant of open situations, such as fields or bushy plains, among
the artemesia especially, where it is most numerous. It frequents
alike the valleys and the mountains. At Sacramento it was the most
abundant Sparrow, frequenting the old fields. In this respect it very
much resembles the eastern _Spizella pusilla_, from which, however, it
is in many respects very different.
The song of Brewer’s Sparrow, he adds, for sprightliness and vivacity
is not excelled by any other of the North American Fringillidæ, being
inferior only to that of the _Chondestes grammaca_ in power and
richness, and even excelling it in variety and compass. Its song,
while possessing all the plaintiveness of tone so characteristic of
the eastern Field Sparrow, unites to this quality a vivacity and
variety fully equalling that of the finest Canary. This species is not
resident, but arrives about the 9th of April. He found its nest and
eggs in the Truckee Reservation, early in June. The nests were in
sage-bushes about three feet from the ground.
Dr. Cooper found small flocks of this species at Fort Mohave, after
March 20, frequenting grassy spots among the low bushes, and a month
later they were singing, he adds, much like a Canary, but more
faintly. They are presumed to remain in the valley all summer.
The eggs, four in number, are of a light bluish-green color, oblong in
shape, more rounded at the smaller end than the eggs of the
_socialis_, and the ground is more of a green than in those of _S.
pallida_. They are marked and blotched in scattered markings of a
golden-brown color. These blotches are larger and more conspicuous
than in the eggs of the other species. They measure .70 by .51 of an
inch.
Spizella atrigularis, BAIRD.
BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW.
_Spinites atrigularis_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. _Spizella
atrigularis_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 476, pl. lv, f. 1.—IB.
Mex. Bound. II, Birds, p. 16, pl. xvii, f. 1.—COOPER, Orn. Cal.
I, 210. _Struthus atrimentalis_, COUCH, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phil. VII,
April, 1854, 67.
SP. CHAR. Tail elongated, deeply forked and divaricated. General color
bluish-ash, paler beneath, and turning to white on the middle of the
belly. Interscapular region yellowish-rusty, streaked with black.
Forehead, loral region, and side of head as far as eyes, chin, and
upper part of throat black. Quills and tail-feathers very dark brown,
edged with ashy. Edges of coverts like the back. No white bands on the
wings. Bill red, feet dusky. Immature birds, and perhaps adult female,
without any black on head. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.50; tail, 3.00.
HAB. Mexico, just south of the Rio Grande; Fort Whipple, Ariz.
(COUES); Cape St. Lucas.
This species is about the size of _S. pusilla_ and _S. socialis_,
resembling the former most in its still longer tail. This is more
deeply forked and divaricated, with broader feathers than in either.
The wing is much rounded; the fourth quill longest; the first almost
the shortest of the primaries.
HABITS. This species is a Mexican bird, found only within the limits
of the United States along the borders. But little is known as to its
history. It is supposed to be neither very abundant nor to have an
extended area of distribution. It was met with by Dr. Coues in the
neighborhood of Fort Whipple, Arizona, where it arrives in April and
leaves again in October, collecting, before its departure, in small
flocks. In the spring he states that it has a very sweet and melodious
song, far surpassing in power and melody the notes of any other of
this genus that he has ever heard.
Dr. Coues furnishes me with the following additional information in
regard to this species: “This is not a common bird at Fort Whipple,
and was only observed from April to October. It unquestionably breeds
in that vicinity, as I shot very young birds, in August, wanting the
distinctive head-markings of the adult. A pair noticed in early April
were seemingly about breeding, as the male was in full song, and
showed, on dissection, highly developed sexual organs. The song is
very agreeable, not in the least recalling the monotonous ditty of the
Chip Bird, or the rather weak performances of some other species of
the genus. In the latter part of summer and early autumn the birds
were generally seen in small troops, perhaps families, in weedy
places, associating with the western variety of _Spizella socialis_,
as well as with Goldfinches.”
Lieutenant Couch met with individuals of this species at Agua Nueva,
in Coahuila, Mexico, in May, 1853. They were found in small flocks
among the mountains. Their nest and eggs are unknown.
GENUS MELOSPIZA, BAIRD.
_Melospiza_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1868, 478. (Type, _Fringilla
melodia_, WILS.)
[Line drawing: _Melospiza melodia._
2637 ♂]
GEN. CHAR. Body stout. Bill conical, very obsoletely notched, or
smooth; somewhat compressed. Lower mandible not so deep as the upper.
Commissure nearly straight. Gonys a little curved. Feet stout, not
stretching beyond the tail; tarsus a little longer than the middle
toe; outer toe a little longer than the inner; its claw not quite
reaching to the base of the middle one. Hind toe appreciably longer
than the middle one. Wings quite short and rounded, scarcely reaching
beyond the base of the tail; the tertials considerably longer than the
secondaries; the quills considerably graduated; the fourth longest;
the first not longer than the tertials, and almost the shortest of the
primaries. Tail moderately long, rather longer from coccyx than the
wings, and considerably graduated; the feathers oval at the tips, and
not stiffened. Crown and back similar in color, and streaked; beneath
thickly streaked, except in _M. palustris_. Tail immaculate. Usually
nest on ground; nests strongly woven of grasses and fibrous stems;
eggs marked with rusty-brown and purple on a ground of a clay color.
This genus differs from _Zonotrichia_ in the shorter, more graduated
tail, rather longer hind toe, much more rounded wing, which is
shorter; the tertiaries longer; the first quill almost the shortest,
and not longer than the tertials. The under parts are spotted; the
crown streaked, and like the back.
[Illustration: _Melospiza melodia._]
There are few species of American birds that have caused more
perplexity to the ornithologist than the group of which _Melospiza
melodia_ is the type. Spread over the whole of North America, and
familiar to every one, we find each region to possess a special form
(to which a specific name has been given), and yet these passing into
each other by such insensible gradations as to render it quite
impossible to define them as species. Between _M. melodia_ of the
Atlantic States and _M. insignis_ of Kodiak the difference seems wide;
but the connecting links in the intermediate regions bridge this over
so completely that, with a series of hundreds of specimens before us,
we abandon the attempt at specific separation, and unite into one no
less than eight species previously recognized.
Taking, then, the common Song Sparrow of the Eastern Atlantic States
(_M. melodia_) as the starting-point, and proceeding westward, we find
quite a decided difference (in a variety _fallax_) when we reach the
Middle Province, or that of the Rocky Mountains. The general tints are
paler, grayer, and less rusty; the superciliary stripe anteriorly more
ashy; the bill, and especially the legs, more dusky, the latter not at
all to be called yellow. The bill is perhaps smaller and, though
sometimes equal to the average of eastern specimens, more slender in
proportion. In some specimens (typical _fallax_) the streaks are
uniform rufous without darker centres,—a feature I have not noticed
in eastern _melodia_. Another stage (_heermanni_) is seen when we
reach the Pacific coast of California, in a darker brown color (but
not rufous). Here the bill is rather larger than in var. _fallax_, and
the legs colored more like typical _melodia_. In fact, the bird is
like _melodia_, but darker. The stripes on the back continue well
defined and distinct. _M. samuelis_ (=_gouldi_) may stand as a smaller
race of this variety.
Proceeding northward along the Pacific coast, another form (var.
_guttata_), peculiar to the coast of California, is met with towards
and beyond the mouth of the Columbia (coming into Southern California
in winter). This is darker in color, more rufous; the stripes quite
indistinct above, in fact, more or less obsolete, and none, either
above or below, with darker or blackish centres. The sides, crissum,
and tibia are washed with ochraceous-brown, the latter perhaps
darkest. The bill is proportionally longer and more slender. This race
becomes still darker northward, until at Sitka (var. _rufina_) it
shows no rufous tints, but a dusky olive-brown instead, including the
streaks of the under parts. The markings of the head and back are
appreciable, though not distinct. The size has become considerably
larger than in eastern _melodia_, the average length of wing being
3.00, instead of 2.60.
The last extreme of difference from typical _melodia_ of the east is
seen in the variety _insignis_ from Kodiak. Here the size is very
large: length, 7.00; extent, 10.75; wing, 3.20. The bill is very long
(.73 from forehead), the color still darker brown and more uniform
above; the median light stripe of vertex scarcely appreciable in some
specimens; the superciliary scarcely showing, except as a whitish spot
anteriorly. The bill and feet have become almost black.
The following synopsis may serve as a means by which to distinguish
the several races of this species, as also the two remaining positive
species of the genus:—
Species and Varieties.
A. Lower parts streaked.
1. M. melodia. White of the lower parts uninterrupted
from the chin to the crissum; the streaks of the
jugulum, etc., broad and cuneate.
_a._ Streaks, above and below, sharply defined, and
distinctly black medially (except sometimes in winter
plumage).
Ground-color above reddish-gray, the interscapulars
with the whitish and black streaks about equal, and
sharply contrasted. Rump with reddish streaks.
Wing, 2.70; tail, 2.90; bill .36 from nostril, and
.30 deep. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United States,
to the Plains on the west, and the Rio Grande on
the south var. _melodia_.[2]
Ground-color above ashy-gray, the interscapulars
with the black streaks much broader than their
rufous border, and the whitish edges not in strong
contrast. Rump without streaks. Wing, 2.80; tail,
3.15; bill, .33 and .22. _Hab._ Middle Province of
United States var. _fallax_.[3]
Ground-color above nearly pure gray, the
interscapulars with the black streaks much broader
than the rufous, and the edges of the feathers not
appreciably paler. Rump without streaks. Wing,
2.80; tail, 2.85; bill, .32 by .27. _Hab._
California, except along the coast; Sierra Nevada
var. _heermanni_.[4]
Ground-color above grayish-olive, the
interscapulars with the black streaks much broader
than their rufous border; edges of the feathers
scarcely appreciably paler. Rump and tail-coverts,
above and below, with distinct broad streaks of
black. Wing, 2.40; tail, 2.50; bill, .37 and .24.
_Hab._ Coast region of California var. _samuelis_.[5]
Ground-color above olive-rufous, the edges of the
interscapulars, alone, ashy; dorsal black streaks
very broad, without rufous border. Rump streaked
with black. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.85; bill, .34 and
.25. _Hab._ Puebla, Mexico var. _mexicana_.[6]
_b._ Streaks, above and below, not sharply defined,
and without black medially.
Above rufescent-olive, the darker shades
castaneous; streaks beneath castaneous-rufous.
Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.50; bill, .35 and .23. _Hab._
Pacific Province from British Columbia, southward
var. _guttata_.
Above sepia-plumbeous, the darker shades
fuliginous-sepia; streaks beneath fuliginous-sepia.
Wing, 3.00; tail, 3.00; bill, .41 and .25. _Hab._
Pacific Province from British Columbia northward
var. _rufina_.
Above plumbeous, the darker markings dull
reddish-sepia in winter, clove-brown in summer;
streaks beneath castaneous-rufous in winter, dull
sepia in summer. Wing, 3.40; tail, 3.60; bill, .50
and .30. _Hab._ Pacific coast of Alaska (Kodiak,
etc.) var. _insignis_.
2. M. lincolni. White of the lower parts interrupted by
a broad pectoral band of buff; streaks on the jugulum,
etc., narrow linear. A vertex and superciliary stripe of
ashy; a maxillary one of buff. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.40;
bill, .30 and .25. _Hab._ Whole of North America; south,
in winter, to Panama.
B. Lower parts without streaks (except in young.)
3. M. palustris. Jugulum and nape tinged with ashy;
outer surface of wings bright castaneous, in strong
contrast with the olivaceous of the back; dorsal streaks
broad, black, without rufous externally; a superciliary
and maxillary stripe of ashy. ♂. Crown uniform chestnut,
forehead black. ♀. Crown similar, but divided by an
indistinct ashy stripe, and more or less streaked with
black (autumnal or winter ♂ similar). _Juv._ Head, back,
and jugulum streaked with black on a yellowish-white
ground; black prevailing on the crown. _Hab._ Eastern
Province of North America.
[2] _Winter plumage._ Rusty prevailing above, but hoary
whitish edges to feathers still in strong contrast; streaks
beneath with a rufous suffusion externally, but still with
the black in excess.
[3] _Winter plumage._ Gray above more olivaceous, the black
streaks more subdued by a rufous suffusion; streaks beneath
with the rufous predominating, sometimes without any black.
[4] _Winter plumage._ Above rusty-olive, with little or no
ashy, the black streaks broad and distinct. Streaks beneath
with the black and rusty in about equal amount.
[5] In summer the streaks beneath are entirely intense
black; in winter they have a slight rufous external
suffusion.
[6] _Melospiza melodia_, var. _mexicana_, RIDGWAY. Mexican
Song Sparrow. _? ? Melospiza pectoralis_, VON MÜLLER.
SP. CHAR. (Type, 60,046, Puebla, Mexico, A. BOUCARD.)
Similar to _M. melodia_, but ground-color above olive-brown;
inner webs of interscapulars pale ashy, but not in strong
contrast. Crown and wings rusty-brown, the former with broad
black streaks, and divided by a just appreciable paler line;
back with broad black streaks without any rufous suffusion.
Superciliary stripe pure light ash, becoming white anterior
to the eye; two broad, dark-brown stripes on side of
head,—one from the eye back along upper edge of auriculars,
the other back from the rictus, along their lower border.
Lower parts pure white, the flanks and crissum distinctly
ochraceous; markings beneath broad and heavy, entirely pure
deep black; those on the jugulum deltoid, on the sides
linear. Wing, 2.60; tail, 2.85; bill, .37 and .24; tarsus,
.85; middle toe without claw, .68. This may possibly be the
_M. pectoralis_ of von Müller. The description cited above,
however, does not agree with the specimen under
consideration. The pectoral spots are expressly stated to be
brown, not even a black shaft-streak being mentioned,
whereas the pure black spots of the specimen before us
render it peculiar in this respect, being, in fact, its
chief characteristic.
Melospiza melodia, BAIRD.
SONG SPARROW.
_Fringilla melodia_, WILSON, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 125, pl. xvi, f.
4.—LICHT. Verz. 1823, No. 249.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 126;
V, 507, pl. 25.—IB. Syn. 1839, 120.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841,
147, pl. clxxxix.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 275. _Zonotrichia
melodia_, BON. List, 1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850, 478. _? ?
Fringilla fasciata_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 922.—NUTTALL,
Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 562. _? ? Fringilla hyemalis_, GMELIN,
Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 922. _Melospiza melodia_, BAIRD, Birds N.
Am. 1858, 477.—SAMUELS, 321.
SP. CHAR. General tint of upper parts rufous and distinctly streaked
with rufous-brown, dark-brown, and ashy-gray. The crown is rufous,
with a superciliary and median stripe of dull gray, the former
lighter; nearly white anteriorly, where it sometimes has a faint shade
of yellow, principally in autumn; each feather of the crown with a
narrow streak of black forming about six narrow lines. Interscapulars
black in the centre, then rufous, then pale grayish on the margin,
these three colors on each feather very sharply contrasted. Rump
grayer than upper tail-coverts, both with obsolete dark streaks. There
is a whitish maxillary stripe, bordered above and below by one of dark
rufous-brown, and with another from behind the eye. The under parts
are white; the jugulum and sides of body streaked with clear
dark-brown, sometimes with a rufous suffusion. On the middle of the
breast these marks are rather aggregated so as to form a spot. No
distinct white on tail or wings. Length of male, 6.50; wing, 2.58;
tail, 3.00. Bill pale brown above; yellowish at base beneath. Legs
yellowish.
HAB. Eastern United States to the high Central Plains.
Specimens vary somewhat in having the streaks across the breast more
or less sparse, the spot more or less distinct. In autumn the colors
are more blended, the light maxillary stripe tinged with yellowish,
the edges of the dusky streaks strongly suffused with brownish-rufous.
The young bird has the upper parts paler, the streaks more distinct;
the lines on the head scarcely appreciable. The under parts are
yellowish; the streaks narrower and more sharply defined dark brown.
As already stated, this species varies more or less from the above
description in different parts of North America, its typical races
having received specific names, which it is necessary to retain for
them as varieties.
HABITS. The common Song Sparrow of eastern North America has an
extended range of distribution, and is resident throughout the year in
a large part of the area in which it breeds. It nests from about South
Carolina north to the British Provinces of Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick at the east, and to a not well-defined limit in British
America. The most northern points to which it has been traced are the
plains of the Saskatchewan and the southern shore of Lake Winnepeg, in
which latter place Mr. Kennicott found it breeding. It is said by Dr.
Coues to breed in South Carolina, and by Mr. Audubon in Louisiana, but
I have never seen any of their eggs from any point south of
Washington. In winter it is found from Massachusetts, where only a few
are observed, to Florida. It is most abundant at this period in North
and South Carolina. It is not mentioned in Dr. Gerhardt’s list as
being found in Northern Georgia at any season of the year. Mr. Ridgway
informs me that it does not breed in Southern Illinois. Its song is
not popularly known there, though he has occasionally heard it just
before these Sparrows were leaving for the north. This species winters
there in company with the _Z. albicollis_ and _Z. leucophrys_,
associating with the former, and inhabiting brush-heaps in the
clearings.
To Massachusetts, where specimens have been taken in every month of
the year, and where they have been heard to sing in January, they
return in large numbers usually early in March, sometimes even in
February. It is probable that these are but migrants, passing farther
north, and that our summer visitants do not appear among us until the
middle of April, or just as they are about to breed. They reach Maine
from the 15th to the 25th, and breed there the middle of May. In
Massachusetts they do not have eggs until the first week in May,
except in very remarkable seasons, usually not until after the
Bluebird has already hatched out her first brood, and a week later
than the Robin.
The tide of returning emigration begins to set southward early in
October. Collecting in small loose flocks, probably all of each group
members of the same family, they slowly move towards the south. As one
set passes on, another succeeds, until the latter part of November,
when we no longer meet with flocks, but solitary individuals or groups
of two or three. These are usually a larger and stouter race, and
almost suggest a different species. They are often in song even into
December. They apparently do not go far, and are the first to return.
In early March they are in full song, and their notes seem louder,
clearer, and more vibratory than those that come to us and remain to
breed.
The Song Sparrow, as its name implies, is one of our most noted and
conspicuous singers. It is at once our earliest and our latest, as
also our most constant musician. Its song is somewhat brief, but is
repeated at short intervals, almost throughout the days of spring and
early summer. It somewhat resembles the opening notes of the Canary,
and though less resonant and powerful, much surpasses them in
sweetness and expression. Plain and homely as this bird is in its
outward garb, its sweet song and its gentle confiding manners render
it a welcome visitor to every garden, and around every rural home
wherein such attractions can be appreciated. Whenever these birds are
kindly treated they readily make friends, and are attracted to our
doorsteps for the welcome crumbs that are thrown to them; and they
will return, year after year, to the same locality, whenever thus
encouraged.
The song of this Sparrow varies in different individuals, and often
changes, in the same bird, in different parts of the year. It is even
stated by an observing naturalist—Mr. Charles S. Paine, of Randolph,
Vt.—that he has known the same bird to sing, in succession, nine
entirely different sets of notes, usually uttering them one after the
other, in the same order. This was noticed not merely once or during
one season, but through three successive summers. The same bird
returned each season to his grounds, and came each time provided with
the same variety of airs.
Mr. Nuttall, who dwells with much force upon the beauty and
earnestness of expression of the song of this species, has also
noticed and remarked upon the power of individuals to vary their song,
from time to time, with very agreeable effect, but no one has recorded
so remarkable an instance as that thus carefully noted by Mr. Paine.
These birds are found in almost any cultivated locality where the
grounds are sufficiently open. They prefer the edges of open fields,
and those of meadows and low grounds, but are rarely found in woods or
in thick bushes, except near their outer edges. They nest naturally on
the ground, and in such situations a large majority build their nests.
These are usually the younger birds. A portion, almost always birds of
several summers, probably taught by sad experiences of the insecurity
of the ground, build in bushes. A pair which had a nest in an
adjoining field had been robbed, by a cat, of their young when just
about to fly. After much lamentation, and an interval of a week, I
found this same pair, which I easily recognized, building their nest
among some vines near my house, some eight feet from the ground. They
had abandoned my neighbor’s grounds and taken refuge close to my
house. This situation they resorted to afterwards for several
successive summers, each season building two nests, never using the
same nest a second time, although each time it was left as clean and
in as good condition as when first made. Indeed, this species is
remarkable for its cleanliness, both in its own person and in its care
of nestlings and nests.
They feed their young chiefly with insects, especially small
caterpillars; the destructive canker-worm is one of their favorite
articles of food, also the larvæ of insects and the smaller moths.
When crumbs of bread are given them, they are eagerly gathered and
taken to their nests.
In the Middle States they are said to have three broods in a season.
This may also be so in New England, but I have never known one pair to
have more than two broods in the same summer, even when both had been
successfully reared. Nests found after July have always been in cases
where some accident had befallen the preceding brood.
The nest of the Song Sparrow, whether built on ground, bush, or tree,
is always well and thoroughly made. Externally and at the base it
consists of stout stems of grasses, fibrous twigs of plants, and small
sticks and rootlets. These are strongly wrought together. Within is
made a neat, well-woven basket of fine long stems of grasses, rarely
anything else. On the ground they are usually concealed beneath a tuft
of grass; sometimes they make a covered passage-way of several inches,
leading to their nest. When built in a tree or shrub, the top is often
sheltered by the branches or by dry leaves, forming a covering to the
structure.
The eggs of the Song Sparrow are five in number, and have an average
measurement of .82 by .60 of an inch. They have a ground of a
clay-color or dirty white, and are spotted equally over the entire egg
with blotches of a rusty-brown, intermingled with lighter shades of
purple. In some these markings are so numerous and confluent as to
entirely conceal the ground-color; in others they are irregularly
diffused over different parts, leaving patches unmarked. Occasionally
the eggs are unspotted, and are then not unlike those of _Leucosticte
griseinucha_.
Melospiza melodia, var. fallax, BAIRD.
WESTERN SONG SPARROW.
_Zonotrichia fallax_, BAIRD, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, June, 1854, 119
(Pueblo Creek, New Mexico). _? Zonotrichia fasciata_, (GM.)
GAMBEL, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d Series, I, 1847, 49. _Melospiza
fallax_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 481, pl. xxvii, f.
2.—KENNERLY, P. R. R. X, _b._ pl. xxvii, f. 2.—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. I, 215.
SP. CHAR. Similar to var. _melodia_, but with the bill on the whole
rather smaller, more slender, and darker. Legs quite dusky, not
yellow. Entire plumage of a more grayish cast, including the whole
superciliary stripe. The streaks on throat and jugulum in spring are
almost black, as in _melodia_; in autumn more rufous; in all cases
quite as sharply defined as in _melodia_. The bill is nearly black in
spring.
HAB. Middle Province of United States, to the Sierra Nevada.
This race, intermediate between _melodia_ and _heermanni_ in habitat,
is, however, hardly so in characters. The bill is more slender than in
either, being much like that of _guttata_, and the tail is longer in
proportion to the wing. In colors it is paler than either, the
ground-cast above being nearly clear grayish: the streaks, both on the
back and jugulum, are more sparse, as well as narrower; very
frequently, in the winter plumage, those beneath lack the central
black, being wholly rufous; such is the case with the type. In summer,
however, they are frequently entirely black, the external rufous
having entirely disappeared. As in _heermanni_, the rump is
immaculate. The young bird differs as does the adult, though the
resemblance to those of _melodia_ and _heermanni_ is more close than
in the adult. The very narrow bill and long tail are the most
characteristic features of form.
HABITS. In habits and song, Dr. Cooper can find no appreciable
differences between this variety and its nearest allies. He states
that its nest, which he found in a willow thicket, was composed of
bark and fine twigs and grass, and lined with hair. Its eggs he
describes as bluish-white, blotched and streaked with reddish-brown,
and as measuring .74 by .55 of an inch.
Dr. Coues found this species a common and permanent resident in
Arizona, and he pronounces its habits, manners, and voice precisely
like those of _M. melodia_. This species, he states, occurs throughout
New Mexico, Arizona, and a part of Southern California, and is
particularly abundant in the valley of the Colorado.
Dr. Kennerly observed this species only along Pueblo Creek, in the
month of January. It did not confine itself to the open valley, but
was often seen among the thick bushes that margined the creek, far up
into the Aztec Mountains, where the snow covered the ground. In its
habits it resembled the _Poospiza belli_, being very restless and
rapid in its motions, accompanying them with a short chirp, feeding
upon the seeds of the weeds that remained uncovered by the snow. Its
flight was also rapid and near the earth. The bird being very shy, Dr.
Kennerly found it difficult to procure many specimens.
According to Mr. Ridgway, the Western Song Sparrow is one of the most
abundant of the resident species inhabiting the fertile portions of
the Great Basin. It principally occupies the willows along the
streams, but is also found in _tulé_ sloughs of the river valleys.
From a long acquaintance with the Western Song Sparrows, Mr. Ridgway
is fully convinced of the propriety of recognizing this as a distinct
variety from the eastern _M. melodia_. In all respects, as to habits,
especially in its familiarity, it replaces at the West the well-known
Song Sparrow of the East. When first heard, the peculiar measure and
delivery of its song at once attracts attention. The precision of
style and method of utterance are quite distinct and constant
peculiarities. The song, though as pleasing, is not so loud as that of
the eastern Song Sparrow, while the measure is very different. He
noted the syllables of its song, and found them quite uniform. He
expresses the song thus: _Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha—wit’—tur’-r-r-r-r-r—tut_.
The first six syllables as to accent are exactly alike, but with a
considerable interval or pause between the first and second notes. The
second to the fifth follow in rapid succession, each being uttered
with deliberation and distinctness. Then comes a pause between the
last “cha” and the “wit,” which is pronounced in a fine metallic tone
with a rising inflection, then another pause, and a liquid trill with
a falling inflection, the whole terminating abruptly with a very
peculiar “tut,” in an entirely different key from the other notes.
The nests and eggs were found in the Wahsatch Mountains, June 23. The
nests were generally among bushes, in willow thickets, along the
streams, about a foot from the ground. One of these nests found in a
clump of willows, about two feet from the ground and near a stream, is
a compact, firmly built nest, in the shape of an inverted dome. It is
two and a half inches in height, and about the same in diameter.
Externally it is composed of a coarse framework of strips of willow
bark firmly bound around. Within is a compactly woven inner nest,
composed of straws, mingled and interwoven with horse-hairs. The
cavity has a depth and diameter of two inches. The eggs, four in
number, measure .85 by .63 of an inch. Their form is a rounded oval,
distinctly pointed at one end. They have a greenish-white ground,
marked and blotched with splashes of purplish and reddish brown.
Melospiza melodia, var. heermanni, BAIRD.
HEERMANN’S SONG SPARROW.
_Melospiza heermanni_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am., 1858, 478, pl. 70, f.
1.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 212.
SP. CHAR. Somewhat like _melodia_, but darker. The streaks on the back
and under parts blacker, broader, more distinct, and scarcely margined
with reddish, except in winter plumage. The median stripe on vertex
indistinct. General shade of coloration olivaceous-gray rather than
rusty. Length, 6.40; wing, 2.56; tail, 3. Bill and legs in size and
color most like _melodia_.
HAB. Southern California; eastern slope of Sierra Nevada (Carson
City), and West Humboldt Mountains, Nev.; RIDGWAY.
Of the various races of _M. melodia_, this one approaches nearest the
typical style of the Atlantic region; agreeing with it in thicker bill
and shorter tail, as compared with the var. _fallax_, which occurs
between them. It differs from the var. _melodia_, however, in a more
grayish cast to the ground-color of the upper plumage, being
olivaceous-gray, rather than reddish; the black dorsal streaks are
very much broader than the rusty ones, instead of about equal to them
in width, and the edges to the interscapular feathers are not
appreciably paler than the prevailing shade, instead of being hoary
whitish, in strong contrast. In spring the “bridle” on the side of the
throat and the spots on the jugulum have the black of their central
portion in excess of their external rufous suffusion; but in autumn
the rusty rather predominates; at this season, too, the rusty tints
above overspread the whole surface, but the black streaks are left
sharply defined. At all seasons, the spots on the jugulum are broader
and rather more numerous than in _melodia_. The young can scarcely be
distinguished from those of _melodia_, but they have the dark streaks
on the crown and upper tail-coverts considerably broader.
HABITS. The California Song Sparrow has been named in honor of the
late Dr. Heermann, who first obtained specimens of this bird in the
Tejon Valley, and mistook them for the _Zonotrichia guttata_ of Gambel
(_M. rufina_), from which they were appreciably different. Whether a
distinct species or only a local race, this bird takes the place and
is the almost precise counterpart, in most essential respects, of the
Song Sparrow of the East. The exact limits of its distribution, both
in the migratory season and in that of reproduction, have hardly yet
been ascertained. It has been found in California as far north as San
Francisco, and to the south and southeast to San Diego and the Mohave
River.
The California Song Sparrow is the characteristic _Melospiza_ in all
that portion of the State south of San Francisco. It is found, Dr.
Cooper states, in every locality where there are thickets of low
bushes and tall weeds, especially in the vicinity of water, and
wherever unmolested it comes about the gardens and houses with all the
familiarity of the common _melodia_. The ground, under the shade of
plants or bushes, is their usual place of resort. There they
diligently search for their food throughout the day, and rarely fly
more than a few yards from the place, and remain about their chosen
locality from one year’s end to another, being everywhere a resident
species. In the spring they are said to perch occasionally on some low
bush or tree, and sing a lively and pleasant melody for an hour at a
time. Each song, Dr. Cooper remarks, is a complete little stanza of a
dozen notes, and is frequently varied or changed entirely for another
of similar style, but quite distinct. Although no two birds of this
species sing just alike, there is never any difficulty in
distinguishing their songs when once heard. There is, he thinks, a
similarity of tone and style in the songs of all the species of true
_Melospiza_, which has led other observers to consider them as of only
one species, when taken in connection with their other similarities in
colors and habits.
Dr. Cooper found a nest, presumed to belong to this bird, at Santa
Cruz, in June. It was built in a dense blackberry-bush, about three
feet from the ground, constructed with a thick periphery and base of
dry grasses and thin strips of bark, and lined with finer grasses. The
eggs were of a smoky white, densely speckled with a dull brown.
Although this bird was abundant around Santa Cruz, he was only able,
after much searching, to find two of their nests. One was in a willow,
close against the tree, and three feet from the ground, containing, on
the 11th of May, four eggs partially hatched. This was built of coarse
dry stems and leaves, lined with finer grasses and horse-hair. It was
five inches in external diameter, and four high. The cavity was two
and a half inches deep and two in diameter. These eggs had a ground of
greenish-white, and were blotched and spotted with a purplish-brown,
chiefly at the larger end. They were .82 by .62 of an inch in
measurement. The ground-color was paler and the spots were darker than
in eggs of _Z. gambeli_, the whole coloring much darker than in those
of _M. fallax_. This nest was apparently an old one used for a second
brood.
Another nest found as late as July 10, and doubtless a second brood,
was in a thicket, six feet from the ground, and also contained four
eggs. Dr. Cooper states that he has seen the newly fledged young by
the 7th of May.
Dr. Heermann, in his account of this bird, which he supposed to be the
_guttata_ of Dr. Gambel, states that he found it abundant throughout
the whole country over which he passed, and more especially so in the
bushes bordering the streams, ponds, and marshes. Its notes, sweet,
and few in number, resembled those of the common Song Sparrow. Its
nests, usually built in thick tufts of bushes, were composed
externally of grasses and lined with hair, and contained each four
eggs, with a pale bluish-ash ground, thickly covered with dashes of
burnt umber. Eggs of this species, from near Monterey, collected by
Dr. Canfield, vary in measurement from .85 by .65 of an inch to .88 by
.70,—larger than any eggs of _Melospiza melodia_ that I have seen.
Their ground-color is a light green. The blotches are large, distinct,
and more or less confluent, and of a blended reddish and purplish
brown. They are in some diffused over the entire egg, in others
disposed around the larger end.
Melospiza melodia, var. samuelis, BAIRD.
SAMUELS’S SONG SPARROW.
_Ammodromus samuelis_, BAIRD, Pr. Boston Soc. N. H. VI, June, 1858,
381.—IB. Birds N. Am. 1858, 455, pl. lxxi, f. 1.—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. I, 191. _Melospiza gouldi_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 479.
SP. CHAR. Somewhat like _Melospiza melodia_, but considerably smaller
and darker. Bill slender and acute, the depth not more than half the
culmen. Above streaked on the head, back, and rump with dark brown,
the borders of the feathers paler, but without any rufous. Beneath
pure white; the breast, with sides of throat and body, spotted and
streaked with black, apparently farther back than on other species.
Wings above nearly uniform dark brownish-rufous. Under tail-coverts
yellowish-brown, conspicuously blotched with blackish. An ashy
superciliary stripe, becoming nearly white to the bill, and a whitish
maxillary one below which is a broad blackish stripe along the sides
of neck; the crown with faint grayish median line. Length, 5 inches;
wing, 2.20; tail, 2.35. Bill dusky; legs rather pale. Bill, .35 from
nostril by .24 deep; tarsus, .71; middle toe without claw, .58. (5,553
♂, Petaluma, Cal.)
HAB. Coast region of California, near San Francisco.
The above description is of a specimen in worn summer plumage, when
the markings have not the sharp definition seen in the autumnal
plumage. The autumnal plumage is as follows: Ground-color above
grayish-olive, outer surface of wings, with the crown, more rufous;
crown with narrow, and dorsal region with broad, stripes of black, the
latter with scarcely a perceptible rufous suffusion; crown with a
distinct median stripe of ashy. Streaks on jugulum, etc., broader than
in the type, and with a slight rufous suffusion. Wing, 2.20; tail,
2.35; bill from nostril .31, its depth .22; tarsus .74; middle toe
without claw, .60.
The type of _Melospiza gouldi_ resembles the last, and differs only in
having a more distinct rufous suffusion to the black markings; the
measurements are as follows: Wing, 2.20; tail, 2.35; bill, .33 by .23;
tarsus, .73; middle toe without claw, .59.
This is probably a dwarfed race of the common species, the very small
size being its chief distinctive character. The colors are most nearly
like those of _heermanni_, but are considerably darker, caused by an
expansion of the black and contraction of the rufous markings. The
pattern of coloration is precisely the same as in the other races. The
present bird appears to be peculiar to the coast region of California,
the only specimens in the collection being from the neighborhood of
San Francisco.
HABITS. Of the history, distribution, and general habits of this
species, nothing is known. It was found at Petaluma, Cal., by Emanuel
Samuels, and described in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of
Natural History in 1858. The following description of the nest and
eggs of this bird, in the Smithsonian collection, has been kindly
furnished me by Mr. Ridgway.
Nests elaborate and symmetrical, cup-shaped, composed of thin
grass-stems, but externally chiefly of grass-blades and strips of thin
inner bark. Diameter about 3.50 inches; internal diameter 2.00, and
internal depth 1.50; external, 2.00. Egg measures .78 by .62;
regularly ovate in shape; ground-color, greenish-white; this is
thickly sprinkled with purplish and livid ashy-brown, the specks
larger, and somewhat coalescent, around the larger circumference.
(3553, San Francisco, Cal., J. Hepburn.)
Melospiza melodia, var. guttata, BAIRD.
OREGON SONG SPARROW.
_Fringilla cinerea_, (GM.) AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 22, pl.
cccxc.—IB. Syn. 1839, 119.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 145, pl.
clxxxvii. _Passerella cinerea_, BP. List, 1839.—IB.
Conspectus, 1850, 477. _Fringilla (Passerella) guttata_,
NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 581. _Zonotrichia guttata_,
GAMBEL, J. A. N. Sc. I, Dec. 1847, 50. _Melospiza rufina_,
BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 480.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 204.—DALL &
BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1859, 285.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 214.
SP. CHAR. Bill slender. Similar in general appearance to _M. melodia_,
but darker and much more rufous, and without any blackish-brown
streaks, or grayish edges of the feathers; generally the colors more
blended. General appearance above light rufous-brown, the
interscapular region streaked very obsoletely with dark
brownish-rufous, the feathers of the crown similar, with still darker
obsolete central streaks. A superciliary and very indistinct median
crown-stripe ashy. Under parts dull white, the breast and sides of
throat and body broadly streaked with dark brownish-rufous; darker in
the centre. A light maxillary stripe. Sides of the body and anal
region tinged strongly with the colors of the rump. Under coverts
brown. Length, 6.75; wing, 2.70; tail, 3.00. Legs rather darker than
in _melodia_. Bill from nostril, .37; from forehead, .60.
HAB. Pacific coast of the United States to British Columbia.
A young bird from Napa Valley, Cal. (12,912, Colonel A. J. Grayson),
probably referrible to this race, differs from the corresponding stage
of _heermanni_, _fallax_, and _melodia_ in the following respects: the
ground-color above is much darker, being dull dingy-brown, and the
dusky streaks broader; the white beneath has a strong yellowish tinge,
and the pectoral streaks are very broad.
HABITS. Dr. Cooper characterizes this species as the most northern and
mountain-frequenting representative of the Song Sparrows, being a
resident of the higher Sierra Nevada and on the borders of the
evergreen forests towards the Columbia, and thence northward, where it
is the only species of this genus, and where it is common down to the
level of the sea. Specimens have been obtained at Marysville in the
spring, by Mr. Gruber.
Dr. Cooper says that he has also met with this bird, and found it
possessing habits and songs entirely similar to those of the eastern
_M. melodia_, and resembling also those of the more southern _M.
heermanni_. He was never able to meet with one of their nests, as,
like other forest birds, they are more artful in concealing their
treasures than birds that have become accustomed to the society and
protection of man, and who, no longer wild, select gardens as the
safest places in which to build. In the mild winters usual about the
mouth of the Columbia, these birds do not evince any disposition to
emigrate, but come familiarly around the houses for their food, when
the snow has buried their usual supply.
Dr. Suckley remarks that this Finch is quite a common bird in the
vicinity of Puget Sound, and that it is there resident throughout the
year. He has found them in very different situations; some in thickets
at the edges of prairies, others in stranded drift-logs on open salt
marshes, as well as in swamps, and in the dense forests of the
Douglass firs, peculiar to the northwest coast. Its voice, he adds,
is, during the breeding-season, singularly sweet and melodious,
surpassing that of the Meadow Lark in melody and tone, but unequal to
it in force.
This species is stated to be a constant resident in the district
wherein it is found, never ranging far from the thicket which contains
its nest, or the house in the neighborhood of which it finds food and
protection. Almost every winter morning, as well as during the summer,
as Dr. Cooper states, its cheerful song may be heard from the garden
or the fence, as if to repay those whose presence has protected it
from its rapacious enemies. When unmolested, it becomes very familiar,
and the old birds bring their young to the door to feed, as soon as
they can leave their nest. Their song is said to so closely resemble
that of the eastern bird, in melody and variety, that it is impossible
either to tell which is the superior or to point out the differences.
In wild districts it is always to be found near the sides of brooks,
in thickets, from which it jealously drives off other birds, whether
of its own or other species, as if it considered itself the
proprietor. Its nest is built on the ground or in a low bush. Dr.
Cooper has seen newly fledged young as early as May 6, at Olympia,
though the rainy season was then hardly over.
Mr. Nuttall pronounces its song as sweeter and more varied in tone
than that of the Song Sparrow. He heard their cheerful notes
throughout the summer, and every fine day in winter until the month of
November, particularly in the morning, their song was still continued.
Their nests and eggs were not distinguishable from those of _F.
melodia_. The nests were composed of dry grasses, lined with finer
materials of the same, and occasionally with deer’s hair. He states
that they keep much in low ground and alluvial situations, amidst rank
weeds, willows, and brambles, where they are frequently to be seen
hopping about and searching after insects, in the manner of the Swamp
Sparrow, which they so much resemble in their plumage. They are
usually very solicitous for the safety of their young or for their
nests and eggs, keeping up an incessant chirp. They raise several
broods in a season, and are, like the Song Sparrow, also engaged
nearly the whole of the summer in the cares of rearing their young.
Mr. Townsend met with this species through several hundred miles of
the Platte country in great numbers, as well as on the banks of the
Columbia, generally frequenting the low bushes of wormwood
(_Artemisia_). It appeared also to be a very pugnacious species. Two
of the males were often observed fighting in the air, the beaten party
going off crestfallen, and the conqueror repairing to the nearest bush
to celebrate his triumph by his lively and triumphant strains. He
again met with these birds, though not in abundance, in June, 1825, at
the mouth of the Lewis River, on the waters of the Columbia.
This Sparrow was also found very numerous at Sitka, by Mr. Bischoff,
but no mention is made of its habits.
Melospiza melodia, var. rufina, BAIRD.
RUSTY SONG SPARROW.
_Emberiza rufina_, “BRANDT, Desc. Av. Rossic. 1836, tab. ii, 5
(Sitka),” BONAPARTE. _Passerella rufina_, BONAP. Consp. 1850,
477. (This may refer to _Passerella townsendi_, but is more
probably the present bird.) _Melospiza cinerea_, FINSCH, Abh.
Nat. III, 1872, 41 (Sitka). (Not _Fringilla c._ GMEL.) _M.
guttata_, FINSCH, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 41 (Sitka). (Not
_Fringilla g._ NUTT.)
SP. CHAR. Resembling _M. guttata_ in the undefined markings, slender
bill, etc., but olivaceous-brownish instead of rufous above, the
darker markings sepia-brown instead of castaneous. The white beneath
much tinged with ashy; jugulum-spots blended, and of a sepia-brown
tint. Wing, 3.00; tail, 3.00; bill .41 from nostril, and .25 deep at
base.
HAB. Northwest coast, from British Columbia northward. (Sitka.)
The above characters are those of a large series of specimens from
Sitka, and a few points along the coast to the southward and
northward, and represent the average features of a race which is
intermediate between _guttata_ and _insignis_, in appearance as well
as in habitat. Tracing this variety toward the Columbia River, it
gradually passes into the former, and northward into the latter.
We have no distinctive information relative to the habits of this race.
Melospiza melodia, var. insignis, BAIRD.
KODIAK SONG SPARROW.
_? Fringilla cinerea_, GMELIN, I, 1788, 922 (based on Cinereous
Finch, LATH. II, 274).—PENN. Arc. Zoöl. II, 68 (Unalaschka).
_Emberiza cinerea_, BONAP. Consp. 1850, 478. _Melospiza
insignis_, BAIRD, Trans. Chicago Acad. I, ii, 1869, p. 319, pl.
xxix, fig. 2.—DALL & BANNISTER, do. p. 285.—FINSCH, Abh. Nat.
III, 1872, 44 (Kodiak).
SP. CHAR. _Summer plumage_ (52,477 ♂, Kodiak, May 24, 1868). Above
brownish-plumbeous, outer surface of wings somewhat more brown, the
greater coverts slightly rufescent. Interscapulars with medial broad
but obsolete streaks of sepia-brown; crown and upper tail-coverts with
more sharply defined and narrower dusky shaft-streaks. Crown without
medial light line. Beneath grayish-white, much obscured by
brownish-plumbeous laterally. A whitish supraloral space, but no
appreciable superciliary stripe; a whitish maxillary stripe; beneath
it an irregular one of dusky sepia; irregular streaks of dark
grizzly-sepia on breast and along sides, blended into a broad crescent
across the jugulum. Wing, 3.30; tail, 3.50; bill, .48 from nostril,
.28 deep at base, and .21 in the middle, the middle of the culmen
being much depressed, its extremity rather abruptly decurved.
_Autumnal plumage_ (60,162, Kodiak, received from Dr. J. F. Brandt).
Differs very remarkably in appearance from the preceding. The pattern
of coloration is everywhere plainly plotted, there being a distinct
vertical and sharply defined superciliary stripe. Ground-color above
ashy, somewhat overlaid by rusty, except on the sides of the neck.
Whole crown, outer surface of wings, and dorsal streaks, rusty rufous;
black streaks on crown and upper tail-coverts obsolete. Beneath pure
white medially, the markings rusty rufous. Wing, 3.30; tail, 3.60;
bill, .47 and .30.
HAB. Kodiak and Unalaschka.
This race represents the extreme extent of variation in the species,
and it would be difficult for a species to proceed farther from the
normal standard; indeed, the present bird is so different even in
form, especially of bill, from _melodia_, that, were it not for the
perfect series connecting them, few naturalists would hesitate to
place them in different genera.
HABITS. No information has so far been published in reference to the
nesting of this Sparrow, or of any peculiar habits.
Melospiza lincolni, BAIRD.
LINCOLN’S FINCH.
_Fringilla lincolni_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 539, pl.
cxciii.—NUTT. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 569. _Linaria lincolni_,
RICH. List, 1837. _Passerculus lincolni_, BONAP. List, 1838.
_Peucæa lincolni_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 113.—IB. Birds Am.
III, 1841, 116, pl. clxxvii.—BONAP. Consp. 1850, 481.—IB.
Comptes Rendus, XXVII, 1854, 920. _Melospiza lincolni_, BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 482.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869,
285 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 216. _Passerculus
zonarius_, (BP.) SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1856, 305.
SP. CHAR. General aspect above that of _M. melodia_, but paler and
less reddish. Crown dull chestnut, with a median and lateral or
superciliary ash-colored stripe; each feather above streaked centrally
with black. Back with narrow streaks of black. Beneath white, with a
maxillary stripe curving round behind the ear-coverts; a well-defined
band across the breast, extending down the sides, and the under
tail-coverts, of brownish-yellow. The maxillary stripe margined above
and below with lines of black spots and a dusky line behind eye. The
throat, upper part of breast, and sides of the body, with streaks of
black, smallest in the middle of the former. The pectoral bands are
sometimes paler. Bill above dusky; base of lower jaw and legs
yellowish. Length, 5.60; wing, 2.60.
HAB. United States from Atlantic to Pacific, north to the Yukon River
and the Mackenzie, and south through Mexico to Panama. Oaxaca (SCL.
1858, 303); Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 365); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 18);
Vera Cruz, winter (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552).
There is little or no difference in specimens of this bird from the
whole of its range, except that one from near Aspinwall is
considerably smaller than usual, the streaks on the back narrower, and
the color above more reddish. A young bird from Fort Simpson, on the
Mackenzie, is much like the adult.
HABITS. Lincoln’s Finch was first met with by Mr. Audubon in Labrador,
and named in honor of one of his companions, Mr. Thomas Lincoln, now
residing at Dennysville, Maine, by whom the first specimen was
procured. His attention was attracted to it by the sweet notes of its
song, which, he states, surpass in vigor those of any of our American
Sparrows with which he was acquainted. He describes this song as a
compound of the notes of a Canary and a Woodlark of Europe. The bird
was unusually wild, and was procured with great difficulty. Other
specimens, afterwards obtained, did not exhibit the same degree of
wildness, and they became more common as the party proceeded farther
north. He did not meet with its nest.
He describes the habits of this species as resembling, in some
respects, those of the Song Sparrow. It mounts, like that bird, on the
topmost twig of some tall shrub to chant for whole hours at a time, or
dives into the thickets and hops from branch to branch until it
reaches the ground in search of those insects or berries on which it
feeds. It moves swiftly away when it discovers an enemy, and, if
forced to take to flight, flies low and rapidly to a considerable
distance, jerking its tail as it proceeds, and throwing itself into
the thickest bush it meets. Mr. Audubon found it mostly near streams,
and always in the small valleys guarded from the prevalent cold winds
of that country.
He also describes this species as eminently petulant and pugnacious.
Two males would often pursue each other until the weaker was forced to
abandon the valley, and seek refuge elsewhere. He seldom saw more than
two or three pairs in a tract of several miles in extent. By the 4th
of July the young had left their nests and were following their
parents. As from that time the old birds ceased to sing, he inferred
that they raised but one brood in a season. Before he left Labrador
these birds had all disappeared.
Although first discovered on the coast of Labrador, subsequent
explorations have shown this bird to be far more common at the West
than it is at the East, where indeed it is exceedingly rare. Not a
specimen, that I am aware of, has ever been found in Maine, although
it probably does occasionally occur there; and only a very few
isolated individuals had been taken in Massachusetts before the spring
of 1872, when they were noticed by Mr. Brewster and Mr. Henshaw in
considerable numbers. These birds, seven or eight in number, were
shot, with two exceptions, in May, between the 14th and the 25th.
Three were taken in Springfield by Mr. Allen, one in Newburyport by
Mr. Hoxie, two in Hudson by Mr. Jillson, and two in Cambridge by Mr.
Brewster. The latter were obtained, one in September and the other in
October. In May, 1872, Mr. Brewster obtained six others. Mr. Allen had
met with this Finch in Wayne County, N. Y., in May, where it was not
uncommon, and in Northern Illinois, where it was quite numerous. A few
have been taken near New York City, and in the neighborhood of
Philadelphia, where they are regarded as very rare. Professor Baird,
however, frequently met with them at Carlisle, Penn.
Farther west, from the Mississippi Valley to the Pacific, they are
much more common. Mr. Ridgway states that they occasionally winter in
Southern Illinois, where they frequent retired thickets near open
fields. They have been found breeding near Racine, Wis., by Dr. Hoy,
and have been met with also in Nebraska in considerable numbers; and,
during the breeding-season, Mr. Audubon met with them on the Upper
Missouri.
From March to May Mr. Dresser found these birds very abundant in the
fields near the San Antonio River, and in some swampy grounds. They
seemed to prefer that sort of locality, and the banks of the river,
keeping among the flags and rushes. Their stomachs were found to
contain small seeds. Mr. Lincecum also met with a few in Washington
County of the same State.
It was not met with in Arizona by Dr. Coues, but Dr. Kennerly found it
in the month of February from the Big Sandy to the Great Colorado
River. It confined itself to the thick bushes along the streams, and
when seen was generally busily hopping from twig to twig in search of
food. When started up, its flight was very rapid and near the earth.
Dr. Heermann obtained this species, not unfrequently, both in Northern
California and in the Tejon Valley. On all occasions he found it in
company with flocks of Sparrows, composed of several species.
Lieutenant Couch took this species at Tamaulipas, Mexico, and at
Brownsville, Southwestern Texas, in March. It has also been seen in
May, at the Forks of the Saskatchewan, by Captain Blakiston.
Lincoln’s Finch was met with by Mr. Ridgway in abundance only during
its spring and fall migrations. Towards the last of April it was quite
common in wet brushy places in the vicinity of Carson City. It was
next observed in October among the willows bordering Deep Creek, in
Northern Utah. In the weedy pastures in Parley’s Park it was a common
species, frequenting the resorts of the _Z. leucophrys_. A nest, with
young, was discovered near the camp. It was embedded in the ground,
beneath a bush. Its song he did not hear, only a single _chuck_,
almost as loud as that of the _Passerella schistacea_.
Dr. Cooper reports this species as near San Diego about March 25.
Large flocks were then passing northward. During the day they kept
among the grass, and were rather shy and silent. They seemed to have a
good deal of the habits of the _Passerculus_, and to differ much in
their gregariousness, their migratory habits, and their general form,
from the other _Melospizæ_. Dr. Cooper did not meet with any of these
birds in the Colorado Valley, nor has he seen or heard of any having
been found in California during the summer. The _M. lincolni_ has been
found breeding up to high Arctic latitudes. It was met with by Mr.
Kennicott at Fort Simpson and at Fort Resolution. At the latter place
its nests were found between the 2d and the 14th of June. They were
also obtained in May, June, and July, at Fort Simpson, by Mr. B. R.
Ross, and at Yukon River, Fort Rae, Nulato, and other localities in
the extreme northern regions, by Messrs. Reid, Lockhart, Clarke,
Kirkby, and Dall. On Mt. Lincoln, Colorado, above eight thousand feet,
Mr. Allen found this Sparrow very numerous.
This Finch was found by Salvin about the reeds on the margin of Lake
Dueñas, Guatemala, in February, but was not common. It is common, in
the winter months, near Oaxaca, Mexico, where it was taken by Mr.
Boucard.
Mr. Kennicott saw its nest June 14. This was on the ground, built in a
bunch of grass in rather an open and dry place, and containing five
eggs. The female permitted him to approach very close to her, until he
finally caught her on the nest with his beating-net. Another nest was
placed in a bunch of grass growing in the water of a small grassy
pond. The nest contained four eggs and one young bird.
The nest and eggs of this species had been previously discovered by
Dr. Hoy, near Racine. This is, I believe, the first instance in which
it was identified by a naturalist, as also the most southern point at
which it has ever been found. These eggs measure .74 by .60 of an
inch. They have a pale greenish-white ground, and are thickly marked
with dots and small blotches of a ferruginous-brown, often so numerous
and confluent as to disguise and partially conceal the ground.
Melospiza palustris, BAIRD.
SWAMP SPARROW.
_Fringilla palustris_, WILSON, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 49, pl. xxii, f.
1.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 331; V, 508, pl. lxiv. _Fringilla
(Spiza) palustris_, BONAP. Obs. Wilson, 1825, No. 105.
_Passerculus palustris_, BONAP. List, 1838.—IB. Conspectus,
1850, 481. _Ammodromus palustris_, AUD. Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds
Am. III, 1841, 110, pl. clxxv. _Melospiza palustris_, BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 483.—SAMUELS, 323. _? Fringilla georgiana_,
LATH. Index Orn. I, 1790, 460 (perhaps _Peucæa
æstivalis_).—LICHT. Verz. 1823, No. 251. _Fringilla
(Ammodromus) georgiana_, NUTT. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 588.
SP. CHAR. Middle of the crown uniform chestnut; forehead black;
superciliary streak, sides of head and back, and sides of neck, ash. A
brown stripe behind the eye. Back with broad streaks of black, which
are edged with rusty yellow. Beneath whitish, tinged with ashy
anteriorly, especially across the breast, and washed with
yellowish-brown on the sides. A few obsolete streaks across the
breast, which become distinct on its sides. Wings and tail strongly
tinged with rufous; the tertials black, the rufous edgings changing
abruptly to white towards the end. Length, 5.75; wing, 2.40.
_Female_ with the crown scarcely reddish streaked with black, and
divided by a light line. Young conspicuously streaked beneath the
head, above nearly uniform blackish.
HAB. Eastern North America from the Atlantic to the Missouri; north to
Fort Simpson.
In autumn the male of this species has the feathers of the crown each
with a black streak; and the centre of the crown with an indistinct
light stripe, materially changing its appearance.
The forehead is usually more or less streaked with black.
In the uncertainty whether the _Fringilla georgiana_ of Latham be not
rather the _Peucæa æstivalis_ than the Swamp Sparrow, I think it best
to retain Wilson’s name. It certainly applies as well to the latter,
which has the black sub-maxillary streak, and the chin and throat more
mouse-colored than in _palustris_.
HABITS. Owing to the residence of this species in localities not
favoring frequent visits or careful explorations, and still more to
its shy and retiring habits, our writers have not been generally well
informed as to the history and general manners of this peculiar and
interesting Sparrow. Its irregular distribution, its abundance only in
certain and unusually restricted localities, its entire absence from
all the surrounding neighborhood, and its secretiveness wherever
found, have all combined to throw doubt and obscurity over its
movements. Unless purposely looked for and perseveringly hunted up,
the Swamp Sparrow might exist in large numbers in one’s immediate
neighborhood and yet entirely escape notice. Even now its whole story
is but imperfectly known, and more careful investigation into its
distribution and general habits will doubtless clear up several
obscure points in regard to its movements.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVIII.
1. Melospiza palustris. ♂ D. C., 38746.
2. ” ” ♀ Pa.
3. Embernagra rufivirgata. Orizaba, 29229.
4. Peucæa æstivalis. Ga., 10245.
5. ” cassini. Texas, 6329.
6. ” ruficeps. Cal., 6241.
7. Passerella iliaca. _Ad._, Pa., 846.
8. ” townsendi. ♀ Columbia R., 2874.
9. ” schistacea. Utah, 11234.
10. ” ” var. megarhyncha. ♂ Utah.
11. Euspiza americana. ♂ Pa., 1459.
12. ” ” ♀ D. C., 10133.
13. ” 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 the wintry 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 single _cheep_
uttered 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 the
_socialis_, 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, it mounts 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 the _Tringidæ_, 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, breeding there 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 of _M. 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.
GENUS PEUCÆA, AUDUBON.
_Peucæa_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839. (Type, _Fringilla æstivalis_.)
SCLATER & SALVIN, 1868, 322 (Synopsis.)
[Line drawing: _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
in _Melospiza_). 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 with distinct 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).
[7] _Zonotrichia boucardi_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1867, 1, pl.
i, La Puebla, Mex. (scarcely definable as distinct from
_ruficeps_).
[8] _Peucæa botterii_, SCLATER, Cat. Am. B. 1862, 116
(_Zonotrichia b._ P. Z. S. 1857, 214), Orizaba.
_Coturniculus mexicana_, LAWR. Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VIII, 1867,
474 (Colima).
This form can scarcely be defined separately from
_æstivalis_. The type of _C. mexicanus_, LAWR., is
undistinguishable from Orizaba specimens. A specimen in the
worn summer plumage (44,752♀, Mirador, July) differs in
having the streaks above almost wholly black, with scarcely
any rufous edge; the crown is almost uniformly blackish. The
feathers are very much worn, however, and the specimen is
without doubt referrible to _botteri_.
The _Peucæa notosticta_ of SCLATER (P. Z. S. 1868, 322) we
have not seen; it appears to differ in some important
respects from the forms diagnosed above, and may, possibly,
be a good species. Its place in our system appears to be
with section “A,” but it differs from _ruficeps_ and
_boucardi_ in the median stripe on the crown, and the black
streaks in the rufous of the lateral portion, the blacker
streaks of the dorsal region, and some other less important
points of coloration. The size appears to be larger than in
any of the forms given in our synopsis (wing, 2.70; tail,
3.00). _Hab._ States of Puebla and Mexico, Mex.
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 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 (Wabash Co., 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 nests and 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, has recently 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 syllables _thééééééé-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 æstivalis var. 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 to _P. æstivalis_, but paler; wings and tail
longer. Above light chestnut, all the feathers margined and tipped
with bluish-gray, but the reddish prevailing. Interscapular and crown
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 to _P. 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 of
_æstivalis_ than do the colors, the bill being more slender, and the
wings and tail considerably longer.
The resemblance to _P. 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 in
var. _æstivalis_. In _botterii_ there 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 variety _æstivalis_.
Peucæa cassini, BAIRD.
CASSIN’S SPARROW.
_Zonotrichia cassini_, WOODHOUSE, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VI, April, 1852,
60 (San Antonio). _Passerculus cassini_, WOODHOUSE,
Sitgreaves’s Rep. 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 from Cal.).
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
blended streaks 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 on p. 637 of
the present work as _æstivalis_, var. _arizonæ_, was referred to _P.
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 to
_æstivalis_, as noted in the article referred to above, the general
acceptation of the name _cassini_ has 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 to _æstivalis_. 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 of _æstivalis_, in
this way connecting the South Atlantic and Mexican races (var.
_æstivalis_ and var. _botterii_) by a more similar form than the _P.
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 the _P. cassini_ specimens 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 of _æstivalis_. Secondly,
the region to be filled by a peculiar race of _æstivalis_ is
represented by the var. _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 of _æstivalis_
than is _ruficeps_; 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 to _æstivalis_.
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 for
_Passerculus 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 his
attention 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.
The _Peucæa cassini_ is 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 of _P. æstivalis_ (var. _botterii_), and not the present
species.
Mr. J. A. Allen, who considers this bird only a western form of _P.
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 him _Peucæa
cassini_, collected in Texas.”
Mr. Ridgway regards this record of the manners of this bird, while
singing, as indicating a specific difference from _P. 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 common _Spizella
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 the _Poospiza 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 the _bilineata_.
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 of _P. 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 in _Spizella 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 the _P. 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.
The _P. boucardi_ of Sclater (= _ruficeps_, var. _boucardi_; see
table, p. 634), from Mexico, is exceedingly similar, it being very
difficult to present the differences in 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 the _Cyanospizæ_. They
flew only a short distance, and in their habits reminded him of the
_Melospizæ_. 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 the
_Ammodrami_. They are abundant, and breed there, as in the United
States, but nothing is given throwing any positive light upon their
general habits.
GENUS EMBERNAGRA, 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 the _Spizinæ_.
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. Comptes Rend. 43, 1856, 413.
[Line drawing: _Embernagra rufivirgata_, Lawr.
29229 ♀]
SP. CHAR. Above uniform olivaceous-green. A stripe on each side of the
head, and one behind the eye, dull brownish-rufous, an ashy
superciliary stripe whiter anteriorly. Under parts brownish-white,
tinged with yellowish posteriorly, and with olivaceous on the sides;
white in the middle of the belly. Edge of wing, under coverts, and
axillaries bright yellow. Young with the head-stripes obsolete.
Length, 5.50; wing, 2.60; tail, 2.70.
HAB. Valley of the Rio Grande, and probably of Gila, southward;
Mazatlan, Mexico. Oaxaca, April (SCL. 1859, 380); Cordova; Vera Cruz,
temperate and hot regions, breeding (SUM. M. B. S. I, 551); Yucatan
(LAWR. IX, 201).
In this species the bill is rather long; the wings are very short, and
much rounded; the tertials equal to the primaries; the secondaries
rather shorter; the first quill is .65 of an inch shorter than the
seventh, which is longest. The tail is short; the lateral feathers
much graduated; the outer half an inch shorter than the middle.
All the Mexican specimens before us have the bill stouter than those
from the Rio Grande of Texas, the stripes on the head apparently
better defined. The back is darker olive; the flanks brighter
olive-green, not olive-gray, the wings are apparently shorter. The
series is not sufficiently perfect to show other differences, if any
exist.
[Illustration: _Embernagra rufivirgata._]
HABITS. In regard to the habits and distribution of this species we
are entirely without any information, other than that it has been met
with in the valley of the Rio Grande, and at various places in Mexico.
Specimens were obtained at New Leon, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch, and
at Ringgold Barracks, in Texas, by Mr. J. H. Clark. The season when
these birds were met with is not indicated by him.
It is stated by Mr. Sumichrast that this species is found throughout
both the temperate and the hot districts of the State of Vera Cruz,
Mexico. He also mentions that he has found this bird in localities
quite remote from each other, and belonging both to the hot and to the
temperate regions. In the latter it is found to the height of at least
four thousand feet.
This species was met with by Mr. Boucard, during the winter months, at
Plaza Vicente, in the hot lowlands of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.
SUBFAMILY PASSERELLINÆ.
CHAR. Toes and claws very stout; the lateral claws reaching beyond the
middle of the middle one; all very slightly curved.
[Line drawing: _Passerella iliaca_.
846]
Bill conical, the outlines straight; both mandibles equal; wings long,
longer than the even tail or slightly rounded, reaching nearly to the
middle of its exposed portion. Hind claw longer than its digit; the
toe nearly as long as the middle toe; tarsus longer than the middle
toe. Brown above, either uniformly so or faintly streaked; triangular
spots below.
This section embraces a single North American genus, chiefly
characterized by the remarkable elongation of the lateral claws, as
well as by the peculiar shape and large size of all the claws; the
lateral, especially, are so much lengthened as to extend nearly as far
as the middle. The only approach to this, as far as I recollect, among
United States _Conirostres_, is in _Pipilo megalonyx_, and
_Xanthocephalus icterocephalus_.
GENUS PASSERELLA, SWAINSON.
_Passerella_, SWAINSON, Class. Birds, II, 1837, 288. (Type,
_Fringilla iliaca_, MERREM.)
GEN. CHAR. Body stout. Bill conical, not notched, the outlines
straight; the two jaws of equal depth; roof of upper mandible deeply
excavated, and vaulted; not knobbed. Tarsus scarcely longer than the
middle toe; outer toe little longer than the inner, its claw reaching
to the middle of the central one. Hind toe about equal to the inner
lateral; the claws all long, and moderately curved only; the posterior
rather longer than the middle, and equal to its toe. Wings long,
pointed, reaching to the middle of the tail; the tertials scarcely
longer than secondaries; second and third quills longest; first equal
to the fifth. Tail very nearly even, scarcely longer than the wing.
Inner claw contained scarcely one and a half times in its toe proper.
_Color._ Rufous or slaty; obsoletely streaked or uniform above;
thickly spotted with triangular blotches beneath.
Species and Varieties.
COMMON CHARACTERS. Ground-color above, slaty-ash, or sepia; wings,
upper tail-coverts, and tail more rufescent. Beneath, pure white, with
numerous triangular spots over breast and throat, streaks along sides,
and a triangular blotch on side of throat, of the same color as the
wings. The pectoral spots aggregated on the middle of the breast.
A. Hind claw not longer than its digit. Back with broad
streaks of dark rufous.
1. P. iliaca. Ground-color above ash (more or less
overlaid in winter with a rufous wash); wings, dorsal
spots, upper tail-coverts, tail, auriculars, and
markings of lower parts, bright reddish-rufous. Wing,
3.50; tail, 2.90; tarsus, .87; middle toe, without claw,
.67; hind claw, .35. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North
America.
B. Hind claw much longer than its digit. Back without
streaks.
2. P. townsendi.
Head and neck above with back, scapulars, and rump,
rich sepia-brown, almost uniform with wings and tail.
Belly thickly spotted; tibiæ deep brown; supraloral
space not whitish. Wing, 3.05; tail, 2.85; tarsus,
.80; middle toe, .62; hind claw, .43. _Hab._ Pacific
Province of North America, from Kodiak south to Fort
Tejon, Cal. (in winter) var. _townsendi_.
Head and neck above, with back, scapulars, and rump,
slaty-ash, in strong contrast with the rufescent-brown
of wings and tail. Belly with only minute specks, or
immaculate; tibiæ grayish; supraloral space distinctly
white. Spots beneath clove-brown.
Bill, .34 from nostril, by .25 deep at base; wing,
3.30; tail, 3.50; tarsus, .85; middle toe, .60; hind
claw, .45. _Hab._ Middle Province of United States
var. _schistacea_.
Bill, .35 from nostril and .47 deep; wing, 3.30;
tail, 3.50; tarsus, .83; middle toe, .63; hind claw,
.50. _Hab._ Sierra Nevada, from Fort Tejon, north to
Carson City, Nev. var. _megarhynchus_.
No great violence would be done by considering all the above forms as
races of one species, the characters separating _iliaca_ from the rest
being of no great importance. However, in the large series examined,
there is no specimen of _iliaca_ at all aberrant, and none approach in
the slightest degree to any of the other forms. There can be no doubt
whatever of the specific identity of the three forms presented under
section “B,” as is plainly shown by specimens of intermediate
characters. These western forms are parallels of the western race of
_Melospiza_; _schistacea_ representing _M. fallax_, _megarhynchus_ the
_M. heermanni_, and _townsendi_ the _M. guttata_ or _rufina_.
Passerella iliaca, SWAINSON.
FOX-COLORED SPARROW.
_Fringilla iliaca_, MERREM. “Beitr. zur besond. Gesch. der Vögel,
II, 1786-87, 40, pl. x.”—GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 923.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 58; V, 512, pl. cviii.—IB. Syn.
1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 139, pl. clxxxvi. _Passerella
iliaca_, SW. Birds, II, 1837, 288.—BON. List, 1838.—IB.
Conspectus, 1850, 477.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 488.—DALL &
BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285.—SAMUELS, 325. _Fringilla
rufa_, WILSON, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 53, pl. xxiv, f. 4.—LICHT.
Verz. 1823, No. 248. _Fringilla ferruginea_, WILSON, Catalogue,
VI, 1812.—Hall’s ed. WILSON, II, 255. “_Emberiza pratensis_,
VIEILL.,” GRAY.
[Illustration: _Passerella townsendi._]
SP. CHAR. General aspect of upper parts foxy-red, the ground-color and
the sides of neck being ashy; the interscapular feathers each with a
large blotch of fox-red; this color glossing the top of head and nape;
sometimes faintly, sometimes more distinctly; the rump unmarked; the
upper coverts and surface of the tail continuous fox-red. Two narrow
white bands on the wing. Beneath, with under tail-coverts and
axillars, clear white, the sides of head and of throat, the jugulum,
breast, and sides of body, conspicuously and sharply blotched with
fox-red; more triangular across breast, more linear and darker on
sides. Sometimes the entire head above is continuously reddish. First
quill rather less than fifth. Hind toe about equal to its claw.
Length, 7.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.90; tarsus, .87; middle toe, without
claw, .67; hind claw, .35.
HAB. Eastern North America to the Mississippi, to the north along
valley of the Mackenzie, almost or quite to the Arctic coast, and down
the valley of the Yukon to the Pacific. Breeds throughout the interior
of British America.
In summer, the ash is more predominant above; in winter, it is
overlaid more or less by a wash of rufous, as described above.
The young plumage we have not seen. The _P. obscura_, Verrill,[9] may
be referrible to it.
HABITS. The Fox-colored Sparrow, in its seasons of migrations, is a
very common bird throughout the United States east of the Mississippi
River. It has not been ascertained to breed in any part of the United
States, though it may do so in Northeastern Maine. Mr. Boardman has
not met with it near Calais, nor did I see nor could I hear of it in
any part of Nova Scotia or New Brunswick that I visited. In passing
north, these birds begin their northern movements in the middle of
March, and from that time to the last of April they are gradually
approaching their summer quarters. Their first appearance near Boston
is about the 15th of March, and they linger in that vicinity, or
successive parties appear, until about the 20th of April. The last
comers are usually in song. On their return, the middle or last of
October, they pass rapidly, and usually make no stay. In Southwestern
Texas these birds were not observed by Mr. Dresser, nor in Arizona by
Dr. Coues, but in the Indian Territory Dr. Woodhouse found them very
abundant on the approach of winter. Dr. Coues speaks of them as common
in South Carolina from November to April, but less numerous than most
of the Sparrows.
In the vicinity of Washington this bird is found from October to
April. I have met with small groups of them through all the winter
months among the fallen leaves in retired corners of the Capitol
grounds, where they were busily engaged, in the manner of a _Pipilo_,
in scratching in the earth for their food. At those periods when the
ground was open, their habits were eminently similar to those of the
gallinaceous birds. In March and April they were in company with the
White-throated Sparrows, but passed north at least a month earlier.
During their stay in the United States these birds keep in small
distinctive flocks, never mingling, though often in the same places,
with other species. They are found in the edges of thickets and in
moist woods. They are usually silent, and only occasionally utter a
call-note, low and soft. In the spring the male becomes quite musical,
and is one of our sweetest and most remarkable singers. His voice is
loud, clear, and melodious; his notes full, rich, and varied; and his
song is unequalled by any of this family that I have ever heard. They
soon become reconciled to confinement and quite tame, and sing a good
part of the year if care is taken in regard to their food. If allowed
to eat to excess, they become very fat and heavy, and lose their song.
Dr. Coues did not meet with these birds in Labrador, but Mr. Audubon
found them there and in Newfoundland in large numbers; and, according
to the observations of Sir John Richardson, they breed in the wooded
districts of the fur countries, up to the 68th parallel of latitude.
These birds were also found abundantly at Fort Simpson and Great Slave
Lake by Mr. Robert Kennicott and Mr. B. R. Ross; at Fort Anderson,
Anderson River, Swan River, and in various journeys, by Mr. R.
MacFarlane; at Fort Resolution, Fort Good Hope, La Pierre House, and
Fort Yukon, by Mr. Lockhart; at Peel’s River, by Mr. J. Flett; at St.
Michael’s, by Mr. H. M. Bannister; and at Nulato, by Mr. W. H. Dall.
They were observed at Fort Simpson as early as May 17, and by Mr.
Kennicott as late as September 17. Mr. Dall states that at Nulato he
found this Sparrow in abundance. It arrived there from the 10th to the
15th of May. It breeds there, and its eggs were obtained on the Yukon
River. In the month of August in 1867 and of July in 1868 it was
abundant at the mouth of the Yukon and at St. Michael’s. One was also
shot at Unalaklik. The birds seemed to prefer thickets to the more
open country. Mr. Bannister did not find it abundant. He shot only one
specimen during the season, in an alder thicket near the fort; and Mr.
Pease, who was familiar with the species, only saw a single
individual.
According to the reports of both Mr. MacFarlane and Mr. Kennicott, the
nest of this species was found both on the ground and in trees. In one
instance it was in a tree about eight feet from the ground, and in its
structure was said to be similar to the nests of _Turdus aliciæ_. They
were nearly all found after the middle of June, a few as early as the
7th. One was found on the ground at the foot of a tuft of dwarf
willows, which helped to conceal it from view. This was composed of
coarse hay, lined with some of a finer quality, a few deer-hairs, and
a small quantity of fresh and growing moss, intermingled together. In
speaking of this nest Mr. MacFarlane states that all the nests of this
Sparrow he had previously met with had been built in the midst of
branches of pine or spruce trees, and had been similar to those of the
_T. aliciæ_, which, in this instance, it did not resemble. He adds
that this species, though not numerous, extended quite to the borders
of the wooded country, to the north and northwest of Fort Anderson.
Afterwards he observed several other nests on the ground, all of which
were similar to the last, and it is by no means impossible that in
certain instances these birds may have occupied old nests of the _T.
aliciæ_, and used them for purposes of incubation. Richardson states
that its nests are constructed in a low bush, and are made of dry
grass, hair, and feathers. He states that the eggs are five in number,
of a pale mountain-green tint, and marbled with irregular spots of
brown.
Mr. Audubon, who found several of the nests of this bird in Labrador,
near the coast, describes them as large for the size of the bird, and
as usually placed on the ground among moss or tall grass near the stem
of a creeping fir, the branches of which usually conceal it from view.
Its exterior is loosely formed of dry grasses and moss, with a
carefully disposed inner layer of fine grasses, circularly arranged.
The lining consists of very delicate fibrous roots, with feathers of
different kinds of water-fowl. In one instance he noted the down of
the eider-duck. He found their eggs from the middle of June to the 5th
of July. When their nest was approached, the female affected lameness,
and employed all the usual arts to decoy the intruder away. They
raised but one brood in a season, and about the first of September
left Labrador for the south in small flocks, made up of members of one
family.
Their eggs measure from .92 to an inch in length, and .70 in breadth.
They are oblong in shape. Their ground-color is a light bluish-white,
thickly spotted with a rusty-brown, often so fully as to conceal the
ground.
[9] _Passerella obscura_, VERRILL, Pr. Bost. N. H. Soc. IX,
Dec. 1862, 143 (Anticosti). (Type in Museum Comp. Zoöl.,
Cambridge.)
“Size somewhat smaller than that of _P. iliaca_. Legs and
wings a little shorter in proportion. Claws less elongated.
Bill somewhat shorter, thicker, and less acute. Color above
rufous-brown, becoming bright rufous on the rump and exposed
portion of the tail, but a shade darker than in _P. iliaca_;
head uniform brown, with a slight tinge of ash; feathers of
the back centred with a streak of darker brown. Wings nearly
the same color as the back, with no white bands; outer webs
of the quills rufous, inner webs dark brown; secondary
coverts rufous, with dark brown centres; primary coverts
uniform brown. Beneath dull white, with the throat and
breast thickly covered with elongated triangular spots and
streaks of dark reddish-brown; sides streaked with
rufous-brown; middle of abdomen with a few small triangular
spots of dark brown; under tail-coverts brownish-white, with
a few small spots of bright rufous; tibiæ dark brown. The
auriculars are tinged with reddish-brown. Bristles at the
base of the bill are numerous, extending over the nostrils.
Tail rather long, broad, and nearly even. Third quill
longest; second and fourth equal, and but slightly shorter;
first intermediate between the fifth and sixth, and one
fourth of an inch shorter than the third.
“Length, 6.75; extent of wings, 10.75; wing, 3.35; tarsus, 1
inch.
“This species differs greatly in color from _P. iliaca_. It
is darker in all parts; the feathers of the back are
rufous-brown, centred with darker, instead of ash centred
with brownish-red; the two white bands on the wing are
wanting; the breast and throat are thickly streaked with
elongated spots of dark reddish-brown, while in _P. iliaca_
the spots are less numerous, shorter and broader, and bright
rufous, and the central part of the throat is nearly free
from spots; the under tail-coverts are brownish-white, with
rufous spots, instead of nearly pure white.”
There are some features in this bird, as described by Mr.
Verrill, which seem to characterize it as different from _P.
iliaca_, although it is barely possible that it is this bird
in immature dress. The streaked back at once separates it
from all our species excepting _iliaca_. Nothing is said of
its habits. One specimen was killed in Anticosti, July 1;
the other, August 8. The true _iliaca_ was found on the
island, which fact renders it still more probable that this
is its young.
Passerella townsendi, NUTTALL.
TOWNSEND’S SPARROW.
_? Emberiza unalaschkensis_, GMEL. II, 1788, 875 (based on
_Aonalaschka Bunting_, LATH. II, 202, 48; _Unalaschka B._,
PENNANT, 52). _Passerella u._ FINSCH, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 53
(Alaska). _Fringilla townsendi_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 236,
pl. ccccxxiv, f. 7.—IB. Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841,
43, pl. clxxxvii. _Fringilla (Passerella) townsendi_, NUTT.
Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 533. _Passerella townsendi_, BON.
Conspectus, 1850, 477.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 489.—COOPER
& SUCKLEY, 204.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285.
_Fringilla meruloides_, VIG. Zoöl. Blossom (Monterey, Cal.),
1839, 19. _? Emberiza (Zonotrichia) rufina_, KITTLITZ, Denkw.
1858, 200. (He compares it with _P. iliaca_, but says it is
darker. Sitka.)
SP. CHAR. Above very dark olive-brown, with a tinge of rufous, the
color continuous and uniform throughout, without any trace of blotches
or spots; the upper tail-coverts and outer edges of the wing and tail
feathers rather lighter and brighter. The under parts white, but
thickly covered with approximating triangular blotches colored like
the back, sparsest on the middle of the body and on the throat; the
spots on the belly smaller. Side almost continuously like the back;
tibiæ and under tail-coverts similar, the latter edged with paler.
Axillars brown; paler on edges. Claws all very large and long; the
hinder claw longer than its toe. First and sixth quills about equal.
Length, about 7 inches; wing, about 3.00.
HAB. Pacific coast of United States, as far south as Sacramento, and
Fort Tejon? north to Kodiak (and Unalaschka?).
[Line drawing: _Passerella townsendi._
2874 ♀]
This species differs a good deal in form from _P. iliaca_. The claws
are much larger and stouter, the wing a good deal shorter and more
rounded. The differences in color are very appreciable, the tints
being dark sepia-brown instead of red, and perfectly uniform above,
not spotted; the under parts much more thickly spotted.
Specimens from Alaska show a tendency to longer and perhaps more
slender bills. Some are rather more rufous-brown than the type; others
have a faint tinge of ashy anteriorly, although scarcely appreciable.
This is especially noticeable in some skins from Fort Tejon, they
being almost exactly intermediate between _townsendi_ and
_schistacea_, or _megarhynchus_.
Young birds are not materially different from the adult, except in
having the white of under parts replaced by pale rusty; the back is
rather duller in color, but without spots or stripes of any kind.
No. 46,620 from British Columbia has the bill much stouter than in the
average.
It is by no means certain, however probable, that this bird is the _E.
unalaschkensis_ of Gmelin, an important objection being its absence so
far in collections received by the Smithsonian Institution from that
island. We therefore leave the question open for the present.
HABITS. The history of this western analogue of the Fox-colored
Sparrow is still quite imperfectly known. It was first obtained in
Oregon by Mr. Townsend, on the 15th of February. He describes it as a
very active and a very shy bird, keeping constantly among the low
bushes of wormwood, and on the ground in their vicinity. It was
partially gregarious, six or eight being usually seen together. Its
call-note was a short, sharp, quick chirp, and it also had
occasionally a low weak warble.
Dr. Gambel, referring probably to its occurrence in winter in
California, speaks of this bird as an abundant resident in that State,
which is not correct, it being only a winter visitant, and not
abundant south of San Francisco. He describes its habits as very
different from those of any other Sparrow, and more like those of a
Thrush. It is said to keep in retired bushy places, or in underwood,
and was scarcely ever seen except on the ground, and then would
scarcely ever be discovered but for the noise it made in scratching
among the leaves. It was silent and unsuspicious, and he rarely heard
it utter even its occasional chirp.
Dr. Cooper states that he found this Sparrow only a winter resident in
Washington Territory, where, in company with other Sparrows, it kept
constantly on the ground, frequenting the thickets and scratching
among the fallen leaves for its food. It was most common in the
interior, but in very cold weather sought the coast, in company with
the Snowbird and other species. He observed a few lingering about the
Straits of Fuca until April. After that he saw no more of them until
their return southward in October. During their winter residence Dr.
Cooper never heard them sing. Dr. Suckley found them rather abundant
near Fort Steilacoom, though not so common as the _Melospiza rufina_,
which they greatly resembled in habits and in general appearance.
Dr. Heermann describes them as abundant and migratory in California,
visiting that State only in winter. He speaks of them as of a solitary
and quiet nature, resorting to the thickets and underwood for its
food, turning over the leaves and scratching up the ground in the
manner of the Brown Thrush, occasionally hopping backwards as if to
ascertain the results of its labors.
Dr. Cooper, in his Report on the Birds of California, reaffirms that
this bird is only a winter visitant to the lower country near the
Columbia, but also conjectures that it spends the summer in the
Cascade Mountains, between April and October. Specimens have been
obtained near San Francisco in winter. It seemed to him to be both a
shy and a silent bird, frequenting only woods or thick bushes, and
while there constantly scratching among the fallen leaves, and feeding
both on seeds and insects. He has seen either this bird or the _P.
megarhynchus_ as far south as San Diego in winter. He has also noticed
its arrival near San Francisco as early as October 20.
On the Spokan Plains, in British Columbia, Mr. J. K. Lord first met
with this species. They were there not uncommon in dark swampy places
east of the Cascades. These birds he found remarkable for their
singular habit of scratching dead leaves or decayed material of any
sort with their feet, exactly as do barn-door fowls,—sending the dirt
right, left, and behind. It picks up seeds, insects, larvæ, or
anything eatable that it thus digs out, and then proceeds to scratch
for more. The long and unusually strong claws with which this bird is
provided seem particularly well adapted for these habits, so unusual
in a Sparrow. At almost any time, by waiting a few moments, one may be
pretty sure to hear the scratching of several of these birds from
under the tangle of fallen timber.
Several specimens were obtained in Sitka by Bischoff and others, but
without any record of their habits.
Passerella townsendi, var. schistacea, BAIRD.
_Passerella schistacea_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 490, pl. lxix, f. 3.
[Line drawing: 11234 ♂]
SP. CHAR. Bill slender, the length being .34 from nostril, the depth
.25; the upper mandible much swollen at the base; the under yellow.
Above and on the sides uniform slate-gray; the upper surface of wings,
tail-feathers, and upper coverts dark brownish-rufous; ear-coverts
streaked with white. Beneath pure white, with broad triangular
arrow-shaped and well-defined spots of slate-gray like the back
everywhere, except along the middle of the belly; not numerous on the
throat. A hoary spot at the base of the bill above the loral region;
axillars nearly white. Length, 6.80; wing, 3.30; tail, 3.50.
HAB. Head-waters of Platte and middle region of United States to Fort
Tejon and to Fort Crook, California.
This species is readily distinguished from _P. iliaca_ by the slaty
back and spots on the breast, the absence of streaks above, and the
longer claws. From _townsendi_ it differs in having the head, back,
sides, and spots beneath slate-colored, instead of dark reddish-brown.
The spotting beneath is much more sparse, the spots smaller, more
triangular, and confined to the terminal portion of the feathers,
instead of frequently involving the entire outer edge. The axillars
are paler. The wings and tail are the same in both species.
The young bird is quite similar; but the spots beneath are badly
defined, more numerous, and longitudinal rather than triangular.
There can be little doubt, however, that this bird is a geographical
race of _P. townsendi_.
HABITS. For all that we know in regard to the habits and general
distribution of this species, we are indebted to the observations of
Mr. Ridgway, who met with it while accompanying Mr. Clarence King’s
geological survey. It was first obtained in July, 1856, by Lieutenant
F. T. Bryan, on the Platte River, and others were afterwards collected
at Fort Tejon by Mr. Xantus.
Mr. Ridgway found the Slate-colored Sparrow at Carson City, during its
spring migrations northward, in the early part of March. At this time
it was seen only among the willows along the Carson River, and was by
no means common. It had the habit of scratching among the dead leaves,
on the ground in the thickets, precisely after the manner of the
eastern _P. iliaca_. In the following September he again found it
among the thickets in the Upper Humboldt Valley. In Parley’s Park,
among the Wahsatch Mountains, he found it a very plentiful species in
June, nesting among the willows and other shrubbery along the streams.
There it was always found in company with the _M. fallax_, which in
song it greatly resembles, though its other notes are quite distinct,
the ordinary one being a sharp _chuck_. The nest of the two species,
he adds, were also so much alike in manner of construction and
situation, and the eggs so similar, that it required a careful
observation to identify a nest when one was found.
The eggs from one nest of the _Passerella schistacea_ measure .90 by
.70 of an inch, have a ground of a light mountain-green, and are
profusely spotted with blotches of a rufous-brown, generally diffused
over the entire egg.
Another nest of this species, obtained in Parley’s Park, in the
Wahsatch Mountains, by Mr. Ridgway, June 23, 1869, was built in a
clump of willows, about two feet from the ground. The nest is two
inches in height, two and a half in diameter, cavity one and a half
deep, with a diameter of two. It is composed externally of coarse
decayed water-grass, is lined with fine hair and finer material like
the outside. The eggs, four in number, are .80 by .67 of an inch, of a
very rounded oval shape, the ground-color of a pale green, blotched
and marked chiefly at the larger end with brown spots of a
wine-colored hue.
Passerella townsendi, var. megarhynchus, BAIRD.
THICK-BILLED SPARROW.
_Passerella schistacea_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 490 (in part;
Ft. Tejon specimens). _Passerella megarhynchus_, BAIRD, Birds
N. Am. 1858, p. 925 (Appendix).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 222.
_Passerella schistacea_, var. _megarhynchus_, RIDGWAY, Rept.
Geol. Expl. 40th Par.
[Line drawing: 13757 ♂]
SP. CHAR. Similar to var. _schistacea_ in colors, size, and general
proportions; but bill enormously thick, its depth being very much
greater than the distance from nostril to tip, instead of much less;
color of lower mandible rosy milk-white, instead of maize-yellow.
Bill, .35 from nostril, .47 deep; wing, 3.30; tail, 3.50; tarsus, .83;
middle toe without claw, .63; hind claw, .50.
HAB. Sierra Nevada, from Fort Tejon north to 40° latitude (Carson
City, Nevada, breeding, RIDGWAY).
This very remarkable variety of _P. townsendi_ is quite local in its
distribution, having been observed only in the Sierra Nevada region,
as above indicated. The first specimens were brought from Fort Tejon
by Mr. J. Xantus, but at what season they were found there is not
indicated on the labels. Recently, specimens were procured by Mr.
Ridgway at Carson City, Nev., in April, they having arrived there
about the 20th of April, frequenting the ravines of the Sierra near
the snow. At the same place the var. _schistacea_ was found earlier in
the spring, but among the willows along the streams in the valleys,
and not met with in the mountains; and all the individuals had passed
northward before those of _megarhynchus_ arrived.
In this restricted distribution the present bird is a companion of the
_Melospiza melodia_, var. _heermanni_, and the characteristics of form
are the same in both as compared with their Middle Province and
Northern representatives; while they both differ from the latter
(_townsendi_ of _Passerella_, and _rufina_ of _Melospiza_) in purer,
lighter, and less brown colors.
HABITS. Dr. Cooper met with several individuals of this bird towards
the summits of the Sierra Nevada, in September, 1863, but was unable
to preserve any of them. So far as he was able to observe them, they
had no song, and their habits were generally similar to those of the
_P. townsendi_.
The Thick-billed Sparrow was found by Mr. Ridgway as a very common
bird among the alder swamps in the ravines of the eastern slope of the
Sierra Nevada during the summer. Near Carson City, April 25, in a
swampy thicket near the streams in the level slopes, he heard, for the
first time, its beautiful song, and killed a specimen in the midst of
its utterance of what, he adds, was one of the most exquisitely rich
utterances he ever heard. This song, he states, resembles, in richness
and volume, that of the Louisiana Water Thrush (_Seiurus
ludovicianus_), qualities in which that bird is hardly equalled by any
other North American bird. They were singing in all parts of that
swampy thicket, and up the ravines as far as the snow. From the nature
of the place and the character of their song, they were at first
supposed to be the Water Thrush, until specimens of these exquisite
songsters were secured. He regards this bird as second to none of our
singers belonging to this family and though in variety, sprightliness,
and continuity, and also in passionate emotional character, its song
is not equal to that of the _Chondestes grammaca_, yet it is far
superior in power and richness of tone. Mr. Ridgway regards this bird
as easily distinguishable from the _P. schistacea_, of which, however,
it is only a variety. There is a total discrepancy in its notes, and
while neither species is resident in the latitude of Carson City,
through which both kinds pass in their migrations, the _P. schistacea_
lingers in the spring only a short time, soon passing to the
northward, while the _P. megarhynchus_ arrives later and remains
through the summer. The former makes its temporary abode among the
willows along the river, while the latter breeds in the shrubbery of
the mountain ravines.
SUBFAMILY SPIZINÆ.
CHAR. Bill variable, always large, much arched, and with the culmen
considerably curved; sometimes of enormous size, and with a greater
development backward of the lower jaw, which is always appreciably,
sometimes considerably, broader behind than the upper jaw at its base;
nostrils exposed. Tail rather variable. Bill generally black, light
blue, or red. Wings shorter than in the first group. Gape almost
always much more strongly bristled. Few of the species sparrow-like or
plain in their appearance; usually blue, red, or black and white;
except in one or two instances the sexes very different in color.
The preceding diagnosis is intended to embrace the brightly colored
passerine birds of North America, different in general appearance from
the common Sparrows. It is difficult to draw the line with perfect
strictness, so as to separate the species from those of the preceding
group, but the bill is always more curved, as well as larger, and the
colors are brighter. They resemble quite closely, at a superficial
glance, the _Coccothraustinæ_, but may be readily distinguished by
absence of the projecting tufts surrounding the base of the upper
mandible, shorter, more rounded wings, and longer tarsi.
The genera may be most conveniently arranged as follows:—
A. Wings decidedly longer than the tail. Eggs plain blue
or white, unspotted.
_a._ Feet very stout, reaching nearly to the end of the
tail. Species terrestrial.
Calamospiza. Bill moderate, the commissure with a deep
angle posteriorly and prominent lobe behind it;
anteriorly nearly straight; commissure of lower
mandible with a prominent angle. Outer toe longer than
the inner, both nearly as long as the posterior. Outer
four primaries about equal, and abruptly longer than
the rest. Tertials nearly equal to primaries.
Tail-feathers broad at tips. Color: black with white
spot on wing in ♂, brownish streaks in ♀. Nest on or
near ground; eggs plain pale blue.
Euspiza. Bill weaker, the commissure with a more
shallow angle, and much less prominent sinuation
behind it; anteriorly distinctly sinuated. Outer toe
shorter than inner, both much shorter than the
posterior one. First primary longest, the rest
successively shorter. Tertials but little longer than
secondaries. Tail-feathers attenuated at tips. Color:
back brown streaked with black; throat white; jugulum
yellow or ashy; with or without black spot on fore
neck. A yellow or white superciliary stripe. Nest on
or near ground; eggs plain pale blue.
_b._ Feet weaker, scarcely reaching beyond lower
tail-coverts; species arboreal.
_a. Size large (wing more than 3.50 inches)._
Hedymeles. Upper mandible much swollen laterally.
Colors: no blue; upper parts conspicuously different
from the lower. Wings and tail with white patches;
axillars and lining of wing yellow or red. Female
streaked. Nest in a tree or bush; eggs greenish,
thickly spotted.
Guiraca. Upper mandible flat laterally. Colors: ♂ deep
blue, with two rufous bands on wings; no white patches
on wings or tail; axillars and lining of wing blue; ♀
olive-brown without streaks. Nest in a bush; eggs
plain bluish-white.
_b. Size very small (wing less than 3.00 inches)._
Cyanospiza. Similar in form to _Guiraca_, but culmen
more curved, mandible more shallow, the angle and
sinuations of the commissure less conspicuous. Color:
♂ more or less blue, without any bands on wing (except
in _C. amæna_ in which they are white); ♀ olive-brown.
Nest in a bush; eggs plain bluish-white (except in _C.
ciris_, in which they have reddish spots).
B. Wing and tail about equal. The smallest of American
_Conirostres_. Nest in bushes. Eggs white, spotted.
Spermophila. Bill very short and broad, scarcely
longer than high, not compressed; culmen greatly
curved. Color: chiefly black and white, or brown and
gray.
Phonipara. Bill more triangular, decidedly longer than
deep, much compressed; culmen only slightly curved, or
perfectly straight. Colors: dull olive-green and
blackish, with or without yellow about the head.
C. Wing much shorter than the tail.
_a._ Head crested. Prevailing color red. Bill red or
whitish.
Pyrrhuloxia. Bill pyrrhuline, very short, and with the
culmen greatly convex; shorter than high. Hind claw
less than its digit; not much larger than the middle
anterior one. Tarsus equal to the middle toe. Nest in
bush or low tree; eggs white, spotted with lilac and
olive.
Cardinalis. Bill coccothraustine, very large; culmen
very slightly convex. Wings more rounded. Feet as in
the last, except that the tarsus is longer than the
middle toe. Nest in bush or low tree; eggs white,
spotted with lilac and olive.
_b._ Head not crested. Colors black, brown, or olive,
without red. Bill dusky, or bluish.
Pipilo. Bill moderate; culmen and commissure curved.
Hind claw very large and strong; longer than its
digit. Tarsus less than the middle toe. Nest on ground
or in low bush; eggs white sprinkled with red, or pale
blue with black dots and lines round larger end.
GENUS CALAMOSPIZA, BONAP.
_Calamospiza_, BONAP. List, 1838. (Type, _Fringilla bicolor_,
TOWNS.)
_Corydalina_, AUDUBON, Synopsis, 1839. (Same type.)
[Line drawing: _Calamospiza bicolor._
5720 ♂]
GEN. CHAR. Bill rather large, much swollen at the base; the culmen
broad, gently but decidedly curved; the gonys nearly straight; the
commissure much angulated near the base, then slightly sinuated; lower
mandible nearly as deep as the upper, the margins much inflected, and
shutting under the upper mandible. Nostrils small, strictly basal.
Rictus quite stiffly bristly. Legs large and stout. Tarsi a little
longer than the middle toe; outer toe rather longer than the inner,
and reaching to the concealed base of the middle claw; hind toe
reaching to the base of the middle claw; hind claw about as long as
its toe. Claws all strong, compressed, and considerably curved. Wings
long and pointed; the first four nearly equal, and abruptly longest;
the tertials much elongated, as long as the primaries. Tail a little
shorter than the wings, slightly graduated; the feathers rather narrow
and obliquely oval, rounded at the end.
_Color._ _Male_, black, with white on the wings. _Female_, brown
above, beneath white, with streaks.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIX.
1. Poocætes gramineus. D. C., 10147.
2. Calamospiza bicolor. ♂ Neb., 5720.
3. ” ” ♀ N. Mex., 6306.
4. Guiraca cærulea. ♂ Philada., 6480.
5. ” ” ♀ Cal.
6. Cyanospiza parellina. ♂ N. Leon, Mex., 4074.
7. ” ciris. ♂ Texas, 6271.
8. ” ciris. ♀.
9. ” versicolor. ♂ N. Leon, Mex., 4075.
10. ” ” ♀ C. St. Lucas, 12984.
11. ” amœna. ♂ Ft. Union, Dak., 1898.
12. ” ” ♀ Nevada, 53551.
13. ” cyanea. ♂ Pa., 2645.
14. ” ” ♀ Ga., 32426.
15. Phonipara zena. ♂ Bahamas.
16. ” ” ♀ ”
17. Spermophila moreleti. ♂ Costa Rica, 30524.]
[Illustration: _Calamospiza bicolor._]
This genus is well characterized by the large swollen bill, with its
curved culmen; the large strong feet and claws; the long wings, a
little longer than the tail, and with the tertials as long as the
primaries; the first four quills about equal, and abruptly longest;
the tail short and graduated.
The only group of North American _Spizellinæ_, with the tertials equal
to the primaries in the closed wing, is _Passerculus_. This, however,
has a differently formed bill, weaker feet, the inner primaries longer
and more regularly graduated, the tail-feathers more acute and
shorter, and the plumage streaked brownish and white instead of black.
Calamospiza bicolor, BONAP.
LARK BUNTING; WHITE-WINGED BLACKBIRD.
_Fringilla bicolor_, TOWNSEND, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, 1837, 189.—IB.
Narrative, 1839, 346.—AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 19, pl. cccxc.
_Calamospiza bicolor_, BONAP. List, 1838.—IB. Conspectus,
1850, 475.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 492.—HEERM. X, c, 15.
_Corydalina bicolor_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839, 130.—IB. Birds Am.
III, 1841, 195, pl. cci.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 347.—COOPER,
Orn. Cal. 1, 225. _Dolichonyx bicolor_, NUTTALL, Manual, I, (2d
ed.,) 1840, 203.
SP. CHAR. _Male_ entirely black; a broad band on the wing (covering
the whole of the greater coverts), with the outer edges of the quills
and tail-feathers, white. Length, about 6.50; wing, 3.50; tail, 3.20;
tarsus, 1.00; bill above, .60.
_Female_ pale brown, streaked with darker above; beneath white,
spotted and streaked rather sparsely with black on the breast and
sides. Throat nearly immaculate. A maxillary stripe of black, bordered
above by white. Region around the eye, a faint stripe above it, and an
obscure crescent back of the ear-coverts, whitish. A broad fulvous
white band across the ends of the greater wing-coverts; edge of wing
white. Tail-feathers with a white spot at the end of the inner web.
_Young._ Similar to the female; a faint buff tinge prevalent beneath,
where the streaks are narrower; dark streaks above broader, the
feathers bordered with buffy-white.
HAB. High Central Plains to the Rocky Mountains; southwesterly to
Valley of Mimbres and Sonora; San Antonio, Texas, winter (DRESSER,
Ibis, 1865, 490). Fort Whipple, Arizona (COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866, 84).
Parley’s Park, Utah (RIDGWAY).
HABITS. This peculiar species, known by some writers as the Lark
Bunting, and by others as the White-winged Blackbird, was first
described by Townsend in 1837. He met with it when, in company with
Mr. Nuttall, he made his western tour across the continent, on the
24th of May, soon after crossing the north branch of the Platte River.
The latter writer regarded it as closely allied to the Bobolink, and
described it as a _Dolichonyx_. He describes the birds as gregarious,
consorting with the Cowbirds, and, at the time he met with them,
uttering most delightful songs. Towards evening they sometimes saw
these birds in all directions around them, on the hilly grounds,
rising at intervals to some height, hovering and flapping their wings,
and, at the same time, giving forth a song which Mr. Nuttall describes
as being something like _weet-weet-wt-wt-wt_, notes that were between
the hurried warble of the Bobolink and the melody of a Skylark. It is,
he says, one of the sweetest songsters of the prairies, is tame and
unsuspicious, and the whole employment of the little band seemed to be
an ardent emulation of song.
It feeds on the ground, and, as stated by Mr. Townsend, may be seen in
flocks of from sixty to a hundred together. It was, so far as their
observations went, found inhabiting exclusively the wide grassy plains
of the Platte. They did not see it to the west of the Black Hills, or
the first range of the Rocky Mountains.
To Mr. Nuttall’s account Mr. Townsend adds that this bird is strictly
gregarious, that it feeds on the ground, around which it runs in the
manner of the Grass Finch, to which, in its habits, it seems to be
somewhat allied. Mr. Townsend adds that, as their caravan moved along,
large flocks of these birds, sometimes to the number of sixty or a
hundred individuals, were started from the ground, and the piebald
appearance of the males and females promiscuously intermingled
presented a very striking and by no means unpleasing effect. While the
flock was engaged in feeding, some of the males were observed to rise
suddenly to considerable height in the air, and, poising themselves
over their companions with their wings in constant and rapid motion,
continued nearly stationary. In this situation they poured forth a
number of very lively and sweetly modulated notes, and, at the
expiration of about a minute, descended to the ground and moved about
as before. Mr. Townsend also states that he met with none of these
birds west of the Black Hills.
Mr. Ridgway also mentions that though he found these birds very
abundant on the plains east of the Black Hills, he met with only a
single specimen to the westward of that range. This was at Parley’s
Park, among the Wahsatch Mountains.
Dr. Gambel, in his paper on the Birds of California, states that he
met with small flocks of this handsome species in the bushy plains,
and along the margins of streams, during the winter months. And Dr.
Heermann states that he also found this species numerous in
California, New Mexico, and Texas. Arriving in the last-named State in
May, he found this species there already mated, and about to commence
the duties of incubation.
Mr. Dresser found these birds common near San Antonio during the
winter. In December he noticed several flocks near Eagle Pass. They
frequented the roads, seeking the horse-dung. They were quite shy, and
when disturbed the whole flock would go off together, uttering a low
and melodious whistle. In May and June several were still about near
Howard’s Rancho, and on his return from Houston, in June, he succeeded
in shooting one in its full summer plumage, when its specific name is
peculiarly appropriate. He does not, however, think that, as a general
thing, any of them remain about San Antonio to breed.
They breed in great numbers on the plains of Wyoming Territory, and
probably also in Colorado, Montana, and Dakota. The Smithsonian
collection embraces specimens obtained in July from the Yellowstone,
from Platte River, Pole Creek, the Black Hills, and Bridger’s Pass,
indicating that they breed in these localities; also specimens from
Texas, New Mexico, Sonora, and Espia, in Mexico, but none from
California.
Dr. Kennerly, who met with these birds both in Sonora and at Espia, on
the Mexican Boundary Survey, states that he observed them in the
valley of the river early in the morning, in very large flocks. During
the greater part of the day they feed on the hills among the bushes.
When on the wing they keep very close together, so that a single
discharge of shot would sometimes bring down twenty or thirty. Mr. J.
H. Clark, on the same survey, also states that he sometimes found them
occurring in flocks of hundreds. The greatest numbers were seen near
Presidio del Norte. Great varieties of plumage were observed in the
same flock. The food seemed to be seeds almost exclusively. They were
very simultaneous in all their movements. Stragglers were never
observed remaining behind after the flock had started. They are, he
states, the most absolutely gregarious birds he has ever met with.
Dr. Coues, who regarded this bird as one highly characteristic of the
prairie fauna, writes me that he met with it in great numbers in
Kansas, soon after leaving Fort Riley, and saw it every day until he
reached the Raton Mountains in New Mexico. “For two or three days, in
fact, from Fort Larned to the mountains,” he writes, “I scarcely saw
anything else. This was the first week in June, and most of the birds
seemed to be paired and nesting, though occasionally a dozen or more
were seen together, flocking like the Blackbirds that they strongly
recall. They were in full song, and proved delightful vocalists.
Sometimes they warble from some spray or low bush offering a stand a
little above the level flower-beds of the prairie, but oftener they
mount straight up, hovering high in the air on tremulous wings,
pouring forth their melodious strains until, seemingly exhausted, they
sink back to the ground. At such times it is interesting to watch two
rival males, each straining every nerve to mount higher than the
other, and sing more acceptably to its mate hidden in the verdure
below. This habit of rising on the wing to sing, so famed in the case
of the Skylark, seems not confined to particular species, but to be a
forced practice of a number of different birds residing in open level
regions, that do not afford the elevated perches usually chosen by
woodland songsters for their performances. The ordinary flight of this
species is altogether of a different character, being a low gliding
motion, overtopping the weeds and bushes. That the birds were nesting
at this time is rendered still more probable by the fact that the
males noticed as we passed along were out of all proportion, in
numbers, to the females seen. They were very heedless of approach, and
any number could have been readily destroyed. I never saw any at Fort
Whipple, or elsewhere in Arizona, though Dr. Heermann says that they
are abundant in the southern portions of the Territory, and specimens
are recorded from Lower California.”
Mr. Allen found the Lark Bunting one of the few birds that seemed
strictly confined to the arid plains near Fort Hays, in Kansas. He met
with it in great abundance, but only on the high ridges and dry
plateaus, where they seemed to live in colonies. He describes them as
very wary, and very tenacious of life, often flying long distances,
even after having been mortally wounded. They seemed to delight to fly
in strong winds, when most other birds kept in shelter. They sing
while on the wing, hovering in the wind and shaking the tail and legs
after the well-known manner of the Yellow-breasted Chat. Its song
seemed to him to strongly resemble that of the Chat, with which, at
such times, its whole demeanor strikingly accorded.
Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds collected in the survey on
the 32d parallel, states that he first observed these birds on
approaching the Pimos villages. They were associated with large flocks
of Sparrows, gleaning grain and grass-seed upon the ground. When
started up they flew but a short distance before they resumed their
occupation. After crossing the San Pedro he again found them in large
flocks. At Fort Fillmore, in Mesilla Valley, it was also quite common
and associated with the Cowbird and Blackbird, searching for grain
among the stable offals. He again met with them in Texas, in the month
of April, most of them still retaining their winter coat. He describes
the tremulous fluttering motion of the wings with which the male
accompanies its song while on the wing as very much after the manner
of the Bobolink, and he speaks of their song as a disconnected but not
an unmusical chant. He found their nests on the ground, made of fine
grasses, lined with hair, and in one instance he found the eggs
spotted with faint red dashes.
At Gilmer, in Wyoming Territory, their nests were found by Mr. Durkee
built on the ground, and composed of dry grasses very loosely
arranged. The eggs, four or five in number, are of a uniform and
beautiful light shade of blue, similar to those of the _Euspiza
americana_. They measure .90 by .70 of an inch, are of a rounded-oval
shape, and, so far as I have observed, are entirely unspotted,
although eggs with a few reddish blotches are said to have been met
with.
GENUS EUSPIZA, BONAP.
_Euspiza_, BONAP. List, 1838. (Type, _Emberiza americana_, GMELIN.)
_Euspina_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. (Same type.)
[Line drawing: _Euspiza americana_, Bonap.
1459 ♂]
GEN. CHAR. Bill large and strong, swollen, and without any ridges; the
lower mandible nearly as high as the upper; as broad at the base as
the length of the gonys, and considerably broader than the upper
mandible; the edges much inflexed, and shutting much within the upper
mandible; the commissure considerably angulated at the base, then
decidedly sinuated. The tarsus barely equal to the middle toe; the
lateral toes nearly equal, not reaching to the base of the middle
claw; the hind toe about equal to the middle one without its claw. The
wings long and acute, reaching nearly to the middle of the tail; the
tertials decidedly longer than the secondaries, but much shorter than
the primaries; first quill longest, the others regularly graduated.
Tail considerably shorter than the wings, though moderately long;
nearly even, although slightly emarginate; the outer feathers scarcely
shorter. Middle of back only striped; beneath without streaks.
This genus comes nearer to _Calamospiza_, but has shorter tertials,
more slender bill, weaker and more curved claws, etc.
Species.
E. americana. Top and sides of head light slate; forehead tinged with
greenish-yellow. A superciliary stripe, a maxillary spot, sides of
breast, and middle line of breast and belly, yellow. Chin white,
throat black, shoulders chestnut. Female with the black of the throat
replaced by a crescent of spots. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United
States; south to New Grenada.
E. townsendi. Body throughout (including the jugulum), dark ash,
tinged with brownish on the back and wings. Superciliary and maxillary
stripe, chin, throat, and middle of belly, white. A maxillary line and
a pectoral crescent of black spots. No chestnut shoulders. _Hab._
Chester Co., Pennsylvania.
Euspiza americana, BONAP.
BLACK-THROATED BUNTING.
_Emberiza americana_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 872.—WILSON, Am.
Orn. III, 1811, 86, pl. iii, f. 2.—AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838,
579, pl. ccclxxxiv.—IB. Syn. 1839, 101.—IB. Birds Am. III,
1841, 58, pl. clvi.—MAX. Cab. J. VI, 1858, 341. _Fringilla
(Spiza) americana_, BONAP. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 85. _Euspiza
americana_, BONAP. List, 1838 (type).—IB. Conspectus, 1850,
469.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 494.—SAMUELS, 327. _Euspina
americana_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133 (type). _Fringilla
flavicollis_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 926. “_Emberiza mexicana_,
LATHAM,” Syn. I, 1790, 412 (Gray). _Passerina nigricollis_,
VIEILLOT. _Yellow-throated Finch_, PENNANT, Arc. Zoöl. II, 374.
SP. CHAR. _Male._ Sides of the head and sides and back of the neck
ash; crown tinged with yellowish-green and faintly streaked with
dusky. A superciliary and short maxillary line, middle of the breast,
axillaries, and edge of the wing yellow. Chin, loral region, patch on
side of throat, belly, and under tail-coverts white. A black patch on
the throat diminishing to the breast, and ending in a spot on the
upper part of the belly. Wing-coverts chestnut. Interscapular region
streaked with black; rest of back immaculate. Length, about 6.70;
wing, 3.50.
_Female_ with the markings less distinctly indicated; the black of the
breast replaced by a black maxillary line and a streaked collar in the
yellow of the upper part of the breast.
HAB. United States from the Atlantic to the border of the high Central
Plains, south to Panama and New Granada. Xalapa (SCL. 1857, 205);
Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 18); Turbo, N. G. (CASSIN, P. A. N. S. 1860,
140); Panama (LAWR. VII, 1861, 298); Nicaragua, Graytown (LAWR. VIII,
181); Veragua (SALV. 1867, 142); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 103); Vera
Cruz, winter (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552).
Among adult males, scarcely two individuals exactly alike can be
found. In some the black of the throat is continued in blotches down
the middle of the breast, while in others it is restricted to a spot
immediately under the head. These variations are not at all dependent
upon any difference of habitat, for specimens from remote regions from
each other may be found as nearly alike as any from the same locality.
Some specimens from Central America are more deeply colored than North
American ones, owing, no doubt, to the freshness of the plumage.
[Illustration: _Euspiza americana._]
HABITS. The history of the Black-throated Bunting has, until very
recently, been much obscured by incorrect observations and wrong
descriptions. Evidently this bird has been more or less confounded
with one or two other species entirely different from it. Thus Wilson,
Audubon, and Nuttall, in speaking of its nest and eggs, give
descriptions applicable to _Coturniculus passerinus_ or to _C.
henslowi_, but which are wholly wrong as applied to those of this
bird. Nuttall, whose observations of North American birds were largely
made in Massachusetts, speaks of this bird being quite common in that
State, where it is certainly very rare, and describes, as its song,
notes that have no resemblance to those of this Bunting, but which are
a very exact description of the musical performances of the
Yellow-winged Sparrow.
It is found in the eastern portion of North America, from the base of
the Black Hills to the Atlantic States, and from Massachusetts to
South Carolina. I am not aware that on the Atlantic it has ever been
traced farther south than that State, but farther west it is found as
far at least as Southwestern Texas. During winter it is found in
Central America, and in Colombia, South America.
In Massachusetts it is extremely rare. Mr. Hopkins found it breeding
in Williamstown, and sent me its eggs. I have also met with its nest
and eggs, in a low meadow near the sea, in Hingham. In both of these
instances the nest was on the ground. A specimen was shot in Newton by
Mr. John Thaxter, June 26, 1857, that had all the appearance of being
then in the process of incubation. Throughout Pennsylvania, and in the
vicinity of Washington, these birds are quite common.
Wilson states that they are very common in the vicinity of
Philadelphia, where they make their appearance in the middle of May,
and where they seem to prefer level fields covered with rye-grass,
clover, or timothy. They are described as more conspicuous for the
quantity than for the quality of their song. This consists of three
notes, sounding like _chip-chip-chē-chē-chē_. Of this unmusical ditty
they are by no means parsimonious, and for nearly three months after
their first arrival, every level field of grain or grass resounds with
their quaint serenade. In their shape and manners, Wilson states, they
bear a close resemblance to the _Emberiza citrinella_ of Europe. They
become silent by September, and in the course of that month depart for
the southwest. It is a rare bird in South Carolina, but is very
abundant in Texas, where it is also resident, and undoubtedly breeds.
Audubon states that he was surprised to see how numerous they were in
every open piece of ground throughout that State, especially those
covered with tufts of grass. They are, he states, not so common in
Ohio, and quite rare in Kentucky. They are especially abundant in the
open lands of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas,
and Nebraska; and they have been found breeding as far to the west as
Wyoming Territory, near to the base of the eastern range of the Rocky
Mountains. Mr. Allen found this species one of the most abundant birds
of Western Iowa, characterizing it as eminently a prairie species, and
one of the few inhabitants of the wide open stretches.
Mr. Dresser found, early in May, numbers of these birds in the
mesquite thickets near the San Antonio and Medina Rivers, and, as he
found them equally numerous there in July, he naturally infers that
they breed in that neighborhood. Dr. Heermann obtained some eggs which
he had no doubt belonged to this species, though he was unable to
secure the parent.
It has also been found in Western Texas and in the Indian Territory by
Mr. J. H. Clark, in Texas by Dr. Lincecum, at the Kiowa agency by Dr.
Palmer, and on the Yellowstone by Dr. Hayden.
This bird is not gregarious, always moving in pairs, and although, as
they are preparing for their migrations, they congregate in particular
localities, they always keep somewhat apart in family groups, and do
not mingle promiscuously as do many others of this family. They are,
at all times, unsuspicious and easily approached, and when fired at
will often return to the same field from which they were startled.
They are very partial to certain localities, and are rarely to be met
with in sandy regions.
Mr. Audubon states that the notes of this species very closely
resemble those of the _Emberiza miliaria_ of Europe. Its unmusical
notes are almost continuously repeated from sunrise to sunset. When
the female is startled from her nest she creeps quietly away through
the grass, and then hides herself, making no complaint, and not
showing herself even if her treasures are taken from her. Their nests
are constructed of coarse grasses and stems, lined with finer and
similar materials. They are, in certain localities, placed on the
ground, but more frequently, in many parts of the country, they are
built in positions above the ground. This is almost invariably the
case where they nest among the tall coarse grasses of the prairies. My
attention was first called to this peculiarity by Dr. J. W. Velie,
then of Rock Island, Ill. He informed me that in no instance had he
found the nest of this species on the ground, but always raised a few
inches above it. It was usually constructed of the tops of the red-top
grasses, worked in among a bunch of thick grass, so as to make the
nest quite firm. The meadows in which Dr. Velie found these nests were
quite dry, so that there was no necessity for their thus building
clear from the ground in order to escape being wet. I was afterwards
informed by the late Mr. Robert Kennicott that his experience in
regard to the nests of these birds had been invariably the same. Dr.
P. R. Hoy, of Racine, is confident that these birds in Wisconsin never
nest on the ground, or else very rarely, as he has never noticed their
doing so. He writes that during one season he visited and made notes
of nineteen different nests. Ten of these were built in
gooseberry-bushes, four on thorn-bushes, three among
blackberry-brambles, one on a raspberry-bush, and one on a wild rose.
None were within a foot of the ground, and some were six feet from it.
They have two broods in a season.
On the other hand, Mr. Ridgway informs me that in Southern Illinois
the nest of this species is always placed on the ground, usually in a
meadow, and that he has never found its nest placed anywhere else than
on the ground, in a tuft of grass or clover. Professor Baird has had a
similar experience in Pennsylvania. Mr. B. F. Goss found them nesting
both in bushes and on the ground at Neosho Falls, Kansas.
The eggs of this species are of a uniform light blue color, similar in
shade to the eggs of the common Bluebird, as also to those of the
_Calamospiza bicolor_. They vary considerably in size, the smallest
measuring .80 of an inch in length by .60 in breadth, while the larger
and more common size is .90 by .70 of an inch.
Euspiza townsendi, BONAP.
TOWNSEND’S BUNTING.
_Emberiza townsendi_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 183; V, 90, pl.
cccc.—IB. Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 62, pl.
clvii.—NUTTALL, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 528. _Euspiza
townsendi_, BON. List, 1838.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 495.
SP. CHAR. _Male._ Upper parts, head and neck all round, sides of body
and forepart of breast, slate-blue; the back and upper surface of
wings tinged with yellowish-brown; the interscapular region streaked
with black. A superciliary and maxillary line, chin and throat, and
central line of under parts from the breast to crissum, white; the
edge of the wing, and a gloss on the breast and middle of belly,
yellow. A black spotted line from the lower corner of the lower
mandible down the side of the throat, connecting with a crescent of
streaks in the upper edge of the slate portion of the breast. Length,
5.75; wing, 2.86; tail, 2.56.
HAB. Chester County, Penn. But one specimen known (in the Mus.
Smith.).
It is still a question whether this is a distinct species, or only a
variety of _E. americana_. There is, however, little ground for the
last supposition, although its rarity is a mystery.
The original type specimen of this species, collected by Dr. J. K.
Townsend, still continues to be the only one known, and has been
presented by its owner, Dr. E. Michener, to the Smithsonian
Institution.
HABITS. Only a single specimen of this apparently well-marked species
has been observed, and nothing is known as to its history. The bird
was shot by Mr. J. K. Townsend, in an old field grown up with
cedar-bushes, near New Garden, Chester Co., Penn., May 11, 1833.
GENUS HEDYMELES, CABANIS.
_? Goniaphea_, BOWD. “Excurs. in Madeira, 1825,” Agassiz. (Type,
_Loxia ludoviciana_, according to Gray.)
_Habia_, REICHENB. Av. Syst. Nat. 1850, pl. xxviii. (Type, _L.
ludoviciana_; not _Habia_ of LESSON, 1831).
_Hedymeles_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 153. (Same type.)
[Line drawing: _Hedymeles melanocephalus._
1496 ♂]
GEN. CHAR. Bill very large, much swollen; lower mandible scarcely
deeper than the upper; feet almost coccothraustine, tarsi and toes
very short, the claws strong and much curved, though blunt. First four
primaries longest, and nearly equal, abruptly longer than the fifth.
Tail broad, perfectly square. _Colors_: Black, white, and red, or
black, cinnamon, yellow, and white, on the male; the females brownish,
streaked, with the axillars and lining of the wing yellow.
There seems to be abundant reason for separating this genus from
_Guiraca_; the latter is, in reality, much more nearly related to
_Cyanospiza_, it being impossible to define the dividing line between
them.
Species and Varieties.
COMMON CHARACTERS. ♂. Head and upper parts (except rump)
deep black. Two broad bands across coverts, a large patch
on base of primaries, and terminal half of inner webs of
tail-feathers, pure white. Breast carmine or cinnamon;
axillars and lining of wing carmine or gamboge. ♀. Black
replaced by ochraceous-brown; other parts more streaked.
H. ludovicianus. Rump and lower parts white; lining of
wing, and patch on breast, rosy carmine. No nuchal collar.
_Female._ Lining of wing saffron-yellow; breast with
numerous streaks. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North
America, south, in winter, to Ecuador.
H. melanocephalus. Rump and lower parts cinnamon-rufous;
lining of wing and middle of abdomen gamboge-yellow. A
nuchal collar of rufous. _Female._ Lining of wing
lemon-yellow; breast without streaks; abdomen tinged with
lemon-yellow.
Crown continuous black. No post-ocular rufous stripe.
_Hab._ Mountains of Mexico, and Central Rocky Mountains
of United States var. _melanocephalus_.
Crown divided by a longitudinal rufous stripe; a
distinct post-ocular stripe of the same. _Hab._ Western
Province of United States, south, in winter, to Colima
var. _capitalis_.
Hedymeles ludovicianus, SWAINSON.
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK.
_Loxia ludoviciana_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 306.—WILSON, Am.
Orn. II, 1810, 135, pl. xvii, f. 2. _Guiraca ludoviciana_,
SWAINSON, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 438.—BONAP. List, 1838.—IB.
Consp. 1850, 501.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 497.—SAMUELS,
328. _Fringilla ludoviciana_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 166; V,
513, pl. cxxvii. _Pyrrhula ludoviciana_, SAB. Zoöl. App.
Franklin’s Narr. _Coccothraustes ludoviciana_, RICH. List, Pr.
Br. Ass. 1837. _Coccoborus ludovicianus_, AUD. Syn. 1839,
133.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 209, pl. 205.—MAX. Cab. J. VI,
1858, 267. “_Goniaphea ludoviciana_, BOWDICH.” _Hedymeles
ludoviciana_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 153. _Fringilla
punicea_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 921 (male). _Loxia
obscura_, GMELIN, I, 1788, 862. _Loxia rosea_, WILSON, Am. Orn.
pl. xvii, f. 2. _Coccothraustes rubricollis_, VIEILLOT, Galerie
des Ois. I, 1824, 67, pl. lviii.
SP. CHAR. Upper parts generally, with head and neck all round, glossy
black. A broad crescent across the upper part of the breast, extending
narrowly down to the belly, axillaries, and under wing-coverts,
carmine. Rest of under parts, rump and upper tail-coverts, middle
wing-coverts, spots on the tertiaries and inner great wing-coverts,
basal half of primaries and secondaries, and a large patch on the ends
of the inner webs of the outer three tail-feathers, pure white.
Length, 8.50 inches; wing, 4.15.
_Female_ without the white of quills, tail, and rump, and without any
black or red. Above yellowish-brown streaked with darker; head with a
central stripe above, and a superciliary on each side, white. Beneath
dirty white, streaked with brown on the breast and sides. Under
wing-coverts and axillars saffron-yellow.
In the male the black feathers of the back and sides of the neck have
a subterminal white bar. There are a few black spots on the sides of
the breast just below the red.
The young male of the year is like the female, except in having the
axillaries, under wing-coverts, and a trace of a patch on the breast,
light rose-red.
The depth of the carmine tint on the under parts varies a good deal in
different specimens, but it is always of the same rosy hue.
HAB. Eastern United States to the Missouri plains; south to Ecuador.
Honduras (MOORE, P. Z. S. 1859, 58); Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 365); Bogota
(SCL. 1855, 154); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 301); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I,
17); Cuba (CAB. J. VI, 9); Ecuador (SCL. 1860, 298); Costa Rica (CAB.
J. 61, 71); (LAWR. IX, 102); Panama (LAWR. VII, 1861, 297); Vera Cruz,
winter (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552); Yucatan (LAWR. Ann. IX, 210).
[Illustration: _Hedymeles melanocephalus._]
HABITS. The Rose-breasted Grosbeak, during the summer months, appears
to have a widely extended area of distribution, though nowhere a very
abundant species, and one of somewhat irregular occurrence. It is
found as far to the east as Nova Scotia, to the north as Selkirk
Settlement and the valley of the Saskatchewan, and to the west as
Nebraska. It winters in great numbers in Guatemala. In the last-named
country, while abundant in the Vera Paz, it was not found at Dueñas,
but was a common cage-bird in the city of Guatemala. It was also found
common at Herradura, in Colombia, South America, by Mr. C. W. Wyatt.
This bird was noticed on a single occasion near San Antonio by Mr.
Dresser, but was not observed by Dr. Woodhouse in Texas, or in the
Indian Territory. Sumichrast did not meet with it in Vera Cruz. At St.
Stephens, N. B., Mr. Boardman found this species a regular summer
visitant, but rare, nor did Mr. Verrill find it common in the western
part of Maine. In Massachusetts this bird becomes more common, but is
nowhere very abundant. It has been met with in various places in the
eastern part of the State, but rarely, and only in restricted
localities. In the western part of the State it is more numerous, as
well as throughout the whole of the Connecticut Valley. At
Springfield, Mr. Allen notes it as a summer visitant, breeding in the
open woods, but not abundant. He is of the opinion that during the
past twenty-five years this bird has increased in numbers in all parts
of the State. Mr. Allen found this bird quite common in Southern
Indiana, in Northern Illinois, and in Western Iowa, where he found it
frequent in the groves along the streams. Dr. Coues mentions it as
rare and only migratory in South Carolina. Mr. McIlwraith gives it as
a summer resident in the vicinity of Hamilton, Canada, where it is
very generally distributed throughout the open woods, arriving there
the second week in May. It is also found throughout Vermont, in
favorable situations in open woods, on the borders of streams. It is
not uncommon in the vicinity of Randolph, where it regularly breeds.
Wilson, who enjoyed but few opportunities of studying the habits of
this species, states that it eagerly feeds on the ripe fruit of the
sour gum-tree. He was also aware of its fine song, its value as a
caged bird, and that it frequently sings during the night.
Sir John Richardson met with a single specimen of this bird near the
Saskatchewan during his first expedition with Sir John Franklin, but
did not afterwards meet with it. He states that it frequents the deep
recesses of the forests, and there sings a clear, mellow, and
harmonious song.
Nuttall appears to have seen little or nothing of this bird, except in
confinement. He describes it as thriving very well in a cage, and as a
melodious and indefatigable warbler, frequently passing the greater
part of the night in singing, with great variety of tones. It is said,
while thus earnestly engaged, to mount on tiptoe, as if seemingly in
an ecstasy of enthusiasm and delight at the unrivalled harmony of its
own voice. These notes, he adds, are wholly warbled, now loud and
clear, now with a querulous and now with a sprightly air, and finally
lower and more pathetic. In Mr. Nuttall’s opinion it has no superior
in song, except the Mocking-Bird.
Mr. Say met with these birds in the spring, on the banks of the
Missouri, and afterwards, on the 5th of August, at Pembina in the 49th
degree of latitude.
This bird arrives in Eastern Massachusetts about the 15th of May, and
leaves in September. It nests during the first week in June.
Mr. Audubon states that he has frequently observed this species, early
in the month of March, in the lower parts of Louisiana, making its way
eastward, and has noticed the same circumstance both at Henderson,
Ky., and at Cincinnati, O. At this period it passes at a considerable
height in the air. He never saw it in the maritime parts of Georgia or
Carolina, but they have been procured in the mountainous parts of
those States. On the banks of the Schuylkill, early in May, he has
observed this bird feeding on the tender buds of the trees. When in
Texas, in 1837, Mr. Audubon also found it very abundant in April.
Dr. Bachman, quoted by Audubon, states that, having slightly wounded a
beautiful male of this species, he kept it three years in confinement.
It very soon became quite tame, fed, in an open room, on moistened
bread. It was at once reconciled to live in a cage, and fed readily on
various kinds of food, but preferred Indian meal and hemp-seed. It was
also very fond of insects, and ate grasshoppers and crickets with
peculiar relish. It watched the flies with great apparent interest,
and often snatched at and secured the wasps that ventured within its
cage. During bright moonshiny nights it sang sweetly, but not loudly,
remaining in the same position on its perch. When it sang in the
daytime it was in the habit of vibrating its wings, in the manner of
the Mocking-Bird. It was a lively and a gentle companion for three
years, but suffered from cold in severe wintry weather, and finally
died from this cause. It would frequently escape from its cage, and
never exhibited the least desire to leave him, but always returned to
the house at night. It sang about eight weeks, and the rest of the
year had only a faint _chuck_.
[Illustration: PLATE XXX.
1. Hedymeles melanocephalus. ♂ Ft. Bridger, 11241.
2. ” ” ♀ Dakota, 1868.
3. Pyrrhuloxia sinuata. ♂ Texas, 3670.
4. Hedymeles ludovicianus. ♂ Iowa, 34206.
5. ” ” ♀ Pa., 2425.
6. Cardinalis virginianus. ♀ Texas, 4022.
7. ” virginianus. ♂ S. Ill., 58586.
8. ” coccineus. ♂ 29702.
9. ” phœniceus.
10. ” igneus. ♂ Cape St. Lucas, 49757.]
This Grosbeak builds in low trees on the edge of woods, frequently in
small groves on the banks of streams. Their nests are coarsely built,
with a base composed of waste stubble, fragments of leaves, and stems
of plants. These are intermingled with and strengthened by twigs and
coarser stems. They have a diameter of eight inches, and a height of
three and a half. The upper portion of the nest is usually composed of
dry _usnea_ mosses, mingled with a few twigs, and lined with finer
twigs. Its cavity is three inches in diameter and one in depth, being
quite shallow for so large a nest.
The eggs bear some resemblance to those of the _Pyrangæ_, but are
usually much larger, though they vary greatly in size. Their
ground-color is usually a light but well-marked shade of
verdigris-green, varying occasionally to a greenish-white, and are
marked, more or less, over their entire surface, with blotches of
reddish-brown. They vary in length from 1.05 to .90 of an inch, and
from .78 to .60.
During incubation, and in the presence of its mate, this Grosbeak is a
persistent and enthusiastic singer, and, at times, carries his love of
song so far as to betray his nest. This is more especially so when he
relieves his mate, takes her place on the nest, and then, apparently
oblivious of the danger of lifting up his voice in song when upon so
responsible a duty, attracts, by his melody, the oölogist to his
treasures.
Dr. Hoy, of Racine, supplies some interesting information in regard to
the habits and nesting of this species. On the 15th of June, within
six miles of that city, he found seven nests, all within a space of
not over five acres, and he was assured that each year they resort to
the same locality and nest thus socially. Six of these nests were in
thorn-trees, all were within six to ten feet from the ground, and all
were in the central portion of the top. Three of the four parent birds
sitting on the nests were males, and this he was told was usually the
case. When a nest was disturbed, all the neighboring Grosbeaks
gathered around and appeared equally interested. Both nest and eggs so
closely resemble those of the Tanagers that it is difficult to
distinguish them. Their position is, however, usually different, the
Grosbeaks generally nesting in the central portion of a small tree,
the Tanagers’ being placed on a horizontal limb.
Hedymeles melanocephalus, SWAINSON.
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK.
_Guiraca melanocephala_, SW. Syn. Mex. Birds Philos. Mag. I, 1827,
438.—BON. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. 1850, 502.—BAIRD, Birds N.
Am. 1858, 498.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 206. _Coccothraustes
melanocephala_, RICH. List, Pr. Brit. Ass. for 1836, 1837.
_Fringilla melanocephala_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 519, pl.
ccclxxiii. _Coccoborus melanocephalus_, AUD. Synopsis, 1839,
133.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 214, pl. 206.—HEERM. X, S, 51
(nest).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 228. _Goniaphea melanocephala_,
SCLATER? _Hedymeles melanocephala_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851,
153. _Fringilla xanthomaschalis_, WAGLER, Isis, 1831, 525.
_Pitylus guttatus_, LESSON, Rev. Zoöl. II, 1839, 102.
_? Guiraca tricolor_, LESSON, Rev. Zoöl. II, 1839, 102.
SP. CHAR. _Male._ Head above and on the sides, with chin, back, wings,
and tail, black. A well-marked collar on the hind neck all round (and
in var. _capitalis_ a more or less distinct median stripe on crown,
and one behind the eye), edges of interscapular feathers, rump, and
under parts generally pale brownish-orange, almost light cinnamon.
Middle of belly, axillaries, and under wing-coverts, yellow. Belly
just anterior to the anus, under tail-coverts, a large blotch at the
end of the inner webs of first and second tail-feathers, a band across
the middle and greater wing-coverts, some spots on the ends of the
tertiaries, the basal portions of all the quills, and the outer three
primaries near the tips, white. Length nearly 8 inches; wing, 4.25;
tail, 3.50.
_Female_ has the chin, sides of throat, and superciliary stripe white;
the black markings replaced by olivaceous-brown; the cinnamon markings
paler, and almost white; the white of wings more restricted; that of
tail wanting. Usually there are few or no streaks beneath as in
_ludovicianus_ (faint ones on flanks); in young males, however, they
are more appreciable. The lemon or gamboge yellow axillars and under
coverts in all ages and stages separate this species from _H.
ludovicianus_, the female and young of which have those regions of a
saffron or fulvous yellow.
HAB. High Central Plains from Yellowstone to the Pacific. Table-lands
of Mexico. Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 365); Orizaba (SCL. 1857, 213); Vera
Cruz, Alpine and plateau, breeding (SUM. M. B. S. I, 551).
This bird, in its range of habitat, appears to be represented by two
varieties, which, however, run into each other, so that it is often
difficult to determine to which variety specimens from intermediate
regions should be referred.
Taking the series from Eastern Mexico (Orizaba and Mirador) and
northward along the Rocky Mountains of the United States, we find the
black of the head continuous, sharply defined by a gently curved
outline behind, and without a trace of either the vertex or
post-ocular stripes. This is the true _melanocephalus_, as restricted,
and may be regarded as the Rocky Mountain form. The most western
specimen is 11,241, from Fort Bridger; the most northern (19,355),
from Stinking River, Northern Wyoming. All specimens from the Pacific
coast eastward to the western base of the Rocky Mountains, including
Cape St. Lucas and Western Mexico south to Colima, differ from the
Rocky Mountain series in having the posterior outline of the black
hood ragged, and irregularly indented by the rufous of the nape, which
always extends in a quite broad stripe toward the eye, along the side
of the occiput, and quite frequently forms a conspicuous median vertex
stripe, though the latter feature is sometimes not distinct. These
differences are observable only in the males, and, although apparently
slight, are yet sufficiently constant to justify distinguishing them
as races. The Rocky Mountain form being the true _melanocephalus_, the
name _capitalis_ is proposed for the western one.
HABITS. This bird occurs from the high Central Plains to the Pacific,
and from the northern portions of Washington Territory to the
table-lands of Mexico. Mr. Ridgway found this species abundant, during
the summer months, in all the fertile wooded districts along the
entire route of the survey. At Sacramento it was common in the willow
copses, and was observed in the greatest numbers, in May, in the rich
valley of the Truckee, in company with Bullock’s Oriole, the Louisiana
Tanager, and other species, feeding upon the buds of the
“grease-wood.” It principally inhabits the willows along the rivers,
and the shrubbery skirting the streams of the mountain cañons. In its
manners and notes Mr. Ridgway regards this bird as an exact
counterpart of the eastern species, the _Hedymeles ludovicianus_, its
song being by no means superior. The peculiar and very odd _click_ of
the _ludovicianus_ is said to be equally characteristic of this bird.
Mr. Ridgway met with its nests in willows, about ten feet from the
ground. He had evidence that the male bird assists the female in the
duties of incubation.
This bird, though a common summer resident in the Great Salt Lake
Valley, had all migrated, according to Mr. Allen, by the 1st of
September. It is well known there as the Peabird, from its fondness
for green peas, of which it is very destructive.
According to Dr. Cooper, this Grosbeak arrives in California, near San
Diego, about April 12. It is numerous during the summer throughout the
mountains both of the coast and of the Sierra Nevada, and extends its
migrations at least as far as Puget Sound. It is often kept in
confinement on account of its loud, sweet song. In the Coast
Mountains, in May, its music is said to be delightful, the males vying
with each other from the tops of the trees, and making the hills
fairly ring with their melody.
Dr. Cooper found a nest of this bird, May 12, at the eastern base of
the Coast Range. It was built in a low horizontal branch of an alder,
and consisted of a few sticks and weeds, very loosely put together,
with a lining of grass and roots. The eggs, three in number, he
describes as of a pale bluish-white ground, thickly spotted with
brown, more densely near the larger end. Their size he gives as .95 by
.70 of an inch.
Dr. Cooper also states that they frequent the ground in search of
food, but also live much on trees, feeding on their buds. They are not
gregarious, assembling only in family groups in the fall. They do not
fly high, nor do they make any noise in flying.
He has observed these birds at Santa Cruz April 12, or as early as he
saw them at San Diego, three hundred and fifty miles farther south,
and has found a young bird fledged as early as May 23.
Dr. Coues speaks of this bird as an abundant summer resident of
Arizona, where it arrives by the first of May, and remains until the
latter part of September. He speaks of it as frequenting the thick
brush of the ravines and the cottonwood and willow copses of the
river-bottoms. Its call-note resembles that of _Lophortyx gambeli_.
Its song, he says, is superb,—a powerful, but melodious succession of
clear, rich, rolling notes, reminding one somewhat of the _Icterus
baltimore_.
Dr. Suckley speaks of this bird being sparingly found in the vicinity
of Fort Steilacoom, Puget Sound, where he obtained two specimens.
Dr. Heermann speaks of the song of this bird as clear and musical, and
as very closely resembling that of our _Turdus migratorius_. He
describes its nests as formed with very little care, of twigs loosely
thrown together, and lined with roots, placed in the branches of
bushes. The eggs, four in number, he describes as of a greenish-blue
ground, marked with irregular spots of umber-brown, varying in
intensity of shade.
The song of the western species is described by Mr. Nuttall as fully
equal, if not superior, to that of the Rose-breasted. He met with it
on the central table-lands of the Rocky Mountains, along the upper
branches of the Colorado River, where he found it frequenting the
thick groves of the streams, and where, throughout its dense forests,
the powerful song and the inimitable voice of this “most delightful
Finch” cheered that naturalist amidst the wildest desolation of that
“forest primeval,” where this superb vocalist made the woods echo and
re-echo to its untiring song. These notes, greatly resembling those of
its eastern relative, may be heard from early dawn almost even to the
close of the following night. These are described as loud, varied,
high-toned, and melodious, rising and falling with the sweetest
cadence, fascinating the listener most powerfully with sensations of a
pleasing sadness, its closing note seeming like a shrill cry of
appealing distress, and then sinking faintly on the ear. It is
described as very shy and retiring in its habits, and can be but very
rarely observed closely while thus engaged in song. On these occasions
the bird is said to sit up conspicuously on a lofty bough, near the
summit of the tree, his throat swelling with the excitement, and
seeming to take a great delight in the sound of his own music.
Mr. Sumichrast found this bird on the Plateau of Mexico, and also in
the alpine regions of Vera Cruz. It was found to the height of 8,300
feet, and never lower than 4,000.
The eggs of this species are of an oblong-oval shape, one end but
slightly more rounded than the other, and measure 1.10 of an inch in
length by .65 in breadth. They have a bluish-green ground, blotched
and splashed with markings of a rusty-brown, for the most part more
numerous about the larger end.
GENUS GUIRACA, SWAINSON.
_Guiraca_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, Nov. 1827, 350. (Type, _Loxia
cærulea_, L.)
_Coccoborus_, SWAINSON, Class. Birds, II, 1837, 277. (Same type.)
[Illustration: _Guiraca cærulea._]
GEN. CHAR. Bill very large, nearly as high as long; the culmen
slightly curved, with a rather sharp ridge; the commissure
conspicuously angulated just below the nostril, the posterior leg of
the angle nearly as long as the anterior, both nearly straight. Lower
jaw deeper than the upper, and extending much behind the forehead; the
width greater than the length of the gonys, considerably wider than
the upper jaw. A prominent knob in the roof of the mouth. Tarsi
shorter than the middle toe; the outer toe a little longer, reaching
not quite to the base of the middle claw; hind toe rather longer than
to this base. Wings long, reaching the middle of the tail; the
secondaries and tertials nearly equal; the second quill longest; the
first less than the fourth. Tail very nearly even, shorter than the
wings.
The single North American species of this genus has no near relative
in tropical America; indeed, no other species at present known can be
said to be strictly congeneric.
In all essential details of external structure, and in every respect
as to habits and nidification, the type of the genus (_G. cærulea_) is
much more like the species of _Cyanospiza_ than those of _Hedymeles_,
with which latter it has usually been included.
Guiraca cærulea, SWAINSON.
BLUE GROSBEAK.
_Loxia cærulea_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 306.—WILSON, Am. Orn.
III, 1811, 78, pl. xxiv, f. 6.—? WAGLER, Isis, 1831, 525.
_Guiraca cærulea_, SWAINSON, Birds Mex. in Phil. Mag. I, 1827,
438.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 499.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 230.
_Fringilla cærulea_, AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 140; V, 508, pl.
cxxii. _Coccoborus cæruleus_, SW. Birds II, 1837, 277.—AUD.
Syn. 1839.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 204, pl. cciv.—CABANIS,
Mus. Hein. 1851, 152.—FINSCH, Abh. Nat. Brem. 1870, 339
(Mazatlan). _Cyanoloxia cærulea_, BP. Conspectus, 1850, 502.
_Goniaphæa cærulea_, BP. _Blue Grosbeak_, PENNANT, Arc. Zoöl.
II, 1785, 351.
[Illustration: _Guiraca cærulea._]
SP. CHAR. Brilliant blue; darker across the middle of the back. Space
around base of the bill and lores, with tail-feathers, black. Two
bands on the wing across the tips of the middle and secondary coverts,
with outer edges of tertiaries, reddish-brown, or perhaps chestnut.
Feathers on the posterior portion of the under surface tipped narrowly
with grayish-white. Length, 7.25; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.80.
_Female_ yellowish-brown above, brownish-yellow beneath; darkest
across the breast. Wing-coverts and tertials broadly edged with
brownish-yellow. Sometimes a faint trace of blue on the tail. The
young resembles the female.
HAB. More southern United States from Atlantic to Pacific, south to
Costa Rica. Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 365); Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 378); Cordova
(SCL. 1856, 301); Cuba (CAB. J. IV, 9); Vera Paz (SALVIN, Ibis, III,
352); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 102); Vera Cruz, winter (SUM. M. B. S. I,
552); Yucatan (LAWR. IX, 200).
The species described as _Cyanospiza parellina_ in the Birds of North
America, but which so far has not been actually detected north of
Mexico, is a miniature _Guiraca_, more related, however, to the _G.
concreta_ than to _cærulea_. It is easily distinguished from the
latter by more lobed bill, darker back and under parts, absence of
rufous wing-bands, and inferior size. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.50.
Males from the Pacific coast region (California, Colima, etc.) have
tails considerably longer than eastern specimens, while those from
California are of a much lighter and less purplish blue, the
difference being much the same as between _Sialia sialis_ and _S.
azurea_.
Autumnal and winter males have the feathers generally, especially on
the back and breast, tipped with light brown, obscuring somewhat the
blue, though producing a beautiful appearance.
HABITS. The Blue Grosbeak, though more a bird of the Southern States,
is also one both of an extended and of an irregular distribution. It
was even met with one year in the vicinity of Calais, Me., although
none have been known to occur in any part of the country between that
point and New York City. It is found from the Atlantic to the Pacific
coast.
The extent to which it is distributed throughout California is
inferred, rather than known. Dr. Cooper noticed one at Fort Mohave,
May 6, and afterwards saw many more frequenting the trees and bushes
along the river, and singing a lively song, which he compares with
that of the _Carpodacus frontalis_. He also saw them at Los Angeles
and at Santa Barbara, and states that they were found at Pit River, in
the extreme northeastern part of the State, by Dr. Newberry. They were
observed to frequent the banks of streams crossing the great interior
plains and deserts, where there was little vegetation except a few
bushes.
The Blue Grosbeak was only met with by Mr. Ridgway and his party at
Sacramento. It does not occur—or, if so, it was not seen—in the
interior so far to the north as the route of Mr. King’s survey. At
Sacramento it was found frequenting the same localities as the
_Cyanospiza amæna_, and appeared to be characteristic of the
cottonwood copses. Their nests were found between the 18th and the
29th of June, and were all in similar situations. These were built in
small cottonwood-trees, on the edge of the copse, and were all about
six feet from the ground.
Mr. John Burroughs, in one of his charming popular essays[10] on the
general habits of our birds, refers to their occasional preference, in
sites for their nests, of the borders of frequented roadsides, and
mentions finding a nest of the Blue Grosbeak among the trees that line
one of the main streets and fashionable drives leading out of
Washington City, less than half a mile from the boundary. There, he
states, this bird, which, according to Audubon’s observations, is shy
and recluse, affecting remote marshes and the borders of large ponds
of stagnant water, had placed its nest in the lowest twig of the
lowest branch of a large sycamore immediately over a great
thoroughfare, and so near the ground that a person standing in a cart
or sitting on a horse could have reached it with his hand. The nest
was composed mainly of fragments of newspaper and stalks of grass, and
though so low, was remarkably well concealed by one of the peculiar
clusters of twigs and leaves which characterize this tree. The nest
contained young when he discovered it, and though the parent birds
were much annoyed by his loitering about beneath the tree, they paid
but little attention to the stream of vehicles that was constantly
passing. It was a source of wonder to him when the birds could have
built it, as they are so much shyer when building than at other times.
They must have worked mostly in the early morning, when they could
have the place all to themselves. The same observer also noticed
another pair of Blue Grosbeaks that had built their nest in a
graveyard within the city limits. This was placed in a low bush, and
the male continued to sing at intervals till the young were ready to
fly. The song of this bird he describes as a rapid, intricate warble,
like that of the Indigo Bird, though stronger and louder. Indeed,
these two birds so much resemble each other in color, form, voice,
manner, and general habits, that, were it not for the difference in
size,—the Grosbeak being nearly as large again as the Indigo
Bird,—he thinks it would be a hard matter to tell them apart. The
females of both birds are clad in the same reddish-brown suits, as are
also the young during the first season.
The nest of this species has also been found built in a tree within
the grounds of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington.
The only time I ever met with this species was at Carlisle, Penn., in
June, 1843. The previous month Professor Baird had found its nest in a
low tree, in open ground, and we found these birds still frequenting
the same grounds, where we found another nest containing three eggs.
It was in a low thorn-tree on the edge of a wood, but standing out in
open ground. The nest was about five feet from the ground.
The Smithsonian specimens are from Carlisle, Penn., obtained in April,
May, and August; from Georgia, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Mexico,
etc. Mr. Lawrence enumerates this among the birds found near New York
City. Mr. Dresser found it common near Matamoras in July and August.
It was breeding there, though, owing to the lateness of the season, he
was unable to procure any of its eggs. Dr. Coues speaks of it as
generally distributed in Arizona, but nowhere very common. A single
specimen was taken near Fort Whipple, August 10. Turnbull regarded it
as a rare straggler to the southern counties of Pennsylvania and New
Jersey, arriving there in the middle of May. Dr. Woodhouse found it
common in the Indian Territory and Texas. Lieutenant Couch mentions
seeing this bird first near Monterey, the male always preceding the
female. He speaks of them as exceedingly tame. Mr. J. H. Clark states
that this bird was not often seen, and, when observed, was generally
solitary, preferring the dark ravines and the cañons on the
mountain-sides. It is not mentioned by Sumichrast as a bird of Vera
Cruz, but was found during the winter months at Oaxaca, Mexico, by Mr.
Boucard.
Mr. O. Salvin states (Ibis, III, p. 352) that he found this species,
though not of very common occurrence, pretty generally distributed, in
winter, throughout Vera Paz. He met with it on the Plains of Salamà,
and all the collections from the warmer districts to the northward of
Coban contained specimens. It was found by Mr. George H. White near
Mexico.
Wilson speaks of this bird as retired and solitary, and also as a
scarce species, and as having but few notes, its most common one being
a loud _chuck_. He was, however, aware that at times they have a few
low sweet-toned notes. He mentions their being kept in Charleston in
cages, but as seldom singing in confinement. He fed a caged bird of
this species on Indian corn, which it easily broke with its powerful
bill; also on hemp-seed, millet, and berries. He speaks of them as
timid, watchful, silent, and active.
Mr. Audubon was, apparently, somewhat at fault in regard to the
peculiarities of this species. His accounts of the eggs of the
_Pyranga æstiva_ are entirely inapplicable to that species, and, so
far as I know, apply to no other bird than the Blue Grosbeak, to which
they exactly correspond. He makes no mention and gives no description
of the eggs of the latter. His statements as to the nest appear to be
correct.
Dr. Bachman kept several of these birds in an aviary; two of these
mated, took possession of the nest of a Cardinal Grosbeak, which they
drove off, and laid two eggs that were unfortunately destroyed. In the
aviary these birds were silent. Mr. Audubon kept one, in confinement,
with him in Edinburgh. It had been raised from the nest. This bird
frequently sang in the night, and before dawn. It was extremely tame,
coming out or going into its cage at pleasure, perching on the
head-dress of Mrs. Audubon, or on the heads of other members of the
family, alighting on the table and feeding on almost anything given to
it. If a gold or silver coin was thrown upon the table he would go to
it, take it up in his bill, and apparently toss it about with
pleasure. After bathing he would go to the fire and perch on the
fender to dry himself. He would attack other birds, if put into the
cage with him. In feeding he sometimes held his food in his claws like
a Hawk.
The eggs of this bird are of a uniform light-blue color, and most
resemble those of the _Sialia arctica_, but are larger and of a
lighter color. Their color is quite fugitive, and readily fades into a
dull white upon even a slight exposure to light. They are of an oval
shape, equally rounded at either end, and measure .98 of an inch in
length by .65 in breadth.
[10] Atlantic Monthly, XXIII, p. 707.
GENUS CYANOSPIZA, BAIRD.
_Passerina_, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816. Not of LINNÆUS, used in Botany.
_Spiza_, BONAPARTE, Synopsis, 1828. Not of 1825.
_Cyanospiza_, BAIRD. (Type, _Tanagra cyanea_, L.)
[Line drawing: _Cyanospiza amœna._
2645 ♂]
GEN. CHAR. Bill deep at the base, compressed; the upper outline
considerably curved; the commissure rather concave, with an obtuse,
shallow lobe in the middle. Gonys slightly curved. Feet moderate;
tarsus about equal to middle toe; the outer lateral toe barely longer
than the inner, its claw falling short of the base of the middle; hind
toe about equal to the middle without claw. Claws all much curved,
acute. Wings long and pointed, reaching nearly to the middle of the
tail; the second and third quills longest. Tail appreciably shorter
than the wings; rather narrow, very nearly even.
The species of this genus are all of very small size and of showy
plumage, usually blue, red, or green, in well-defined areas. The
females plain olivaceous or brownish; paler beneath.
Species.
A. Head all round uniform blue; eyelids not different,
commissure distinctly sinuated.
_a._ Lower parts blue; no white bands on wing.
1. C. cyanea. Entirely deep ultramarine-blue, more
purplish on the head, somewhat greenish posteriorly.
_Female_ dull umber above, grayish-white beneath, the
breast with obsolete darker streaks. _Hab._ Eastern
Province of United States, south, in winter, to
Panama.
_b._ Lower parts white, the breast rufous. One broad and
distinct, and a narrower, more obsolete white band on
the wing.
2. C. amœna. Head and neck, all round, and rump,
bright greenish-blue; back, wings, and tail more
dusky; a narrow white collar between rufous of the
breast and blue of the throat. _Female_ grayish-brown
above, the rump tinged with blue. Beneath dull
whitish, the breast and jugulum more buffy. _Hab._
Western Province of United States.
B. Head party-colored; eyelids different from adjoining
portions. Commissure hardly appreciably sinuated, or even
concave.
_a._ Back and breast similar in color. Upper mandible
much less deep than lower, the commissure concave.
3. C. versicolor. Back and breast dark wine-purple,
occiput and throat claret-red, forehead and rump
purplish-blue. Eyelids purplish-red. _Female_
fulvous-gray above, uniform pale fulvous below. _Hab._
Northern Mexico, and adjacent borders of United
States; Cape St. Lucas.
_b._ Back and breast very different in color. Upper
mandible scarcely less deep than the lower, the
commissure straight, or slightly sinuated.
4. C. ciris. Lower parts vermilion-red. Back green,
crown blue; rump dull red; eyelids red. _Female_ dull
green above, light olivaceous-yellow below. _Hab._
Gulf States of United States, and whole of Middle
America.
5. C. leclancheri.[11] Lower parts gamboge-yellow.
Back blue, crown green, rump blue; eyelids yellow.
_Female_ not seen. _Hab._ Southern Mexico.
[11] _Cyanospiza leclancheri. Spiza leclancheri_, LAFR. Mag.
Zoöl. 1841, pl. xxii.—LESS. R. Z. 1842, 74.
Cyanospiza cyanea, BAIRD.
INDIGO BIRD.
_Tanagra cyanea_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 315. _Emberiza cyanea_,
GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 876. _Fringilla cyanea_, WILSON, I,
1810, 100, pl. vi, f. 5.—AUD. Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 377; V, 503,
pl. lxxiv. _Passerina cyanea_, VIEILL. Dict. _Spiza cyanea_,
BON. List, 1838.—IB. Consp. 1850, 474.—AUD. Syn. 1839,
109.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 96, pl. clxx. _Cyanospiza
cyanea_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 505.—SAMUELS, 330. _?
Emberiza cyanella_, GM. I, 1788, 887. _? Emberiza cærulea_, GM.
Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 876. _Indigo Bunting_, and _Blue Bunting_,
PENNANT and LATHAM.
SP. CHAR. _Male._ Blue, tinged with ultramarine on the head, throat,
and middle of breast; elsewhere with verdigris-green. Lores and
anterior angle of chin velvet-black. Wing-feathers brown, edged
externally with dull bluish-brown. _Female._ Brown above; whitish,
obscurely streaked or blotched with brownish-yellow, beneath; tinged
with blue on shoulders, edges of larger feathers, and on rump.
Immature males similar, variously blotched with blue. Very young birds
streaked beneath. Length, about 5.75 inches; wing, nearly 3.00.
HAB. Eastern United States to the Missouri; south to Guatemala. Oaxaca
(SCL. 1859, 379); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 304); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I.
17); Cuba (CAB. J. IV, 8); Costa Rica (CAB. JOUR. 1861, 4; LAWR. IX,
103); Vera Cruz, winter (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552).
In this species, which may be considered the type of the genus, the
tail is slightly emarginate; the second quill is longest, the first
shorter than the fourth.
HABITS. The common Indigo Bird of the Eastern States is found in
nearly uniform and tolerable abundance in various parts of the United
States, from the valley of the Missouri to the Atlantic, and from
Florida to New Brunswick. It is a summer visitant, but rare, in
Eastern Maine, but is common in the western part of the State, where
it arrives early in May, and where it breeds. Mr. Allen speaks of it
as not very common in the vicinity of Springfield, Mass., arriving
there about the middle of May, and breeding in gardens, orchards, and
the edges of woods, and making its nests in bushes. It leaves there
about the middle of September.
In the eastern part of the State it is very unequally distributed. In
certain localities it has not been met with, but in other favorite
places it seems to be quite common, and to be on the increase. In the
gardens of Brookline and Roxbury they are comparatively quite
abundant. Mr. Maynard gives May 10 as the earliest date of their
coming. He also states that in the autumn they are found in flocks,
and frequent roadsides, high sandy fields, and rocky pastures, which I
have never noticed. According to Dr. Coues, it is common and breeds as
far south as Columbia, S. C., and, according to Mr. McIlwraith, it is
a common summer resident in the neighborhood of Hamilton, Canada West.
Specimens have been procured as far west as Fort Riley in Kansas. It
passes the winter in Guatemala, where it is quite abundant, though a
very large proportion of specimens received from there, in
collections, are immature birds. It was not found in Vera Cruz by Mr.
Sumichrast, nor is it given by Mr. Allen as found by him in Western
Iowa, while it was common both in Northern Illinois and in Indiana. It
was, however, found by Mr. Allen, in Kansas, in considerable numbers,
near Leavenworth, in the spring of 1871. It was not met with by Mr.
Dresser in Southwestern Texas, though Dr. Woodhouse found it quite
common in the prairies of that State, where its pleasant song was
heard in the timber on their edges, or in the thickets on the borders
of the streams in the Indian Territory, where it was quite abundant.
It was not observed on the Mexican Boundary Survey.
These birds were found, by Mr. Boucard, abundant throughout the State
of Oaxaca, Mexico, having been taken both among the mountains near
Totontepec, and among the hot lowlands near Plaza Vicente.
According to Wilson, this bird is not noticed in Pennsylvania much, if
any, earlier than its first appearance in New England, and it leaves
at about the same time. He observed it in great abundance both in
South Carolina and Georgia.
In manners it is active and sprightly, and its song is vigorous and
pleasant. It is considered a better singer than either the _ciris_ or
the _amœna_. It usually stations itself, in singing, on some high
position, the top of a tree or of a chimney, where it chants its
peculiar and charming song for quite a space of time. Its song
consists of a repetition of short notes, at first loud and rapid, but
gradually less frequent, and becoming less and less distinct. It sings
with equal animation both in May and July, and its song may be
occasionally heard even into August, and not less during the noonday
heat of summer than in the cool of the morning. Nuttall describes its
animated song as a lively strain, composed of a repetition of short
notes. The most common of its vocal expressions sounds like
_tshe-tshe-tshe_, repeated several times. While the female is engaged
in the cares of incubation, or just as the brood has appeared, the
song of the male is said to be much shortened. In the village of
Cambridge, Nuttall observed one of this species regularly chanting its
song from the point of a forked lightning-rod, on a very tall house.
The Indigo Bird usually builds its nest in the centre of a low thick
bush. The first nest I ever met with was built in a thick sumach that
had grown up at the bottom of a deep excavation, some fifteen feet
below the surface, and but two feet above the base of the shrub. This
same nest was occupied five successive summers. It was almost wholly
built of matting that the birds had evidently taken from the ties of
our grapevines. Each year the nest was repaired with the same
material. Once only they had two broods in one season. The second
brood was not hatched out until September, and the family was not
ready to migrate until after nearly all its kindred had assembled and
gone. This nest, though principally made of bare matting, was very
neatly and thoroughly lined with hair. Other nests are made of coarse
grasses and sedges, and all are usually lined in a similar manner.
Audubon and Wilson describe the eggs of this bird as blue, with
purplish spots at the larger end. All that I have ever seen are white,
with a slight tinge of greenish or blue, and unspotted. I have never
been able to meet with a spotted egg of this bird, the identification
of which was beyond suspicion. They are of a rounded-oval shape, one
side is only a little more pointed than the other. They measure .75 of
an inch in length by .58 in breadth. They resemble the eggs of _C.
amœna_, but are smaller, and are not so deeply tinged with blue.
Cyanospiza amœna, BAIRD.
LAZULI FINCH.
_Emberiza amœna_, SAY, Long’s Exped. II, 1823, 47. _Fringilla
(Spiza) amœna_, BONAP. Am. Orn. I, 1825, 61, pl. vi, f. 5.
_Fringilla amœna_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 64, 230, pls.
cccxcviii and ccccxxiv. _Spiza amœna_, BONAP. List, 1838.—AUD.
Syn. 1839, 109.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 100, pl. clxxi.—MAX.
Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 283.—HEERM. X, s, 46. _Cyanospiza amœna_,
BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 504.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 205.—COOPER,
Orn. Cal. 1, 233.
[Illustration: _Cyanospiza amœna._]
SP. CHAR. _Male._ Upper parts generally, with the head and neck all
round, greenish-blue; the interscapular region darker. Upper part of
breast pale brownish-chestnut extending along the sides and separated
from the blue of the throat by a faint white crescent; rest of under
parts and axillars white. A white patch on the middle wing-coverts,
and an obscurely indicated white band across the ends of the greater
coverts. Loral region black. Length, about 5.50; wing, 3.90; tail,
2.60.
_Female._ Brown above, tinged with blue on rump and tail; whitish
beneath, tinged with buff on the breast and throat; faint white bands
on wings.
HAB. High Central Plains to the Pacific.
This species is about the size of _C. cyanea_; the bill exactly
similar. The females of the two species are scarcely distinguishable,
except by the faint traces of one or two white bands on the wings in
_amœna_. Sometimes both the throat and the upper part of the breast
are tinged with pale brownish-buff.
HABITS. The Lazuli Finch was first obtained by Mr. Say, who met with
it in Long’s expedition. It was observed, though rarely, along the
banks of the Arkansas River during the summer months, as far as the
base of the Rocky Mountains. It was said to frequent the bushy
valleys, keeping much in the grass, after its food, and seldom
alighting on either trees or shrubs.
Townsend, who found this rather a common bird on the Columbia,
regarded it as shy and retiring in its habits, the female being very
rarely seen. It possesses lively and pleasing powers of song, which it
pours forth from the upper branches of low trees. Its nests were
usually found placed in willows along the margins of streams, and were
composed of small sticks, fine grasses, and buffalo-hair.
Mr. Nuttall found the nest of this bird fastened between the stem and
two branches of a large fern. It was funnel-shaped, being six inches
in height and three in breadth.
This bird possibly occurs quite rarely, as far east as the
Mississippi, as I have what is said to be its egg taken from a nest
near St. Louis. It only becomes abundant on the plains. Mr. Ridgway
found it very generally distributed throughout his route, inhabiting
all the bushy localities in the fertile districts. He regarded it as,
in nearly every respect, the exact counterpart of the eastern _C.
cyanea_. The notes of the two birds are so exactly the same that their
song would be undistinguishable but for the fact that in the _amœna_
it is appreciably weaker. He found their nests usually in the low
limbs of trees, near their extremity, and only a few feet from the
ground. Mr. J. A. Allen found this species common in Colorado, more so
among the foot-hills than on the plains, but does not appear to have
met with it in Kansas.
This species, Mr. Lord states, visits Vancouver Island and British
Columbia early in the summer, arriving at the island in May, and
rather later east of the Cascades. The song of the male is said to be
feeble, and only now and then indulged in, as if to cheer his more
sombre partner during incubation. The nest, he adds, is round and open
at the top, composed of various materials worked together, lined with
hair, and placed in a low bush, usually by the side of a stream.
The Lazuli Finch was met with in large numbers, and many of their
nests procured, by Mr. Xantus, in the neighborhood of Ft. Tejon,
California. Indeed, it is a very abundant species generally on the
Pacific coast, and is found at least as far north as Puget Sound,
during the summer. It arrives at San Diego, according to Dr. Cooper,
about April 22, and remains there until October. A male bird, kept in
a cage over winter, was found to retain its blue plumage. It is a
favorite cage-bird in California, where it is absurdly known as the
Indigo Bird. During the summer months, according to Dr. Cooper, there
is hardly a grove in the more open portions of the State uninhabited
by one or more pairs of this beautiful species. Although the female is
very shy and difficult to obtain, except on the nest, the male is not
timid, and frequently sings his lively notes from the top of some bush
or tree, continuing musical in all weathers and throughout the summer.
He describes its song as unvaried, as rather monotonous, and closely
resembling that of _C. cyanea_.
Their nest, he adds, is usually built in a bush, not more than three
or four feet from the ground, formed of fibrous roots, strips of bark,
and grass, with a lining of vegetable down or hair, and securely bound
to the surrounding branches. The eggs, five in number, he describes as
white, faintly tinged with blue. At Santa Barbara he found them
freshly laid May 6.
These birds are never gregarious, though the males come in
considerable flocks in the spring, several days before the females.
They travel at night, arriving at Santa Cruz about April 12. A nest
found by Dr. Cooper, May 7, in a low bush close to a public road, was
about three feet from the ground. It was very strongly built,
supported by a triple fork of the branch, and was composed of blades
of grass firmly interwoven, and lined with horsehair and cobwebs. It
measured three inches in height and three and three fourths in width.
The cavity was two inches deep and one and three fourths wide.
In Arizona Dr. Coues found this bird a summer resident, but not
abundant.
At Puget Sound this bird arrives about May 15. Dr. Suckley states that
in Oregon it was observed returning from the south, in large flocks,
in one instance of several hundred individuals.
The eggs of the Lazuli, when fresh, are of a light blue, which on the
least exposure soon fades into a bluish-white. They are almost exactly
oval in shape, and measure .75 by .60 of an inch. One end is somewhat
more rounded, but the difference is slight.
Cyanospiza versicolor, BAIRD.
VARIED BUNTING.
_Spiza versicolor_, BON. Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1837, 120.—IB. Conspectus
Av. 1850, 475.—CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 148. _Carduelis
luxuosus_, LESSON, Rev. Zoöl. 1839, 41. _Cyanospiza
versicolor_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 503, pl. lvi, f.
2.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 234.
SP. CHAR. Posterior half of hood, with throat, dark brownish-red;
interscapular region similar, but darker. Forepart of hood, lesser
wing-coverts, back of the neck, and rump, purplish-blue; the latter
purest blue; the belly reddish-purple, in places tinged with blue,
more obscure posteriorly. Feathers of wing and tail dark-brown, edged
with dull bluish. Loral region and narrow frontal band black. Feathers
on side of rump white at base. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.38.
_Female._ Yellowish-brown; paler beneath, and lightest behind. No
white on wing. Tail with a bluish gloss.
HAB. Northern Mexico, and Cape St. Lucas. Xalapa (SCL. 1859, 365);
Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 379); Orizaba (SCL. 1857, 214); (SUM. M. B. S. I,
551; breeding); Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 17).
The bill is stouter and more swollen to the end, and the mandible is
much more curved than that of _C. cyanea_; and its perfectly concave
commissure, without any shallow lobe in the middle, and the much more
arched ridge, would almost separate the two generically. The wing is
shorter and more rounded, the fourth quill longest, then the third,
second, and fifth. The first is only a little longer than the seventh.
The tail is decidedly rounded; rather more so than in _C. cyanea_.
The female is very similar to those of _C. amœna_ and _cyanea_. The
former has whitish bands on the wing; the latter differs in shape of
bill, and has the first quill but little less than the second, or
longest; not shorter than the sixth. In 34,033 ♂, Cape St. Lucas (June
26), the colors are much brighter than in any other of the collection.
The whole occiput is bright scarlet, and the forehead nearly pure
light blue, neither having scarcely a tinge of purple.
Autumnal and winter males have the bright tints very slightly obscured
by grayish-brown tips to the feathers, especially on the back. The
female in autumn is much more brown above and more rusty beneath than
in spring.
HABITS. This beautiful species has only doubtful claims to a place in
our fauna. It is a Mexican species, and may occasionally cross into
our territory. It was met with at Boquillo, in the Mexican State of
New Leon, by Lieutenant Couch. It was procured in Guatemala by Dr. Van
Patten and by Salvin, and is given by Bonaparte as from Peru. It is
also found at Cape St. Lucas, where it is not rare, and where it
breeds.
This bird is also found at Orizaba, according to Sumichrast, but is
quite rare in the State of Vera Cruz. Its common name is _Prusiano_.
Its geographical distribution he was not able satisfactorily to
ascertain.
Among the memoranda of Mr. Xantus made at Cape St. Lucas, we find the
following in connection with this species: 517, nest and three eggs of
_Cyanospiza versicolor_; obtained May 5 on a myrtle hanging down from
very high perpendicular bluffs, off the Trajoles, at Cape St. Lucas.
1535, nest and eggs of the same found on a vine ten feet high.
Specimens of this species were taken by Mr. Boucard at Oaxaca, Mexico,
during the winter months.
Cyanospiza ciris, BAIRD.
NONPAREIL; PAINTED BUNTING.
_Emberiza ciris_, LINN. Kong. Sv. Vet. Akad. Hand. 1750, 278; tab.
vii, f. 1.—IB. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 313.—WILSON, Am. Orn. III,
1811, 68, pl. xxiv, f. 1, 2. _Passerina ciris_, VIEILLOT, Gal.
Ois. I, 1824, 81, pl. lxvi. _Fringilla ciris_, AUD. Orn. Biog.
I, 1832, 279; V, 517, pl. liii. _Spiza ciris_, BON. List,
1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850, 476.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 108.—IB.
Birds Am. III, 1841, 93, pl. clxix. _Cyanospiza ciris_, BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, 503.—IB. Mex. Bound. II, Birds, 17, pl.
xviii, f. 2.—HEERM. X, c, p. 14. _? Fringilla mariposa_,
SCOPOLI, Annals Hist. Nat. I, 1769, 151. _Painted Finch_,
CATESBY, PENNANT.
SP. CHAR. _Male._ Head and neck all round ultramarine-blue, excepting
a narrow stripe from the chin to the breast, which, with the under
parts generally, the eyelids, and the rump (which is tinged with
purplish), are vermilion-red. Edges of chin, loral region, greater
wing-coverts, inner tertiary, and interscapular region, green; the
middle of the latter glossed with yellow. Tail-feathers, lesser
wing-coverts, and outer webs of quills, purplish-blue. Length, about
5.50 inches; wing, 2.70.
_Female._ Clear dark green above; yellowish beneath. _Young_, like
female.
HAB. South Atlantic and Gulf States to the Pecos River, Texas; south
into Middle America to Panama; S. Illinois (RIDGWAY); Honduras (SCL.
1858, 358); Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 379); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 304);
Guatemala (SCL. Ibis, I, 17); Honduras (SCL. II, 10); Cuba (CAB. J.
IV, 8); Veragua (SALV. 1867, 142); Costa Rica (LAWR. IX, 102); Vera
Cruz, winter (SUM. M. B. S. I, 552); Yucatan (LAWR. IX, 200).
Tail very slightly emarginated and rounded; second, third, and fourth
quills equal; first rather shorter than the fifth.
The female is readily distinguishable from that of _C. cyanea_ by the
green instead of dull brown of the back, and the yellow of the under
parts.
Specimens of this species from all parts of its range appear to be
quite identical.
HABITS. The Nonpareil or Painted Bunting of the Southern and
Southeastern States has a somewhat restricted distribution, not being
found any farther to the north on the Atlantic Coast than South
Carolina and Georgia, and probably only in the more southern portions
of those States. It has been traced as far to the west as Texas. It
was also met with at Monterey, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch, and in
winter by Mr. Boucard, at Plaza Vicente, Oaxaca.
Mr. Dresser found it very common both at Matamoras and at San Antonio,
breeding in both places. Dr. Coues did not meet with it in Columbia,
S. C., and considers it as confined to the low country, and as rare
even there. It breeds about the city of Charleston, S. C., from which
neighborhood I have received its eggs in considerable numbers, from
Dr. Bachman. It is also found in the lower counties of Georgia, and
breeds in the vicinity of Savannah. It was not met with by Dr.
Gerhardt in the northern portion of that State. Dr. Woodhouse found it
quite abundant in all parts of Texas, where he tells us the sweet
warblings of this beautiful and active little Finch added much to the
pleasures of his trip across the prairies. Its favorite places of
resort appeared to be small thickets, and when singing it selected the
highest branches of a bush.
In the Report on the birds of the Mexican Boundary Survey, Lieutenant
Couch met with this species among the low hedges in the suburbs of
Pesqueria Grande. Mr. J. H. Clark observed that the individuals of
this species diminished as they proceeded westward. The male was
almost always seen alone, flying a long distance for so small a bird.
Their nests, he adds, were built of very fine grass, in low bushes,
and resting in the crotch of the twigs. Males were never seen about
the nest, but the females were so gentle as to allow themselves to be
taken off the nest, which was deliberately done on more than one
occasion.
Dr. Kennerly reports having often listened to the melodious warblings
of this beautiful Finch in the vicinity of San Antonio, Texas, where
he found it very abundant among the thick mesquite-bushes, in the
month of July. It was deservedly a great favorite there, both on
account of the beauty of its plumage and its notes.
Wilson found this bird one of the most numerous summer birds of Lower
Louisiana, where it was universally known among the French inhabitants
as _Le Pape_. Its gay dress and its docility of manners procured it
many admirers. Wilson also states that he met with these birds in the
low countries of all the Southern States, in the vicinity of the sea
and along the borders of the large rivers, particularly among the rice
plantations. He states that a few were seen near the coast in North
Carolina, but they were more numerous in South Carolina, and still
more so in Georgia, especially the lower parts. At Natchez, on the
Mississippi, they were comparatively scarce, but below Baton Rouge, on
the levee, they appeared in great numbers. Around New Orleans they
were warbling from almost every fence. Their notes very much resemble
those of the Indigo Bird, but lack their energy, and are more feeble
and concise.
Wilson met with these birds very generally in the houses of the French
inhabitants of New Orleans. In the aviary of a wealthy French planter
near Bayou Fourche, he found two pairs of these birds so far
reconciled to their confinement as to have nests and hatch out their
eggs. Wilson was of the opinion that with the pains given to the
Canary these birds would breed with equal facility. Six of them,
caught only a few days before his departure, were taken with him by
sea. They soon became reconciled to their cage, and sang with great
sprightliness. They were very fond of flies, and watched with great
eagerness as the passengers caught them for their benefit, assembling
in the front of the cage and stretching their heads through the wires
to receive them.
These birds, he states, arrive in Louisiana from the South about the
middle of April, and build early in May. They reach Savannah about the
20th of April. Their nests are usually fixed in orange hedges or in
the lower branches of the trees. He often found them in common bramble
and blackberry bushes. They are formed exteriorly of dry grass
intermingled with the silk of caterpillars, with hair and fine
rootlets. Some nests had eggs as late as the 25th of June, which were
probably a second brood. The food of this bird consists of rice,
insects, and various kinds of seeds. They also feed on the seeds of
ripe figs.
A single specimen of this species was detected by Mr. Ridgway in
Southern Illinois between Olney and Mount Carmel, on the 10th of June.
It is therefore presumed to be a rare summer resident in that
locality.
The Nonpareil is possessed of a very pugnacious disposition, and,
according to Mr. Audubon, the bird-dealers of New Orleans take
advantage of this peculiarity in a very ingenious manner to trap them.
A male bird is stuffed and set up in an attitude of defence on the
platform of a trap-cage. The first male bird of this species that
notices it is sure to make an attack upon it, and is at once trapped.
So pertinacious are they that even when thus imprisoned the captive
repeats its attack upon its supposed rival. They feed almost
immediately upon being caught, and usually thrive in confinement,
Audubon mentioning one that had been caged for ten years.
This bird is very easily made to breed in confinement. Dr. Bachman has
had a single pair thus raise three broods in a season.
The eggs of this species measure .80 by .65 of an inch, and do not at
all resemble the eggs of the _cyanea_ or _amœna_. They have a dull or
pearly-white ground, and are very characteristically marked with
blotches and dots of purplish and reddish brown.
GENUS SPERMOPHILA, SWAINSON.
_Spermophila_, SWAINSON, Zoöl. Jour. III, Nov. 1827, 348. (Type,
_Pyrrhula falcirostris_, TEMM. Sufficiently distinct from
_Spermophilus_, F. CUV. 1822.)
_Sporophila_, CABANIS, Mus. Hein. 1851, 148. (Type, _Fringilla
hypoleuca_, LICHT.)
[Line drawing: _Spermophila moreleti._
30524 ♂]
GEN. CHAR. Bill very short and very much curved, as in _Pyrrhula_,
almost as deep as long; the commissure concave, abruptly bent towards
the end. Tarsus about equal to middle toe; inner toe rather the longer
(?), reaching about to the base of the middle one; hind toe to the
middle of this claw. Wings short, reaching over the posterior third of
the exposed part of the tail; the tertiaries gradually longer than the
secondaries, neither much shorter than the primaries, which are
graduated, and but little different in length, the first shorter than
the sixth, the second and fourth equal. The tail is about as long as
the wings, rounded, all the feathers slightly graduated, rather
sharply acuminate and decidedly mucronate. Smallest of American
passerine birds.
The essential characters of this genus are the small, very convex
bill, as high as long; the short broad wings, with the quills
differing little in length, the outer ones graduated; the tail as long
as the wings, widened towards the end, and slightly graduated, with
the acuminate and mucronate tip to the feathers.
Many species of the genus occur in Middle and South America, although
none not readily distinguishable from the single North American one.
Spermophila moreleti, PUCHERAN.
LITTLE SEED-EATER.
_Spermophila moreleti_, (PUCHERAN,) BONAP. Conspectus, 1850,
497.—SCLATER, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1856, 302.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 506, pl. liv, f. 2, 3.—IB. Mex. Bound. II, Birds, 17,
pl. xvi, f. 2, 3. _Sporophila moreleti_, CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851,
150.—IB. Journ. für. Orn. IX, 1861, 4 (with synonomy).
_Spermophila albigularis_, (SPIX,) LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyceum,
V, Sept. 1851, 124 (Texas. Not of SPIX).
SP. CHAR. The top and sides of the head, back of the neck, a broad
band across the upper part of the breast extending all round, the
middle of the back, the wings and tail, with the posterior upper
coverts, black. The chin, upper throat and neck all round, but
interrupted behind, the rump, with the remaining under and lateral
portions of the body, white; the latter tinged with brownish-yellow.
Two bands on the wing, across the greater and middle coverts, with the
concealed bases of all the quills, also white. Length, about 4 inches;
wing, 2.05; tail, 1.90.
_Female._ Dull yellow; olivaceous above, brownish-yellow beneath.
Wings and tail somewhat as in the male.
HAB. Rio Grande of Texas; south to Costa Rica. Xalapa (SCL. 1859,
365); Oaxaca (SCL. 1859, 378); Cordova (SCL. 1856, 302); Guatemala
(SCL. Ibis, I, 17; SALV. Ibis, I, 468; nest); Costa Rica (CAB. J.
1861, 4); Vera Cruz, winter, alpine region, breeding (SUM. M. B. S. I,
551).
[Illustration: _Spermophila moreleti._]
The specimen upon which the preceding description of the male has been
based is the only one in full plumage we have seen, and was kindly
lent by Mr. P. L. Sclater. It was collected in Honduras. Some of the
feathers of the back have grayish tips. The specimen described by Mr.
Lawrence as _S. albigularis_, though male, is, in most respects, like
the female, except that the wings and tail are darker, the color of
the upper part grayer, and the interscapular feathers blotched with
black. The black of the head is strongly indicated, the feathers,
however, all with gray margins. In this and another, a little further
advanced, from San Diego, Mexico, (4096,) there is a very faint
indication of the black pectoral band, and there is no trace of the
whitish of the rump.
HABITS. This pretty little tropical form of Sparrow can only rest a
claim to be included in our fauna by its occasional presence on the
Rio Grande in Texas. It is found throughout Mexico and Central
America.
Mr. Sumichrast found it throughout the State of Vera Cruz, except only
in the elevated or alpine regions. Its common name was _Frailecito_.
It was abundant throughout the hot and the temperate regions as well
as the plateau.
This species was first met with near the Lake of Peten, in Guatemala,
by M. Morelet, and was described from his specimens in the Paris
Museum by Prince Bonaparte. Mr. Salvin found it a not uncommon species
about Dueñas, where it is generally to be found amongst the tall weeds
on the edge of the lake. It was also found at Belize. From a letter of
Mr. Salvin, published in the Ibis of 1859 (p. 468), we quote the
following in reference to the nest of this species, which is all the
information we have in relation to this diminutive Sparrow: “A day or
two ago I found two nests of _Spermophila moreleti_, and took one
rotten dried-up egg from one with a young one in it. Nothing could be
more different than this nest and that of _S. bicolor_, so well
described by Mr. Newton. That of _S. moreleti_, instead of the loose
domed structure of _S. bicolor_, with a large side-entrance, composed
entirely of one material, is one of the neatest nests you ever saw,—a
beautiful, open, transparent nest, composed of fine roots and fibres,
and lined with horsehair. It is not placed resting on a branch, but is
suspended like a Reed Warbler’s (_Salicaria arundinacea_), by several
small twigs. The eggs, too, differ materially.” Mr. Salvin gives no
description of these eggs.
This bird was found a resident during the winter months, and in May
also, at Plaza Vicente, in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. This is in the
low or hot lands of that region.
GENUS PHONIPARA, BONAP.
_Phonipara_, BONAPARTE, 1850. (Type, _Loxia canora_, GM.)
[Illustration: _Phonipara zena._]
GEN. CHAR. Size very small. Wing considerably longer than the tail,
but much rounded; third or fourth quill longest; first about equal to
seventh. Tail very slightly rounded, the feathers broad. Bill very
short and deep, but the depth through the base less than the culmen;
culmen but slightly, or not appreciably, curved; bill much compressed.
Feet stout; tarsi longer than the middle toe; outer toe longer than
the inner, its claw just reaching the base of the middle claw; hind
toe with the claw very large, and strongly curved. Among the least of
American _Fringillidæ_.
The introduction of this genus into the North American fauna is the
result of Mr. Maynard’s indefatigable labors in the exploration of
Florida. The species are principally West Indian, a single race alone
belonging to the continental portion of Middle America.
Species and Varieties.
COMMON CHARACTERS. Sexes very different. Above olive-green,
beneath blackish or whitish. ♂. Head and breast black, the
former with or without yellow patches. ♀ with the yellow and
black indicated only, or wanting. Length, about 4.00.
A. Head without any yellow.
1. P. zena. Culmen decidedly curved. Above dull grayish
olive-green. ♂. Head and lower parts, especially
anteriorly, dull black, mixed with whitish posteriorly.
♀. Head and beneath ashy. Wing, about 2.00; tail, 1.75.
_Hab._ West Indies (Cuba, Hayti, Porto Rico, St.
Bartholomew, Jamaica, etc.); also Key West, Florida
(MAYNARD).
B. Head with yellow patches.
2. P. pusilla. Culmen perfectly straight. Above rather
bright olive-green. ♂, a supraloral stripe, a patch on
chin, and upper part of throat, with edge of wing,
bright yellow; forehead, lores, and jugulum black. ♀
with the black and yellow only indicated, or wanting.
Whole crown, cheeks, breast, and upper part of abdomen
black. _Hab._ Middle America, from Mirador to Panama,
and southward var. _pusilla_.[12]
Only isolated spots, covering forehead, lore, and base
of lower jaw, and patch on jugulum, black. _Hab._ West
Indies. (Porto Rico, Hayti, Jamaica, Cuba, etc.)
var. _olivacea_.[13]
3. P. canora.[14] Culmen decidedly curved. Above bright
olive-green; beneath pale ashy, whitish on anal region.
A bright yellow broad crescent across the lower part of
the throat, curving upward and forward, behind and over
the auriculars, to above the eye. ♂. Lores, auriculars,
and chin, and a band across the jugulum, black. ♀. Chin,
etc., chestnut-brown; no black on jugulum. _Hab._ Cuba.
[12] _Tiaris pusilla_, SWAINSON, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 438.
_Phonipara pusilla_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1855, 159.
[13] _Emberiza olivacea_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 309.
_Phonipara olivacea_, SCLATER, P. Z. S. 1855, 159.
[14] _Loxia canora_, GMELIN, Syst. Nat. I, 858. _Phonipara
canora_, BONAP.
Phonipara zena, BRYANT.
THE BLACK-FACED FINCH.
_Fringilla zena_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, (ed. 10,) 1758, 183 (based on
_Passer bicolor bahamensis_, CATESBY, Carol. I, tab. 37,
Bahamas).—BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. N. H. X, 1865, 254.
_Fringilla bicolor_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, (ed. 12,) 1766, 324
(same original as _zena_). _Spermophila bicolor_, GOSSE
(Jamaica). _Phonipara bicolor_, NEWTON (St. Croix). _? Tiaris
omissa_, JARDINE, Ann. Nat. Hist. 1847, 332 (Tobago).
_Phonipara omissa_, SCLATER. _Phonipara marchi_, BAIRD, Pr. A.
N. Sc. Phila. Nov. 1863, 297 (Jamaica). _Fringilla zena_, var.
_marchi_, BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc. 1867, 43. _Fringilla
(Phonipara) zena_, var. _portoricensis_, BRYANT, Pr. Bost. Soc.
X, 1865, 254 (Porto Rico).
SP. CHAR. _Male adult_ (627, Bryant coll.; Inagua). Above dull
olive-green, the head and lower parts black, the two colors blending
insensibly into each other; feathers of the middle of the abdomen and
crissum edged with whitish. Wing, 2.10; tail, 1.80, culmen, .35;
tarsus, .63; middle toe, .50.
_Female adult_ (983, Bryant coll.; Inagua). Above dull olive-green,
beneath ashy, whitish on the abdomen and crissum; no black. Wing,
2.10.
_Male juv._ (981, Bryant coll.; Inagua). Like the adult female, but
the head anteriorly, the chin, throat, and jugulum medially, black.
Wing, 2.05.
HAB. West Indies (Bahamas; Jamaica, Porto Rico; St. Croix, Tobago?).
Quite a large series of this species from the various West Indian
Islands show a considerable variation in the amount of black in male
birds; nothing characteristic of the different islands, however, for,
in specimens from each, individuals are to be found agreeing in every
respect with the stages described above.
HABITS. The Black-faced Finch of Jamaica and other West India Islands
claims a place in the fauna of the United States as an occasional
visitant of Florida; of how common occurrence on that peninsula we
cannot determine. It was taken there in the spring of 1871 by Mr.
Maynard, and is possibly an accidental rather than a regular visitant.
It is found in many of the West India Islands, though being resident
in their several places of abode, they naturally exhibit certain
characteristics as of distinct races. The eggs of the St. Croix bird
differ considerably from those of the Jamaica one.
The Messrs. Newton, in their account of the birds of St. Croix,
mention this bird as having a Bunting-like song, heard always very
early in the morning. It is said to frequent the curing-houses,
hopping on the uncovered sugar-hogsheads, and making a plentiful meal
therefrom. It is very sociable, and feeds in small flocks, mostly on
the ground among the guinea-grass. The crops of those dissected were
usually found to contain small seeds. They build domed nests in low
bushes, thickets of bamboo, or among creepers against the side of a
house, seldom more than four feet from the ground, composed entirely
of dry grass, the interior being lined with finer materials of the
same. The opening is on one side, and is large for the size of the
nest. They breed from the middle of May to the end of July. The eggs
are white, spotted with red, especially at the larger end. The usual
number of eggs is three, very rarely four. Their measurement is .65 by
.50 of an inch.
In Jamaica Mr. March speaks of it as the most common of the Grass
Finches, of which there are three other species, and as nesting at all
seasons of the year in low trees and bushes. Near homesteads, in
building their domed nests, they make use of shreds, scraps of cloth,
bits of cotton, and other trash. Their eggs, he says, are three and
sometimes even six in number; and he mentions their varying both as to
dimensions and coloring, which may explain the difference between the
eggs from St. Croix and Jamaica. Those from the latter place measure
.72 by .50 of an inch, and the markings are more of a brown than a red
color.
Mr. Hill adds that the Grass Finch very frequently selects a shrub on
which the wasps have built, fixing the entrance close to their cells.
Mr. Gosse states that the only note of this species is a single harsh
guttural squeak, difficult either to imitate or to describe.
GENUS PYRRHULOXIA, BONAP.
_Pyrrhuloxia_, BONAPARTE, Conspectus, 1850, 500. (Type, _Cardinalis
sinuatus_, BON.)
GEN. CHAR. The bill is very short and much curved, the culmen forming
an arc of a circle of 60 degrees or more, and ending at a right angle
with the straight gonys; the commissure abruptly much angulated
anterior to the nostrils in its middle point; the lower jaw very much
wider than the upper, and wider than the gonys is long; anterior
portion of commissure straight. Tarsus longer than middle toe; outer
lateral toes longer, not reaching the base of the middle; wing
considerably rounded, first quill longer than secondaries. Tail much
longer than the wing, graduated; the feathers broad, truncate. Head
crested.
[Line drawing: _Pyrrhuloxia sinuata._
6370]
_Color._ Gray, with red feathers and patches.
The essential character of this genus lies in the greatly curved, very
short, and broad bill, something like that of _Pyrrhula_. In other
respects like _Cardinalis_, but with less graduated wing, and longer
and broader tail.
Pyrrhuloxia sinuata, BONAP.
TEXAS CARDINAL.
_Cardinalis sinuatus_, BP. Pr. Zoöl. Soc. Lond. V, 1837, 111
(Mexico).—LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1851, 116.—CASSIN,
Illust. I, VII, 1854, 204, pl. xxxiii. _Pyrrhuloxia sinuata_,
BON. Consp. 1850, 500.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 508.—HEERM.
X, c. 16.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 236.
SP. CHAR. Head with an elongated, pointed crest, springing from the
crown. Upper parts generally pale ashy-brown; hood, sides of neck, and
under parts of body, rather paler. Long crest-feathers, bill all round
including lores and encircling the eye, wing and tail, dark crimson.
Chin and upper part of throat, breast, and median line of the belly,
under tail-coverts, tibia, edge and inner coverts of the wings, bright
carmine-red. Bill yellowish. Length, about 8.50; wing, 3.75; tail,
4.50.
_Female_ similar, with the under part brownish-yellow; middle of belly
and throat only tinged with red.
HAB. Valley of the Rio Grande of Texas and westward; Cape St. Lucas;
Mazatlan, Mexico.
[Illustration: _Pyrrhuloxia sinuata._]
The wing is considerably rounded, the fourth and fifth quills longest;
the first as long as the secondaries, the second longer than the
seventh. The tail is long, graduated on the sides, the outer about
half an inch shorter than the middle. The feathers are very broad to
the end and obliquely truncate. They are rather broader than in
_Cardinalis virginianus_. The crest is narrower and longer, and
confined to the middle of the crown; it extends back about 1.80 inches
from the base of the bill.
The carmine of the breast is somewhat hidden by grayish tips to the
feathers; that of the throat is streaked a little with darker. The
exposed surfaces of the wing-coverts and of secondaries and tertials
are like the back. The tail-feathers are tipped with brownish.
Specimens from Cape St. Lucas are very much smaller than any others,
measuring only, wing, 3.30; tail, 3.80. The crest is dull carmine,
instead of dark wine-purple; the red tinge on wing and tail much
fainter, and the sides, as well as the gray tints everywhere, more
brownish; there is none of that dark burnt-carmine tint to the red of
lores and cheeks observable in all the Texas specimens. No. 49,758,
Camp Grant, Arizona, is like the Cape St. Lucas birds in colors,
except that the crest is dusky, but the proportions are those of the
Rio Grande series.
HABITS. The Texan Cardinal was originally described as a bird of
Mexico by Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte in the Proceedings of the
Zoölogical Society of London. It has since been ascertained to inhabit
the southern central portions of our country, its range of extension
northerly bringing it within the limits of the United States. In
Texas, on the Rio Grande, it is resident throughout the year, or of
but limited migration in the coldest weather. It was not observed by
Dr. Coues in Arizona, but is said to occur in the southern portion of
that Territory. It was found breeding at Cape St. Lucas by Mr. Xantus.
It is not named by Sumichrast among the birds of Vera Cruz.
Its habits are said to be of the same general character with those of
our common Cardinal.
The specimens from which this bird was first described were procured
in the vicinity of the city of Mexico. The first obtained within the
limits of the United States were observed by Captain McCown of the U.
S. Army, at Ringgold Barracks, in Texas. Since then it has been
procured by several of the naturalists accompanying the government
expeditions. It was obtained in New Leon, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch;
in Texas, by Major Emory; in Texas and at El Paso, by Lieutenant
Parke.
When first seen, in March, in the State of Tamaulipas, by Lieutenant
Couch, it was in flocks, very shy and difficult of approach. It did
not occur much in open fields, but seemed to prefer the vicinity of
fences and bushes. It was often seen in company with the common
Cardinal.
Dr. Kennerly found this bird quite abundant in the vicinity of El
Paso, but did not observe it elsewhere. It kept generally in flocks of
from three to six, frequenting the hedges and fruit-trees in the
vicinity of houses. It became very restless when approached, flying
from branch to branch and from tree to tree, uttering its peculiar
note with great vehemence.
Dr. Heermann met with the first specimen of this bird in a dry cañon,
a little to the east of the crossing of San Pedro River. It was
perched on a bush, seemed wearied and lost, and was probably a
wanderer. No more were seen until he reached El Paso. There he found
it everywhere among the hedges and trees, and continued to meet with
it occasionally on his road, until his party left civilization behind.
It erects its crest as it moves actively about in search of food, and
utters at intervals a clear, plaintive whistle, varied by a few
detached notes.
Mr. Dresser considers this species rather a straggler from Mexico than
as a Texan bird. Near Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras he found it
abundant, but it became scarce as soon as he travelled a few miles
into Texas. He saw none north or east of the Leona. He was told that
quantities breed near Eagle Pass, and he saw not a few in cages that
had been reared from the nest. He found it a shy bird, and difficult
to shoot. When followed, it flies about uneasily, perching on the top
of some high bush, and erecting its long crest, uttering a clear,
plaintive whistle. Sometimes it would take to the thick brushwood and
creep through the bushes so that it was impossible to get a shot at
it. On the Lower Rio Grande it was of uncommon occurrence. He noticed
a single pair near Matamoras in August, 1864.
Captain McCown, in his account of this species, published by Cassin,
writes that, so far as seen on the Rio Grande, this handsome species
appeared to have a strong partiality for damp and bushy woods. So far
as he observed, it never ventured far from the river. He was under the
impression that this bird remains in Texas all the year, having met
with it so late in the fall and again so early in the spring, that, if
not constantly resident, its migrations must be very limited. He
describes it as a gay, sprightly bird, generally seen in company with
others of the same species, frequently erecting its crest and calling
to its mate or comrades. It is rather shy, and not easily approached.
In its voice and general habits it appeared to him very similar to the
common species.
The eggs of this species are of an oval shape, one end being only a
little less rounded than the other. Their average measurement is one
inch in length by .80 in breadth. Their ground-color is a dull
chalky-white, over which are distributed well-defined blotches of a
light umber-brown, and also a number of indistinct markings of purple.
The spots are pretty uniform in these colors, but vary greatly in size
and distribution. In some eggs they largely consist of fine dots, in
others they are in bold blotches. In some the brown is more confluent
and the effect that of a deeper shade.
GENUS CARDINALIS, BONAP.
_Cardinalis_, BONAPARTE, Saggio di una distribuzione metod. dei
Animagli Vertebrati, 1831 (Agassiz). (Type, _Loxia cardinalis_,
LINN.)
[Line drawing: _Cardinalis virginianus._
4030]
GEN. CHAR. Bill enormously large; culmen very slightly curved,
commissure sinuated; lower jaw broader than the length of the gonys,
considerably wider than the upper jaw, about as deep as the latter.
Tarsi longer than middle toe; outer toe rather the longer, reaching a
little beyond the base of the middle one; hind toe not so long. Wings
moderate, reaching over the basal third of the exposed part of the
tail. Four outer quills graduated; the first equal to the secondaries.
Tail long, decidedly longer than the wings, considerably graduated;
feathers broad, truncated a little obliquely at the end, the corners
rounded. Colors red. Head crested.
The essential characters of this genus are the crested head; very
large and thick bill extending far back on the forehead, and only
moderately curved above; tarsus longer than middle toe; much graduated
wings, the first primary equal to the secondary quills; the long tail
exceeding the wings, broad and much graduated at the end.
Of this genus, only two species are known, one of them being
exclusively South American, the other belonging to North America, but
in different regions modified into representative races. They may be
defined as follows.
Species and Varieties.
COMMON CHARACTERS. _Male._ Bright vermilion-red, more dusky
purplish on upper surface; feathers adjoining base of
bill black for greater or less extent. _Female._ Above
olivaceous, the wings, tail, and crest reddish; beneath
olivaceous-whitish, slightly tinged on jugulum with red.
C. virginianus. Culmen nearly straight; commissure with a
slight lobe; upper mandible as deep as the lower,
perfectly smooth. Bill red. Black patch covering whole
throat, its posterior outline convex. _Female._ Lining of
wing deep vermilion. Olivaceous-gray above, the wings
and tail strongly tinged with red; crest only dull red,
without darker shaft-streaks. Beneath wholly light
ochraceous. No black around bill.
A. Crest-feathers soft, blended. Rump not lighter red than
back.
_a._ Black of the lores passing broadly across forehead.
Crest brownish-red. Bill moderate.
Culmen, .75; gonys, .41; depth of bill, .54. Feathers
of dorsal region broadly margined with grayish. Wing,
4.05; tail, 4.50; crest, 1.80. _Hab._ Eastern Province
of United States, south of 40°. Bermudas
var. _virginianus_.
_b._ Black of the lores not meeting across forehead;
crest pure vermilion. Bill robust.
Culmen, .84; gonys, .47; depth of bill, .70. Feathers
of dorsal region without grayish borders; red beneath
more intense; wing, 3.60; tail, 4.20; crest, 2.00.
_Hab._ Eastern Mexico (Mirador; Yucatan; “Honduras”)
var. _coccineus_.[15]
Culmen, .82; gonys, .47; depth of bill, .65. Feathers
of dorsal region with distinct gray borders; red
beneath lighter. Wing, 4.00; tail, 5.00; crest, 2.00.
_Hab._ Cape St. Lucas, and Arizona; Tres Marias
Islands. (Perhaps all of Western Mexico, north of the
Rio Grande de Santiago.) var. _igneus_.
B. Crest-feathers stiff, compact. Rump decidedly lighter
red than the back.
Culmen, .75; gonys, .41; depth of bill, .57. Dorsal
feathers without grayish margins; red as in the last.
Wing, 3.40; tail, 3.80; crest, 2.00. _Hab._ Western
Mexico; Colima. “Acapulco et Realejo.” var. _carneus_.[16]
C. phœniceus.[17] Culmen much arched; commissure arched;
upper mandible not as deep as lower, and with grooves
forward from the nostril, parallel with the curve of the
culmen. Bill whitish-brown. Black patch restricted to the
chin, its posterior outline deeply concave.
Crest-feathers stiff and compact. No black above, or on
lores; crest pure vermilion; rump light vermilion, much
lighter than the back, which is without gray edges to
feathers. Culmen, .75; gonys, .39; height of bill, .67;
wing, 3.50; tail, 3.90; crest, 2.20. _Female._ Lining of
wing buff; above ashy-olivaceous, becoming pure ash on
head and neck, except their under side. Crest-feathers
vermilion with black shafts; no red tinge on wings, and
only a slight tinge of it on tail. Forepart of cheeks and
middle of throat white; rest of lower part deep
ochraceous. Black around bill as in the male. _Hab._
Northern South America; Venezuela; New Granada.
[15] _Cardinalis virginianus_, var. _coccineus_, RIDGWAY.
[16] _Cardinalis virginianus_, var. _carneus_. _? Cardinalis
carneus_, LESS. R. Z. 1842, 209.—BONAP. Consp. I, 501.
According to the locality quoted (“Acapulco et Realejo”)
this name is the one to be applied to the variety diagnosed
in the synopsis; it is difficult, however, to make anything
out of the description, as it is evidently taken from a
female or immature bird. If the locality quoted be correct,
this form ranges along the Pacific Coast, probably from
latitude 20° south, as far at least as Nicaragua. North of
20°, and on the Tres Marias Islands, it is replaced by var.
_igneus_, and on the Atlantic coast, from Tampico south to
Honduras, is represented by the var. _coccineus_.
In the very long, stiff crest-feathers, and light red rump,
this variety of _C. virginianus_ closely approximates to _C.
phœniceus_, but in other respects is very distinct.
[17] _Cardinalis phœniceus_, (GOULD,) BONAP. P. Z. S. 1837,
p. 111; Consp. I, 501.—SCLATER & SALVIN, Ex. Orn. Pt. VIII,
1868, pl. lxiii.
Cardinalis virginianus, BONAP.
REDBIRD; CARDINAL GROSBEAK.
_Coccothraustes virginiana_, BRISSON, Orn. III, 1760, 253. _Loxia
cardinalis_, LINN. Syst. I, 1766, 300.—WILSON, Am. Orn. II,
1810, 38, pl. vi, f. 1, 2. _Coccothraustes cardinalis_, VIEILL.
Dict. _Fringilla (Coccothraustes) cardinalis_, BON. Obs. Wils.
1825, No. 79. _Fringilla cardinalis_, NUTT. Man. I, 1832,
519.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 336; V, 514, pl. clix. _Pitylus
cardinalis_, AUD. Syn. 1839, 131.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841,
198, pl. cciii. _Cardinalis virginianus_, BON. List, 1838.—IB.
Consp. 1850, 501.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 509.—MAX. Cab. J.
VI, 1858, 268. _Grosbec de Virginie_, BUFF. Pl. enl. 37.
[Illustration: _Cardinalis virginianus._]
SP. CHAR. A flattened crest of feathers on the crown. Bill red. Body
generally bright vermilion-red, darker on the back, rump, and tail.
The feathers of the back and rump bordered with brownish-gray. Narrow
band around the base of the bill, extending to eyes, with chin and
upper part of the throat black.
_Female_ of a duller red, and this only on the wings, tail, and
elongated feathers of the crown. Above light olive; tinged with
yellowish on the head; beneath brownish-yellow, darkest on the sides
and across the breast. Black about the head only faintly indicated.
Length, 8.50; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.50; culmen, .75; depth of bill, .58;
breadth of upper mandible, .35. (28,286 ♂, Mount Carmel, Southern
Illinois.)
HAB. More southern portions of United States to the Missouri. Probably
along valley of Rio Grande to Rocky Mountains.
The bill of this species is very large, and shaped much as in
_Hedymeles ludovicianus_. The central feathers of the crest of the
crown are longer than the lateral; they spring from about the middle
of the crown, and extend back about an inch and a half from the base
of the bill. The wings are much rounded, the fourth longest, the
second equal to the seventh, the first as long as the secondaries. The
tail is long, truncate at the end, but graduated on the sides; the
feathers are broad to the end, truncated obliquely at the end.
Most North American specimens we have seen have the feathers of the
back edged with ashy; the more northern the less brightly colored, and
larger. Mexican skins (var._coccineus_) are deeper colored and without
the olivaceous. In all specimens from eastern North America the
frontal black is very distinct.
Specimens from the Eastern Province of United States, including
Florida and the Bermudas, are all alike in possessing those features
distinguishing the restricted var. _virginianus_ from the races of
Mexico, namely, the wide black frontal band, and distinct gray edges
to dorsal feathers, with small bill. Specimens from Florida are
scarcely smaller, and are not more deeply colored than some examples
from Southern Illinois. Rio Grande skins, however, are slightly less
in size, though identical in other respects.
HABITS. The Cardinal Grosbeak, the Redbird of the Southern States, is
one of our few birds that present the double attraction of a brilliant
and showy plumage with more than usual powers of song. In New England
and the more northern States it is chiefly known by its reputation as
a cage-bird, both its bright plumage and its sweet song giving it a
high value. It is a very rare and only an accidental visitor of
Massachusetts, though a pair was once known to spend the summer and to
rear its brood in the Botanical Gardens of Harvard College in
Cambridge. It is by no means a common bird even in Pennsylvania. In
all the Southern States, from Virginia to Mexico, it is a well-known
favorite, frequenting gardens and plantations, and even breeding
within the limits of the larger towns and cities. A single specimen of
this bird was obtained near Dueñas, Guatemala, by Mr. Salvin.
The song of this Grosbeak is diversified, pleasant, and mellow,
delivered with energy and ease, and renewed incessantly until its
frequent repetitions somewhat diminish its charms. Its peculiar
whistle is not only loud and clear, resembling the finest notes of the
flageolet, but is so sweet and so varied that by some writers it has
been considered equal even to the notes of the far-famed Nightingale
of Europe. It is, however, very far from being among our best singers;
yet, as it is known to remain in full song more than two thirds of the
year, and while thus musical to be constant and liberal in the
utterance of its sweet notes, it is entitled to a conspicuous place
among our singing birds.
In its cage life the Cardinal soon becomes contented and tame, and
will live many years in confinement. Wilson mentions one instance in
which a Redbird was kept twenty-one years. They sing nearly throughout
the year, or from January to October. In the extreme Southern States
they are more or less resident, and some may be found all the year
round. There is another remarkable peculiarity in this species, and
one very rarely to be met with among birds, which is that the female
Cardinal Grosbeak is an excellent singer, and her notes are very
nearly as sweet and as good as those of her mate.
This species has been traced as far to the west in its distribution as
the base of the Rocky Mountains, and into Mexico at the southwest. In
Mexico it is also replaced by a very closely allied variety, and at
Cape St. Lucas by still another. It is given by Mr. Lawrence among the
birds occurring near New York City. He has occasionally met with it in
New Jersey and at Staten Island, and, in one instance, on New York
Island, when his attention was attracted to it by the loudness of its
song.
It is given by Mr. Dresser as common throughout the whole of Texas
during the summer, and almost throughout the year, excepting only
where the _P. sinuata_ is found. At Matamoras it was very common, and
may be seen caged in almost every Mexican hut. He found it breeding in
great abundance about San Antonio in April and May.
Mr. Cassin states that the Cardinal Bird is also known by the name of
Virginia Nightingale. He adds that it inhabits, for the greater part,
low and damp woods in which there is a profuse undergrowth of bushes,
and is particularly partial to the vicinity of watercourses. The male
bird is rather shy and careful of exposing himself.
Wilson mentions that in the lower parts of the Southern States, in the
neighborhood of settlements, he found them more numerous than
elsewhere. Their clear and lively notes, even in the months of January
and February, were, at that season, almost the only music. Along the
roadsides and fences he found them hovering in small groups,
associated with Snowbirds and various kinds of Sparrows. Even in
Pennsylvania they frequent the borders of creeks and rivulets during
the whole year, in sheltered hollows, covered with holly, laurel, and
other evergreens. They are very fond of Indian corn, a grain that is
their favorite food. They are also said to feed on various kinds of
fruit.
The males of this species, during the breeding season, are described
as very pugnacious, and when confined together in the same cage they
fight violently. The male bird has even been known to destroy its
mate. In Florida Mr. Audubon found these birds mated by the 8th of
February. The nest is built in bushes, among briers, or in low trees,
and in various situations, the middle of a field, near a fence, or in
the interior of a thicket, and usually not far from running water. It
has even been placed in the garden close to the planter’s house. It is
loosely built of dry leaves and twigs, with a large proportion of dry
grasses and strips of the bark of grapevines. Within, it is finished
and lined with finer stems of grasses wrought into a circular form.
There are usually two, and in the more Southern States three, broods
in a season.
Mr. Audubon adds that they are easily raised from the nest, and have
been known to breed in confinement.
The eggs of this species are of an oblong-oval shape, with but little
difference at either end. Their ground-color appears to be white, but
is generally so thickly marked with spots of ashy-brown and faint
lavender tints as to permit but little of its ground to be seen. The
eggs vary greatly in size, ranging from 1.10 inches to .98 of an inch
in length, and from .80 to .78 in breadth.
Cardinalis virginianus, var. igneus, BAIRD.
CAPE CARDINAL.
_Cardinalis igneus_, BAIRD, Pr. Ac. Sc. Phila. 1859, 305 (Cape St.
Lucas).—ELLIOT, Illust. N. Am. Birds, I, xvi.—COOPER, Orn.
Cal. I, 238. _Cardinalis virginianus_, FINSCH, Abh. Nat. Brem.
1870, 339.
SP. CHAR. Resembling _virginianus_, having, like it, the distinct
grayish edges to feathers of the dorsal region. Red lighter, however,
and the top of head, including crest, nearly pure vermilion, instead
of brownish-red. Black of the lores not passing across the forehead,
reaching only to the nostril. Wing, 4.00; tail, 5.00; culmen, .83;
depth of bill, .66; breadth of upper mandible, .38. (No. 49,757 ♂,
Camp Grant, 60 miles east of Tucson, Arizona).
_Female_ distinguishable from that of _virginianus_ only by more
swollen bill, and more restricted dusky around base of bill. _Young_:
bill deep black.
HAB. Cape St. Lucas; Camp Grant, Arizona; Tres Marias Islands (off
coast of Mexico, latitude between 21° and 22° north). Probably Western
Mexico, from Sonora south to latitude of about 20°.
In the features pointed out above, all specimens from Arizona and Tres
Marias, and of an exceedingly large series collected at Cape St.
Lucas, differ from those of other regions.
No specimens are in the collection from Western Mexico as far south as
Colima, but birds from this region will, without doubt, be found
referrible to the present race.
HABITS. There appears to be nothing in the habits of this form of
Cardinal, as far as known, to distinguish it from the Virginia bird;
the nest and eggs, too, being almost identical. The latter average
about one inch in length, and .80 in breadth. Their ground-color is
white, with a bluish tint. Their markings are larger, and more of a
rusty than an ashy brown, and the purple spots are fewer and less
marked than in _C. virginianus_.
The memoranda of Mr. John Xantus show that in one instance a nest of
this bird, containing two eggs, was found in a mimosa bush four feet
from the ground; another nest, with one egg, in a like situation; a
third, containing three eggs, was about three feet from the ground; a
fourth, with two eggs, was also found in a mimosa, but only a few
inches above the ground.
GENUS PIPILO, VIEILLOT.
_Pipilo_, VIEILLOT, Analyse, 1816 (AGASSIZ). (Type, _Fringilla
erythrophthalma_, LINN.)
[Line drawing: _Pipilo fuscus._
5559 ♂]
GEN. CHAR. Bill rather stout; the culmen gently curved, the gonys
nearly straight; the commissure gently concave, with a decided notch
near the end; the lower jaw not so deep as the upper; not as wide as
the gonys is long, but wider than the base of the upper mandible. Feet
large, the tarsus as long as or a little longer than the middle toe;
the outer lateral toe a little the longer, and reaching a little
beyond the base of the middle claw. The hind claw about equal to its
toe; the two together about equal to the outer toe. Claws all stout,
compressed, and moderately curved; in some western specimens the claws
much larger. Wings reaching about to the end of the upper
tail-coverts; short and rounded, though the primaries are considerably
longer than the nearly equal secondaries and tertials; the outer four
quills are graduated, the first considerably shorter than the second,
and about as long as the secondaries. Tail considerably longer than
the wings, moderately graduated externally; the feathers rather broad,
most rounded off on the inner webs at the end.
[Illustration: _Pipilo erythrophthalmus._]
The colors vary; the upper parts are generally uniform black or brown,
sometimes olive; the under white or brown; no central streaks on the
feathers. The hood sometimes differently colored.
In the large number of species or races included in this genus by
authors, there are certain differences of form, such as varying
graduation of tail, length of claw, etc., but scarcely sufficient to
warrant its further subdivision. In coloration, however, we find
several different styles, which furnish a convenient method of
arrangement into groups.
Few genera in birds exhibit such constancy in trifling variations of
form and color, and as these are closely connected with geographical
distribution, it seems reasonable to reduce many of the so-called
species to a lower rank. In the following synopsis, we arrange the
whole of North American and Mexican Pipilos into four sections, with
their more positive species, and in the subsequent discussion of the
sections separately we shall give what appear to be the varieties.
Species.
A. Sides and lower tail-coverts rufous, in sharp contrast
with the clear white of the abdomen. Tail-feathers with
whitish patch on end of inner webs.
_a._ Head and neck black, sharply defined against the
white of breast. Rump olive or blackish.
_Black or dusky olive above._
1. P. maculatus. White spots on tips of both rows of
wing-coverts, and on scapulars. No white patch on base
of primaries. _Hab._ Mexico, and United States west of
the Missouri. (Five races.)
2. P. erythrophthalmus. No white spots on
wing-coverts, nor on scapulars. A white patch on base
of primaries. _Hab._ Eastern Province of United
States. (Two races.)
_Bright olive-green above._
3. P. macronyx.[18] Scapulars and wing-coverts (both
rows) with distinct greenish-white spots on tips of
outer webs.
4. P. chlorosoma.[19] Scapulars and wing-coverts
without trace of white spots. _Hab._ Table-lands of
Mexico. (Perhaps these are two races of one species,
_macronyx_.)
_b._ Head and neck ashy, paler on jugulum, where the
color fades gradually into the white of breast. Rump and
upper tail-coverts bright rufous.
5. P. superciliosa.[20] An obsolete whitish
superciliary stripe. Greater wing-coverts obsoletely
whitish at tips; no other white markings on upper
parts, and the tail-patches indistinct. _Hab._ Brazil.
(Perhaps not genuine _Pipilo_.)
B. Sides ashy or tinged with ochraceous; lower
tail-coverts ochraceous, not sharply contrasted with white
on the abdomen, or else the abdomen concolor with the
side. Head never black, and upper parts without light
markings (except the wing in _fuscus_ var. _albicollis_).
_a._ Wings and tail olive-green.
6. P. chlorurus. Whole pileum (except in young) deep
rufous, sharply defined. Whole throat pure white,
immaculate, and sharply defined against the
surrounding deep ash; a maxillary and a short
supraloral stripe of white. Anterior parts of body
streaked in young. _Hab._ Western Province of United
States.
_b._ Wings and tail grayish-brown.
7. P. fuscus. A whitish or ochraceous patch covering
the throat contrasting with the adjacent portions, and
bounded by dusky specks. Lores and chin like the
throat. _Hab._ Mexico, and United States west of Rocky
Mountains. (Five races.)
8. P. aberti. Throat concolor with the adjacent
portions, and without distinct spots. Lores and chin
blackish. _Hab._ Colorado region of Middle Province,
United States. (Only one form known.)
[18] _Pipilo macronyx_, SWAINSON, Phil. Mag. I, 1827, 434.
Real del Monte, Mex.—IB. Anim. in Men. 1838, 347.—BP.
Consp. 487.—SCLATER & SALVIN, 1869, 361. _Pipilo
virescens_, HARTLAUB, Cab. Jour. 1863, 228, Mex.
SP. CHAR. Prevailing color above olive-green; the head and
neck all round black, abruptly contrasted below with the
white under parts; above passing insensibly into the green
of the back; feathers of interscapular region obscurely
dusky medially; sides and crissum rufous. Scapulars and
greater and middle coverts with outer webs pale
greenish-yellow at ends; these blotches faintly margined
externally with olive-green. Edge of wing yellow; outer
primary edged with whitish, edges of other primaries and of
secondaries uniform olive-green. Fifth quill longest, fourth
and sixth scarcely shorter; first shorter than ninth. Legs
stout, claws much curved. Tail wanting in the single
specimen before us (a male from the city of Mexico,
belonging to Mr. G. N. Lawrence).
_Dimensions_ (prepared specimen): Wing, 3.70. Exposed
portion of first primary, 2.30; of second, 2.73; of longest
(measured from exposed base of first primary), 2.85. Bill:
Length from forehead, .75; from nostril, .45. Legs: Tarsus,
1.14; middle claw, .38; hind toe and claw, .85; claw alone,
.52.
In describing this species, Swainson mentions an
accompanying specimen as similar, but without any white
spots on wings, suggesting that it may be the female. A
specimen in the plumage from Oaxaca is characterized as
follows.
[19] _Pipilo chlorosoma_, BAIRD. 50,225 ♂, Oaxaca. Similar
to _P. macronyx_ in color, but without any trace of white
markings on the wings. Outer tail-feathers with an obscurely
defined greenish-white patch about an inch long, at the end
of inner web; similar, but successively smaller patches on
the second and third feathers, all whiter on upper than
lower surface. Fifth quill longest; first shorter than
ninth.
_Dimensions_ (prepared specimen): Total length, 8.20; wing,
3.75; tail, 4.80. Bill: Length from forehead, .73; from
nostril, .43. Legs: Tarsus, 1.24; middle toe and claw, 1.10;
claw alone, .36; hind toe and claw, .85; claw alone, .50.
No. 60,050, Mexico, is similar, in all essential respects.
From the analogies of the black Pipilos, it is reasonable to
consider these two birds as distinct species, or at least
varieties, especially as the specimen before us of that with
unspotted wings is marked male. The general appearance is
otherwise much the same, the unspotted bird rather smaller,
and without the dusky interscapular markings described in
_macronyx_. Should No. 50,225 represent a distinct species,
it may be called _P. chlorosoma_, and distinguished as
above. (60,050, Mexico, BOUCARD.)
[20] _Pipilo lateralis_ (NATT.). _Emberiza lateralis_, NATT.
Mus. Vind. MSS. _Poospiza lat._ BURM. Th. Bras. III, Av. 2,
p. 215. _Pipilo superciliosa_, SWAINS. An. Menag. 311, 95,
fig. 59.
SECTION I.
_Head black._
Pipilo erythrophthalmus.
After a careful study of the very large collection of Black-headed
Pipilos (leaving for the present the consideration of those with
olive-green bodies) in the Smithsonian Museum, we have come finally to
the conclusion that all the species described as having the scapulars
and wing-coverts spotted with white—as _arcticus_, _oregonus_, and
_megalonyx_, and even including the differently colored _P. maculatus_
of Mexico—are probably only geographical races of one species,
representing in the trans-Missouri region the _P. erythrophthalmus_ of
the eastern division of the continent. It is true that specimens may
be selected of the four races capable of accurate definition, but the
transition from one to the other is so gradual that a considerable
percentage of the collection can scarcely be assigned satisfactorily;
and even if this were possible, the differences after all are only
such as are caused by a slight change in the proportion of black, and
the varying development of feet and wings.
Taking _maculatus_ as it occurs in the central portion of its wide
field of distribution, with wing-spots of average size, we find these
spots slightly bordered, or at least often, with black, and the
primaries edged externally with white only towards the end. The
exterior web of lateral tail-feather is edged mostly with white; the
terminal white patches of outer feather about an inch long; that of
inner web usually separated from the outer by a black shaft-streak. In
more northern specimens the legs are more dusky than usual. The tail
is variable, but longer generally than in the other races. The claws
are enormously large in many, but not in all specimens, varying
considerably; and the fourth primary is usually longest, the first
equal to or shorter than the secondaries. This is the race described
as _P. megalonyx_, and characterizes the Middle Province, between the
Sierra Nevada of California and the eastern Rocky Mountains, or the
great interior basin of the continent; it occurs also near the head of
the Rio Grande.
On the Pacific slope of California, as we proceed westward, we find a
change in the species, the divergence increasing still more as we
proceed northward, until in Oregon and Washington the extreme of range
and alteration is seen in _P. oregonus_. Here the claws are much
smaller, the white markings restricted in extent so as to form quite
small spots bordered externally by black; the spots on the inner webs
of tail much smaller, and even bordered along the shaft with black,
and the outer web of the lateral entirely black, or with only a faint
white edging. The concealed white of the head and neck has disappeared
also.
Proceeding eastward, on the other hand, from our starting-point, we
find another race, in _P. arcticus_, occupying the western slope of
the Missouri Valley and the basin of the Saskatchewan, in which, on
the contrary, the white increases in quantity, and more and more to
its eastern limit. The black borders of the wing-patches disappear,
leaving them white externally; and decided white edgings are seen for
the first time at the bases of primaries, as well as near their ends,
the two sometimes confluent. The terminal tail-patches are larger, the
outer web of the exterior feather is entirely white except toward the
very base, and we thus have the opposite extreme to _P. oregonus_. The
wings are longer; the third primary longest; the first usually longer
than the secondaries or the ninth quill.
Finally, proceeding southward along the table-lands of Mexico, and
especially on their western slope, we find _P. maculatus_ (the first
described of all) colored much like the females of the more northern
races, except that the head and neck are black, in decided contrast to
the more olivaceous back. The wing formula and pattern of markings are
much like _megalonyx_, the claws more like _arcticus_. Even in
specimens of _megalonyx_, from the southern portion of its area of
distribution, we find a tendency to an ashy or brownish tinge on the
rump, extending more or less along the back; few, if any indeed, being
uniformly black.
As, however, a general expression can be given to the variations
referred to, and as they have an important geographical relationship,
besides a general diagnosis, we give their characters and distribution
in detail.
The general impression we derive from a study of the series is that
the amount of white on the wing and elsewhere decreases from the
Missouri River to the Pacific, exhibiting its minimum in Oregon and
Washington, precisely as in the small black Woodpeckers; that in the
Great Basin the size of the claws and the length of tail increases
considerably; that the northern forms are entirely black, and the more
southern brown or olivaceous, except on the head.
The following synopsis will be found to express the principal
characteristics of the species and their varieties, premising that _P.
arcticus_ is more distinctly definable than any of the others. We add
the character of the green-bodied Mexican species to complete the
series.
Synopsis of Varieties.
I. _P. erythrophthalmus._
1. Wing, 3.65; tail, 4.20. Outer tail-feather with
terminal half of inner web white. Iris bright red,
sometimes paler. _Hab._ Eastern Province United
States. (Florida in winter.) var. _erythrophthalmus_.
2. Wing, 2.90; tail, 3.75. Outer tail-feather with
only terminal fourth of inner web white. Iris white.
_Hab._ Florida (resident) var. _alleni_.
II. _P. maculatus._
A. Interscapulars with white streaks.
_a._ Outer webs of primaries not edged with white at the
base.
1. Above olive-brown, the head and neck, only,
continuous black; back streaked with black. White
spots on wing-coverts not bordered externally with
black. Wing, 3.25; tail, 4.00; hind claw, .44. _Hab._
Table-lands of Mexico var. _maculatus_.[21]
2. Above black, tinged with olive on rump, and
sometimes on the nape. White spots as in last. Inner
web of lateral tail-feathers with terminal white spot
more than one inch long; outer web broadly edged with
white. Wing, 3.45; tail, 4.10; hind claw, .55.
_Female_ less deep black than male, with a general
slaty-olive cast. _Hab._ Middle Province of United
States, from Fort Tejon, California, to Upper Rio
Grande, and from Fort Crook to Fort Bridger var. _megalonyx_.
3. Above almost wholly black, with scarcely any olive
tinge, and this only on rump. White spots restricted,
and with a distinct black external border. White
terminal spot on inner web of lateral tail-feather
less than one inch long; outer web almost wholly
black. Wing, 3.40; tail, 3.90; hind claw, .39.
_Female_ deep umber-brown, instead of black. _Hab._
Pacific Province of United States, south to San
Francisco; West Humboldt Mountains var. _oregonus_.
_b._ Outer webs of primaries distinctly edged with white
at base.
4. Above black, except on rump, which is tinged with
olivaceous. White spots very large, without black
border. Inner web of lateral tail-feather with
terminal half white, the outer web almost wholly
white. Wing, 3.50; tail, 3.90; hind claw, .39.
_Female_ umber-brown, replacing black. _Hab._ Plains
between Rocky Mountains and the Missouri; Saskatchewan
Basin var. _arcticus_.
B. Interscapulars without white streaks.
5. Above dusky olive; white spots on scapulars and
wing-coverts small, and without black edge.
Tail-patches very restricted (outer only .40 long). No
white on primaries. Wing, 2.85; tail, 3.10. _Female_
scarcely different. _Hab._ Socorro Island, off west
coast of Mexico var. _carmani_.[22]
[21] _Pipilo maculatus_, SWAINSON, Philos. Mag., 1827.
[22] _Pipilo carmani_, BAIRD, MSS.; LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y.
Lyc. X, 7. (Specimens in collection made by Colonel A. J.
Grayson.)
[Illustration: PLATE XXXI.
1. Chondestes grammaca. ♂ Cal., 6300.
2. Pipilo erythrophthalmus. ♂ Pa., 2135.
3. ” ” ♀ Kansas, 8194.
4. ” chlorura. ♂ Rocky Mts., 2644.
5. ” arcticus. ♂ Dakota, 1944.
6. ” ” ♀.
7. ” aberti. ♂ Ariz., 6748.
8. ” crissalis. ♂ Cal., 5559.
9. ” megalonyx. ♀.
10. ” mesoleucus. ♂ Ariz., 6829.
11. ” albigula. ♂ Cape St. Lucas, 12993.
12. ” oregonus. ♀.]
Pipilo erythrophthalmus, VIEILLOT.
GROUND ROBIN; TOWHEE; CHEWINK.
_Fringilla erythrophthalma_, LINN. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 318.—AUD.
Orn. Biog. I, 1832, 151; V, 511, pl. xxix. _Emberiza
erythrophthalma_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 874.—WILSON, Am.
Orn. VI, 1812, 90, pl. liii. _Pipilo erythrophthalmus_, VIEILL.
Gal. Ois. I, 1824, 109, pl. lxxx.—BON. List, 1838.—IB.
Conspectus, 1850, 487.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 124.—IB. Birds Am.
III, 1841, 167, pl. cxcv.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858,
512.—SAMUELS, 333. _Pipilo ater_, VIEILL. Nouv. Dict. XXXIV,
1819, 292. _Towhee Bird_, CATESBY, Car. I, 34. _Towhee
Bunting_, LATHAM, Syn. II, I, 1783, 199.—PENNANT, II, 1785,
359.
[Line drawing: 2135 ♂]
SP. CHAR. Upper parts generally, head and neck all round, and upper
part of the breast, glossy black, abruptly defined against the pure
white which extends to the anus, but is bounded on the sides and under
the wings by light chestnut, which is sometimes streaked externally
with black. Feathers of throat white in the middle. Under coverts
similar to sides, but paler. Edges of outer six primaries with white
at the base and on the middle of the outer web; inner two tertiaries
also edged externally with white. Tail-feathers black; outer web of
the first, with the ends of the first to the third, white, decreasing
from the exterior one. Outermost quill usually shorter than ninth, or
even than secondaries; fourth quill longest, fifth scarcely shorter.
Iris red; said to be sometimes paler, or even white, in winter.
Length, 8.75; wing, 3.75; tail, 4.10. Bill black, legs flesh-color.
_Female_ with the black replaced by a rather rufous brown.
HAB. Eastern United States to the Missouri River; Florida (in winter).
The tail-feathers are only moderately graduated on the sides; the
outer about .40 of an inch shorter than the middle. The outer
tail-feather has the terminal half white, the outline transverse; the
white of the second is about half as long as that of the first; of the
third half that of the second. The chestnut of the sides reaches
forward to the black of the neck, and is visible when the wings are
closed.
A young bird has the prevailing color reddish-olive above, spotted
with lighter; beneath brownish-white, streaked thickly with brown.
The description above given may be taken as representing the average
of the species in the Northern and Middle States. Most specimens from
the Mississippi Valley differ in having the two white patches on the
primaries confluent; but this feature is not sufficiently constant to
make it worthy of more than passing notice, for occasionally western
specimens have the white spaces separated, as in the majority of
eastern examples, while among the latter there may, now and then, be
found individuals scarcely distinguishable from the average of western
ones.
[Line drawing: _Pipilo erythrophthalmus._
2135 ♂]
In Florida, however, there is a local, resident race, quite different
from these two northern styles, which are themselves not enough unlike
to be considered separately. This Florida race differs in much smaller
size, very restricted white on both wing and tail, and in having a
yellowish-white instead of blood-red iris. Further remarks on this
Florida race will be found under its proper heading (p. 708), as _P.
erythrophthalmus_, var. _alleni_.
Specimens of _erythrophthalmus_, as restricted, from Louisiana, as is
the case with most birds from the Lower Mississippi region, exhibit
very intense colors compared with those from more northern portions,
or even Atlantic coast specimens from the same latitude.
HABITS. The Ground Robin, Towhee, Chewink, Charee, or Joreet, as it is
variously called, has an extended distribution throughout the eastern
United States, from Florida and Georgia on the southeast to the
Selkirk Settlements on the northwest, and as far to the west as the
edge of the Great Plains, where it is replaced by other closely allied
races. It breeds almost wherever found, certainly in Georgia, and, I
have no doubt, sparingly in Florida.
This bird was not observed in Texas by Mr. Dresser. It has been found
in Western Maine, where it is given by Mr. Verrill as a summer
visitant, and where it breeds, but is not common. It arrives there the
first of May. It is not given by Mr. Boardman as occurring in Eastern
Maine. In Massachusetts it is a very abundant summer visitant,
arriving about the last of April, and leaving about the middle of
October. It nests there the last of May, and begins to sit upon the
eggs about the first of June. It is slightly gregarious just as it is
preparing to leave, but at all other times is to be met with only in
solitary pairs.
The Ground Robin is in many respects one of the most strongly
characterized of our North American birds, exhibiting peculiarities in
which all the members of this genus share to a very large degree. They
frequent close and sheltered thickets, where they spend a large
proportion of their time on the ground among the fallen leaves,
scratching and searching for worms, larvæ, and insects. Though
generally resident in retired localities, it is far from being a shy
or timid bird. I have known it to show itself in a front yard,
immediately under the windows of a dwelling and near the main street
of the village, where for hours I witnessed its diligent labors in
search of food. The spot was very shady, and unfrequented during the
greater part of the day. It was not disturbed when the members of the
family passed in or out.
The call-note of this bird is very peculiar, and is variously
interpreted in different localities. It has always appeared to me that
the Georgian _jo-rēēt_ was at least as near to its real notes as
_tow-hēē_. Its song consists of a few simple notes, which very few
realize are those of this bird. In singing, the male is usually to be
seen on the top of some low tree. These notes are uttered in a loud
voice, and are not unmusical. Wilson says its song resembles that of
the Yellow-Hammer of Europe, but is more varied and mellow. Nuttall
speaks of its notes as simple, guttural, and monotonous, and of its
voice as clear and sonorous. The song, which he speaks of as
quaint and somewhat pensive, he describes as sounding like
_t’sh’d-wĭtee-tĕ-tĕ-tĕ-tĕ-tĕ_.
Wilson says this bird is known in Pennsylvania as the “Swamp Robin.”
If so, this is a misnomer. In New England it has no predilection for
low or moist ground; and I have never found it in such situations. Its
favorite haunts are dry uplands, near the edges of woods, or high
tracts covered with a low brushwood, selecting for nesting-places the
outer skirts of a wood, especially one of a southern aspect. The nest
is sunk in a depression in the ground, the upper edges being usually
just level with the ground. It is largely composed of dry leaves and
coarse stems as a base, within which is built a firmer nest of dry
bents well arranged, usually with no other lining. It is generally
partially concealed by leaves or a tuft of grass, and is not easily
discovered unless the female is seen about it.
Dr. Coues says these Buntings are chiefly spring and autumnal
visitants near Washington, only a few breeding. They are very abundant
from April 25 to May 10, and from the first to the third week of
October, and are partially gregarious. Their migrations are made by
day, and are usually in small companies in the fall, but singly in the
spring. Wilson found them in the middle districts of Virginia, and
from thence south to Florida, during the months of January, February,
and March. Their usual food is obtained among the dry leaves, though
they also feed on hard seeds and gravel. They are not known to commit
any depredations upon harvests. They may be easily accustomed to
confinement, and in a few days will become quite tame. When slightly
wounded and captured, they at first make a sturdy resistance, and bite
quite severely. They are much attached to their young, and when
approached evince great anxiety, the female thrusting herself forward
to divert attention by her outcries and her simulated lameness.
The eggs of this species are of a rounded-oval shape, and have a
dull-white ground, spotted with dots and blotches of a wine-colored
brown. These usually are larger than in the other species, and are
mostly congregated about the larger end, and measure .98 of an inch in
length by .80 in breadth.
Pipilo erythrophthalmus, var. alleni, COUES.
WHITE-EYED CHEWINK; FLORIDA CHEWINK.
_Pipilo alleni_, COUES, American Naturalist, V, Aug. 1871, 366.
SP. CHAR. Similar to _erythrophthalmus_, but differing in the
following respects: White spaces on wings and tail much restricted,
those on inner webs of lateral tail-feathers only .50 to .75 long.
Size very much smaller, except the bill, which is absolutely larger.
Iris white.
♂. (55,267, Dummits’s Grove, Florida, March, 1869.) Length, 7.75;
wing, 3.00; tail, 3.75; bill from nostril, .38; tarsus, .97.
♀. (55,271, same locality and date.) Wing, 3.00; tail, 3.50; bill from
nostril, .37; tarsus, .91. White on primaries almost absent.
[Line drawing: _Pipilo erythrophthalmus_. var. _alleni_.
2135, 247,]
This interesting variety of _Pipilo erythrophthalmus_ was found in
Florida, in the spring of 1869, by Mr. C. J. Maynard, and probably
represents the species as resident in that State. It is considerably
smaller than the average (length, 7.75; extent, 10.00; wing, 3.00;
tarsus, .95), and has very appreciably less white on the tail. The
outer web of outer feather is only narrowly edged with white, instead
of being entirely so to the shaft (except in one specimen), and the
terminal white tip, confined to the inner web, is only from .50 to .75
of an inch long, instead of 1.25 to 1.75, or about the amount on the
second feather of northern specimens, as shown in the accompanying
figures. There is apparently a greater tendency to dusky streaks and
specks in the rufous of the side of the breast or in the adjacent
white. Resident specimens from Georgia are intermediate in size and
color between the northern and Florida races.
The bill of Mr. Maynard’s specimen is about the size of that of more
northern ones; the iris is described by him as pale yellowish-white,
much lighter than usual.
Pipilo maculatus,[23] var. megalonyx, BAIRD.
LONG-CLAWED TOWHEE BUNTING.
_Pipilo megalonyx_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 515, pl.
lxxiii.—HEERM. X, _S_, 51 (nest).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 242.
[Line drawing: 10284 ♂]
SP. CHAR. Similar to _P. arcticus_ in amount of white on the wings and
scapulars, though this frequently edged with black, but without basal
white on outer web of primaries. Outer edge of outer web of external
tail-feather white, sometimes confluent with that at tip of tail.
Concealed white spots on feathers of side of neck. Claws enormously
large, the hinder longer than its digit; the hind toe and claw
reaching to the middle of the middle claw, which, with its toe, is as
long as or longer than the tarsus. Inner lateral claw reaching nearly
to the middle of middle claw. Length, 7.60; wing, 3.25; hind toe and
claw, .90. _Female_ with the deep black replaced by dusky slaty-olive.
HAB. Southern coast of California and across through valleys of Gila
and Rio Grande; north through the Great Basin across from Fort Crook,
California, to Fort Bridger, Wyoming.
This form constitutes so strongly marked a variety as to be worthy of
particular description. The general appearance is that of _P.
arcticus_, which it resembles in the amount of white spotting on the
wings. This, however, does not usually involve the whole outer web at
the end, but, as in _oregonus_, has a narrow border of black continued
around the white terminally and sometimes externally. There is not
quite so much of a terminal white blotch on the outer tail-feather,
this being but little over an inch in length, and the outer web of the
same feather is never entirely white, though always with an external
white border, which sometimes is confluent with the terminal spot, but
usually leaves a brown streak near the end never seen in _arcticus_,
which also has the whole outer web white except at the base. From
_oregonus_ the species differs in the much greater amount of white on
the wings and the less rounded character of the spots. _Oregonus_,
too, has the whole outer web of external tail-feather black, and the
terminal white spot of the inner web less than an inch in length. We
have never seen in _oregonus_ any concealed white spotting on the
sides of the head.
The greatest difference between this race and the two others lies in
the stout tarsi and enormously large claws, as described, both the
lateral extending greatly beyond the base of the middle one, the
hinder toe and claw nearly as long as the tarsus. The only North
American passerine birds having any approach to this length of claw
are those of the genus _Passerella_.
This great development of the claws is especially apparent in
specimens from the Southern Sierra Nevada, the maximum being attained
in the Fort Tejon examples; those from as far north as Carson City,
Nev., however, are scarcely smaller. In most Rocky Mountain Pipilos,
the claws are but little longer than in _arcticus_.
In this race the female is not noticeably different from the male,
being of a merely less intense black,—not brown,—and conspicuously
different as in _arcticus_ and _oregonus_; there is, however, some
variation among individuals in this respect, but none are ever so
light as the average in the other races.
The young bird is dusky-brown above, with a slight rusty tinge, and
obsolete streaks of blackish. White markings as in adult, but tinged
with rusty. Throat and breast rusty-white, broadly streaked with
dusky; sides only tinged with rufous.
HABITS. According to Mr. Ridgway’s observations, the _P. megalonyx_
replaces in the Rocky Mountain region and in the greater portion of
the Great Basin the _P. arcticus_ of the Plains, from their eastern
slope eastward to the Missouri River, and the _P. oregonus_ of the
Northern Sierra Nevada and Pacific coast. It is most nearly related to
the latter. He became familiar with the habits of this species near
Salt Lake City, having already made like observations of the
_oregonus_ at Carson. A short acquaintance with the former, after a
long familiarity with the latter, enabled him to note a decided
difference in the notes of the two birds, yet in their external
appearance they were hardly distinguishable, and he was at first
surprised to find the same bird apparently uttering entirely different
notes, the call-note of _P. megalonyx_ being very similar to that of
the common Catbird. The song of this species, he adds, has
considerable resemblance in style to that of the eastern _P.
erythrophthalmus_, and though lacking its musical character, is yet
far superior to that of _P. oregonus_. This bird is also much less shy
than the western one, and is, in fact, quite as unsuspicious as the
eastern bird.
Nests, with eggs, were found on the ground, among the scrub-oaks of
the hillsides, from about the 20th of May until the middle of June.
This species has been obtained on the southern coast of California,
and through to the valleys of the Gila and the Rio Grande. In
California it was obtained near San Francisco by Mr. Cutts and Mr.
Hepburn; at Santa Clara by Dr. Cooper; at Monterey by Dr. Canfield; in
the Sacramento Valley by Dr. Heermann; at San Diego by Dr. Hammond; at
Fort Tejon by Mr. Xantus; at Saltillo, Mexico, by Lieutenant Couch; in
New Mexico by Captain Pope; and at Fort Thorn by Dr. Henry.
Lieutenant Couch describes it as a shy, quiet bird, and as found in
woody places.
Dr. Kennerly met with this bird at Pueblo Creek, New Mexico, January
22, 1854. It first attracted his attention early in the month of
January, in the Aztec Mountains, along Pueblo Creek. There it was
often met with, but generally singly. It inhabited the thickest
bushes, and its motions were so constant and rapid, as it hopped from
twig to twig, that they found it difficult to procure specimens. Its
flight was rapid, and near the ground.
Dr. Cooper speaks of this species as a common and resident bird in all
the lower districts of California, and to quite a considerable
distance among the mountains. It was also found on the islands of
Catalina and San Clemente, distant sixteen miles from the mainland.
Though found in New Mexico, Dr. Cooper has met with none in the barren
districts between the Coast Range and the Colorado, nor in the valley
of the latter.
Their favorite residence is said to be in thickets and in oak groves,
where they live mostly on the ground, scratching among the dead leaves
in the concealment of the underbrush, and very rarely venturing far
from such shelter. They never fly more than a few yards at a time, and
only a few feet above the ground. In villages, where they are not
molested, they soon become more familiar, take up their abodes in
gardens, and build their nests in the vicinity of houses.
Dr. Cooper gives them credit for little musical power. Their song is
said to be only a feeble monotonous trill, from the top of some low
bush. When alarmed, they have a note something like the mew of a cat.
On this account they are popularly known as Catbirds. He adds that the
nest is made on the ground, under a thicket, and that it is
constructed of dry leaves, stalks, and grass, mingled with fine roots.
The eggs, four or five in number, are greenish-white, minutely
speckled with reddish-brown, and measure one inch by .70.
Dr. Coues found this species a very abundant and resident species in
Arizona. It was rather more numerous in the spring and in the fall
than at other times. He found it shy and retiring, and inhabiting the
thickest brush. Its call-note is said to be almost exactly like that
of our eastern Catbird. He describes its song as a rather harsh and
monotonous repetition of four or six syllables, something like that of
the _Euspiza americana_. He found females with mature eggs in their
ovaries as early as May 5.
A nest of this species, collected by Mr. Ridgway near Salt Lake City,
May 26, was built on the ground, among scrub-oak brush. It is a very
slight structure, composed almost entirely of coarse dry stems of
grass, with a few bits of coarse inner bark, and with a base made up
wholly with the latter material, and having a diameter of about four
inches.
The eggs of this nest, four in number, have an average measurement of
.95 of an inch in length by .73 in breadth. Their ground-color is
crystalline-white, covered very generally with spots and small
blotches of purplish and wine-colored brown, somewhat aggregated at
the larger end.
[23] _Pipilo maculatus_, SWAINSON. SP. CHAR. _Male._ Similar
to the female of _Pipilo arcticus_, but rather more
olivaceous; only the head and neck all round black; shading
above insensibly into the back. The white markings mostly
edged narrowly externally with black, and clouded with
rusty; the nape-feathers faintly, the interscapular broadly,
streaked centrally with blackish; lower back and rump, with
outer edges of quill and tail feathers, olivaceous-brown. A
narrow shaft-streak in white at end of tail. Fourth quill
longest; fifth scarcely shorter; first about equal to
secondaries. Claws moderate; perhaps larger than in
_erythrophthalmus_. Length of skin, 7.80; wing, 3.15; tail,
4.20; tarsus, 1.10; middle toe and claw, .96; claw alone,
.34; hind toe and claw, .81; claw alone, .45. _Hab._ Mexico
(Oaxaca; Real del Monte, Philos. Mag., 1827).
It is a serious question whether this comparatively little
known Mexican species of _Pipilo_ is not to be considered as
identical with some or all of the species of the United
States, with spotted wing-coverts, notwithstanding the
difference in the color of the body. It appears, however, to
be constant in the olivaceous character of the back,—no
reference being made to Mexican specimens entirely black
above,—and as such it may be considered a permanent
geographical race.
Pipilo maculatus, var. oregonus, BELL.
OREGON GROUND ROBIN.
_Pipilo oregonus_, BELL, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1852, 6
(Oregon).—BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XXXVII, Dec. 1853, 922.—IB.
Notes Orn. Delattre, 1854, 22 (same as prec.).—BAIRD, Birds N.
Am. 1858, 513.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV, 64, 120 (British
Col.).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 200.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 241.
_Fringilla arctica_, AUD. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 49, pl. cccxciv.
(not of SWAINSON). _Pipilo arctica_, AUD. Syn. 1839, 123.—IB.
Birds Am. III, 1841, 164, pl. cxciv.
[Line drawing: 2867 ♂]
SP. CHAR. Upper surface generally, with the head and neck all round to
the upper part of the breast, deep black; the rest of lower parts pure
white, except the sides of the body and under tail-coverts, which are
light chestnut-brown; the latter rather paler. The outer webs of
scapulars (usually edged narrowly with black) and of the
superincumbent feathers of the back, with a rounded white spot at the
end of the outer webs of the greater and middle coverts; the outer
edges of the innermost tertials white; no white at the base of the
primaries. Outer web of the first tail-feather black, occasionally
white on the extreme edge; the outer three with a white tip to the
inner web. Outer quill shorter than ninth, or scarcely equalling the
secondaries; fourth quill longest; fifth scarcely shorter. Length,
8.25; wing, 4.40; tail, 4.00. _Female_ with the black replaced by a
more brownish tinge. Claws much as in _erythrophthalmus_.
HAB. Coasts of Oregon and Washington Territories, south to San
Francisco, California. Melting eastward and south into _megalonyx_.
West Humboldt Mountains and Northern Sierra Nevada.
[Line drawing: 2867]
Comparing this race with _arcticus_, we do not find much difference in
the white of the scapular region, except that the white marks here, as
elsewhere on the wing, are rounded, the extreme end of the outer web
of the feather being black instead of running out acutely white to the
very tip of the outer webs of the feathers. This gives rather less
extension to the white. In fact, most of the white marks are edged
externally with black, converting them into spots. There is no white
whatever at the exposed base of the outer web of the second to fifth
primaries, and there is only a trace of white near the end, instead of
having a conspicuous white edging from base to near the tip.
The outer web of the outer tail-feather, instead of being entirely
white for the exposed portion, is only very slightly edged with white;
usually entirely black. The white at the end of the feathers is much
more restricted, and extends only over the three outer feathers;
usually not reaching to the shaft. The relations to var. _megalonyx_
have been given under the latter head.
HABITS. The Oregon Ground Robin, so far as known, has a restricted
residence, the western portion of Oregon and Washington Territory
during the summer, and in the more northern portions of California.
Its occurrence in the latter State seems to have escaped the notice of
Dr. Cooper, though he gives it conjecturally, having seen birds which
he supposed to be of this species in the higher Sierra Nevada. In its
habits and notes Dr. Cooper could observe no difference between this
species and _P. megalonyx_, both having the complaining _mew_, from
which they have obtained the name of Catbird on that coast.
Mr. J. K. Lord found a nest containing six eggs, which he supposed to
belong to a bird of this species, at Fort Colville. It was built on
the top of a stump, round which young shoots had grown like a fringe,
completely hiding it from the sharpest eye. Mr. Hepburn met with it at
Victoria.
Dr. Cooper, in his Report on the Birds of Washington Territory, states
that the song of this species in spring, as it sits on a low bush
enjoying the sunshine, is like the final trill of the Redwing, or the
lisping faint notes of the Cowbird. It is a constant resident of the
Territory, but only frequents the edge of the coast in winter. He also
mentions finding it about thirty miles south of San Francisco in
autumn. Dr. Suckley met with it west of the Cascade Mountains.
In very many respects, in the opinion of Mr. Ridgway, the Oregon
Ground Robin very closely resembles the common and familiar eastern
“Chewink.” There is noticeable in this western representative a
peculiar manner of flight, and a predilection for bushy places,
closely corresponding with those of the eastern bird. It differs, in
the most marked manner, however, in its extreme shyness, and in the
total absence of the agreeable and striking notes of the Towhee. The
notes of this bird are, he states, of the rudest description, and
instead of being familiar and unsuspicious, it is one of the shyest
and most difficult to approach of any of the western birds.
He found it quite plentiful about Sacramento, where it inhabits the
thickets in company with the western Chat. After crossing the Sierra
Nevada it was found more abundant still in the chaparrals of the
sheltered ravines on the eastern base of those mountains, as well as
in the shrubbery of the river valleys. During the winter it forsakes
the former for the latter localities. Eastward this species was found
as far as the West Humboldt Mountains, where typical examples were
obtained.
At Carson City, early in March, his attention was attracted by the
peculiar notes of this _Pipilo_; the bird was sitting on a high rock
above the thick chaparral of the hillside, and sharply defined against
the sky. It was readily distinguishable by the black of its head and
breast, in sharp contrast with the pure white of its lower parts.
Every few moments it would raise its head to utter, in a short trill,
its rude song. When approached, it would jerk its expanded
white-tipped tail, and disappear among the bushes. It was abundant in
the chaparrals, on the hillsides, and among the thickets and
buffalo-berry bushes along the rivers. The males were in full song,
perching, as they sang, on a prominent rock or bush.
Mr. Nuttall met with a nest of this species on the 14th of June. It
was built in the shelter of a low undershrub, in a depression
scratched out for its reception. It was made of a rather copious
lining of clean wiry grass, with some dead leaves beneath, as a
foundation. The eggs were four, nearly hatched, very closely
resembling those of the Towhee, thickly spotted over, but more so at
the larger end, with very small round and very numerous
reddish-chocolate spots. The pair showed great solicitude about their
nest, the male, in particular, approaching boldly to scold and lament
at the dangerous intrusion.
The Oregon Ground Robin Mr. Lord considered a quaint and restless
bird. He found it very abundant from the coast to the summit of the
Rocky Mountains, and also very common on Vancouver Island. It arrives
the last of April and first of May, and frequents dark woods and thick
tangled underbrush. He describes it as stealthy and shy, with a habit
of hiding, but its cry usually betrays its place of concealment. This
cry he states to be like the squall of the Catbird.
Mr. Townsend found it abundant on the Columbia, where, as he observed,
it lived mostly on the ground, or on bushes near the ground, rarely
ascending trees. Mr. Audubon gives the measurement of its egg as 1.12
inches in length and .87 in breadth.
The egg of this species is more rounded than are those of this genus
generally, and there is but little difference between the two ends.
The ground-color is white, with a greenish tinge, and is very
generally and profusely spotted with fine markings of reddish and
purplish-brown. They measure .95 by .80 of an inch.
Pipilo maculatus, var. arcticus, SWAINSON.
ARCTIC TOWHEE BUNTING.
_Pyrgita_ (_Pipilo_) _arctica_, SW. F. Bor.-Am. II, 1831, 260.
_Pipilo arcticus_, NUTTALL, Man. I, 1832, 589.—IB., (2d ed.,)
1840, 610.—BELL, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. V, 1852, 7.—BAIRD, Birds N.
Am. 1858, 514.
SP. CHAR. Upper parts generally, with head and neck all round to the
upper part of the breast, black; the rump usually tinged with ashy.
Middle of breast and of belly white; sides chestnut; under
tail-coverts similar, but paler. Entire outer webs of scapulars and of
dorsal feathers immediately above them, and of ends of primary and
secondary coverts, to the shaft, with edges of outer webs of three
innermost tertials, and of the second to the fifth primaries,
conspicuously white. Whole outer web of the first and ends of the
first to the fourth tail-feathers, white, the amount diminishing not
very rapidly. Outermost quill longer than ninth, sometimes than
eighth, nearly always exceeding the secondaries; third quill longest;
fourth scarcely shorter. Length about 8 inches; wing, 4.40; tail,
4.10; hind toe and claw, .74. _Female_ paler brown instead of black;
the rufous, seen in _P. erythrophthalmus_, tinged with ashy.
HAB. High central plains of Upper Missouri, Yellowstone, and Platte;
basin of Missouri River, especially west, including eastern slope of
Rocky Mountains; San Antonio, Texas (DRESSER, Ibis, 1865, 492).
_P. arcticus_ is similar in form to _P. erythrophthalmus_, which,
however, is readily distinguished by the entire absence of white on
the scapulars and wing-coverts. The amount of white on the tail
decreases much less rapidly. The differences between it and _P.
oregonus_ will be found detailed under the head of the latter species.
One specimen (8,193) from Fort Leavenworth, with a few white spots
only on the scapulars, may perhaps be considered a hybrid between
_arcticus_ and _erythrophthalmus_.
In some specimens the interscapulars are edged externally with white.
The feathers of throat and sides of head show occasional concealed
spots of white about the middle. As in _erythrophthalmus_, the bases
of the primaries are white along the outer edge, showing under the
primary coverts, sometimes, but perhaps not generally, confluent with
the white towards the end of the same web.
The female is of a dull ashy-brown, difficult to describe, but with
only a slight tinge of the rufous seen in _P. erythrophthalmus_, which
is most distinct on top of head and back. There is an almost
inappreciable ashy superciliary stripe.
The young bird resembles in general appearance that of _megalonyx_,
but is lighter colored, and with the dusky streaks on the jugulum much
narrower. The brown above is as light as in _erythrophthalmus_, but
without the reddish cast seen in the latter, and not blackish, as in
_megalonyx_.
HABITS. The Saskatchewan or Arctic Ground Finch was first met with by
Sir John Richardson. It was observed by him only on the plains of the
Saskatchewan, where he had no doubt of its breeding, as one specimen
was killed late in July. It was said to arrive in that region in the
end of May, and to frequent shady and moist clumps of wood. It was
generally seen on the ground. Its habits, so far as they were
observed, correspond with those of the Towhee Bunting, which it
closely resembles in external appearance. It feeds on grubs, and is a
solitary and retired, but not a distrustful bird.
Besides its occurrence in the Valley of the Saskatchewan, these birds
have often been found on the high central plains of the Upper
Missouri, on the Yellowstone and Platte Rivers. Audubon met with it at
Fort Union. Dr. Hayden obtained it on the Yellowstone, in August; at
Fort Lookout, June 22; at Bijou Hills, from May 1 to the 15th; at Bon
Homme Island, May 9. Dr. Cooper obtained it at Fort Laramie in
September. Mr. Allen found it in Colorado, where it was more abundant
on the foothills than on the plains. He also found this species an
abundant inhabitant of the thickets in the valley of the Great Salt
Lake, in its habits strongly resembling the common birds of the
Eastern States. Though its song is also somewhat similar, its
call-note, he adds, is totally different, very nearly resembling that
of the Catbird.
Dr. Woodhouse met with but few of these birds either in the Indian
Territory or in New Mexico. Mr. Dresser, in November, 1863, when
hunting in the Bandera Hills, noticed several of these birds near the
camp, and obtained several near San Antonio during the winter. None of
these birds appear to have been observed in the Arctic regions beyond
the Saskatchewan Plains.
Mr. Nuttall met with this species on the western slopes of the Rocky
Mountains, but as he apparently did not appreciate the difference
between this form and the _oregonus_, we cannot determine with
certainty to which his descriptions apply in all cases. He found it,
in manners and habits, the counterpart of our common eastern species,
frequenting forests and scratching among the dead leaves among bushes
and thickets. He describes it as more shy than the common species. If
the nest be invaded, the male shows more boldness, and reiterates his
complaints until the cause of his alarm is removed. He speaks of its
warble as quaint and monotonous, and very similar to the notes of the
Towhee,—but the note of our bird, _towhee_, is never heard west of
the mountains. In its stead this bird is said to have a note like the
mew of a cat.
The egg of the _arcticus_ is oval in shape, and measures one inch in
length by .70 in breadth. It has a white ground, but is so generally
and so thickly covered with fine dots of umber-brown, intermingled
with paler markings of lavender and neutral tints, that the ground can
hardly be distinguished.