_Chrysomitris mexicana_, var. _arizonæ_, COUES, P. A. N. S. 1866.—
COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 170.
SP. CHAR. (♂ 37,092, Fort Wingate, Arizona, June 28, 1864.) Above,
including auriculars, glossy black, with a faint bluish reflection;
nape, back, and rump much mixed with olive-green, this rather
predominating; larger coverts broadly tipped with grayish-white;
tertials, with almost the entire exposed portion of the outer webs,
white; a patch on base of primaries, and the inner webs of the
tail-feathers, except the ends, white. Beneath entirely lemon-yellow.
Wing, 2.50; tail, 1.70; culmen, .35; tarsus, .50.
HAB. Southern boundary of Arizona and New Mexico, extending southward
into Mexico, and gradually changing into _mexicana_, and northward
into _psaltria_.
The specimen described above is from a series collected in Arizona by
Dr. Coues: these examples vary in the relative amount of black and
olive on the back, some having one, and others the other color
predominating; the type selected is one which represents about the
average plumage of this species from Arizona.
HABITS. Dr. Coues found these birds abundant summer residents of
Arizona, where they are said to arrive the last of April and to remain
until the middle of September. In August the males are stated to
assume the dull plumage of the females. In autumn they become
decidedly gregarious, and feed almost exclusively upon buds and seeds.
He thinks they are not so numerous in the southern portions of the
Territory. In a letter received from him he remarks:—
“This bird was found to be common in New Mexico near Fort
Wingate, at the eastern base of the main chain of mountains.
I first observed it on the 28th of June, when I found quite
a number together, and secured several specimens. They were
in small troops on a rugged hillside covered with a sparse
growth of junipers and stunted pines, feeding in company
with the _Poospiza bilineata_. Judging from their actions,
and from the fact that none but males were taken, I presume
they were breeding in the vicinity. I found some difficulty
in securing specimens, partly owing to the broken nature of
the locality, and partly to the birds’ timidity in the
unaccustomed presence of man. Those that were shot were all
found to have the æsophagus as well as the gizzard crammed
with seeds. They constantly uttered a plaintive lisping
whistle as they gathered food, or as they flew from one tree
to another, but their song did not strike my ear as
precisely the same as that of the Goldfinch. These specimens
were all in what I take to be perfect plumage, although the
back was mixed with olive and black in nearly equal
proportions, and the black of the pileum did not reach below
the eyes to cut off the yellow under eyelid from the other
yellowish parts of the head; thus closely resembling true
_psaltria_.
“Upon my arrival at Fort Whipple in July, I found birds of
this type abundant, and took a good many during the two
following months, when they disappeared, and I saw none
until about the first of May. A small ravine close by the
fort, choked with a rank growth of weeds, was a favorite
resort; there the birds could be found at nearly all times
in season, in large troops, feeding in company with Chipping
Sparrows, and the _Spizella atrigularis_. They were very
tame during the latter part of the summer, would only rise
when very closely approached, when they flew in a hesitating
manner a short distance, and then pitched down again among
the weeds to resume their busy search for food. In their
undulating flight they utter their peculiar note, generally
with each impulse of the wings, and keep up a continual
chirping when feeding; but I did not hear their true song at
this season. Some of the specimens taken were very young
birds, and the species unquestionably breeds here, although
I never succeeded in finding a nest.
“I should not omit to add, that whilst at Santa Fé, New
Mexico, I saw caged birds that were thriving well, and
apparently reconciled to confinement.”
A nest of this bird, obtained near Camp Grant, Arizona, by Dr. Palmer,
is a flat and shallow structure, having a diameter of three inches,
and a height of one and a quarter. The cavity is only a slight
depression. This nest is made of a felting of various materials,
chiefly the cotton-like down of the cottonwood-tree and other soft
vegetable matter, fine stems of grasses, fragments of mosses, and
various other similar materials, lined with finer materials of the
same. Except in their slightly smaller size, the eggs are not
distinguishably different from the preceding.
Chrysomitris psaltria, var. mexicana, BONAP.