A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 2

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.

SECTION II

Head and body above brown; throat with a light patch

Pipilo fuscus, Swainson

Synopsis of the Varieties

Common Characters. Grayish-brown above, with a more or less appreciable rufous tinge on the crown. A patch covering the throat, ochraceous or white, contrasting with the surrounding portions, and encircled more or less completely, especially posteriorly, by dusky spots; lores like the chin. Crissum deep ochraceous, the lower part of abdomen tinged more or less with the same.

A. No trace of white tips to middle wing-coverts. Throat ochraceous.

a. Crown only faintly tinged with rufous.

1. Abdomen pale grayish-brown; throat and lores deep reddish-ochraceous; the deep ochraceous confined posteriorly to lower tail-coverts. Wing, 3.90; tail, 5.00. Hab. California … var. crissalis.

2. Abdomen distinctly white centrally, but surrounded by grayish laterally and anteriorly; throat and lores pale ochraceous; deep ochraceous of crissum extending forward over lower part of abdomen. Wing, 3.80; tail, 4.00. Hab. Mexico … var. fuscus.²⁴

b. Crown very distinctly rufous.

3. The ochraceous of posterior under parts spreading over whole lower part of abdomen and flanks. Ochraceous of the throat palest anteriorly, the chin and lores being almost white; it spreads over the jugulum also, outside the series of rather scattered dusky spots. Whole breast white. Wing, 3.80; tail, 4.30. Hab. Southern Middle Province of United States … var. mesoleucus.

 

4. The ochraceous of under parts confined to crissum and anal region; ochraceous of the throat palest posteriorly, where it is nearly white, and confined within the encircling series of rather coalesced dusky spots. Abdomen, only, white. Wing, 3.80; tail, 4.20. Hab. Cape St. Lucas … var. albigula

B. Middle coverts distinctly, and greater obsoletely, tipped with white. Throat white crossed by an ochraceous band.

5. Crown without a trace of rufous. Dusky spots surrounding the white gular patch, coalesced posteriorly into a narrow crescent. Whole breast and abdomen white, somewhat broken anteriorly. Flanks and lower tail-coverts ochraceous. Wing, 3.30; tail, 3.70. Hab. Mexico … (var. ?) albicollis²⁵

Pipilo fuscus, var. crissalis, Vigors

BROWN TOWHEE; CAÑON FINCH

Pipilo fusca, Cassin, Illust. I, IV, 1853, 124, pl. xvii (the figure seems to be of the California species, the description more like mesoleucus).—Newberry, Zoöl. Cal. & Or. Route, Rep. P. R. R. VI, IV, 1857, 89. Kieneria fusca, Bonap. Comptes Rendus, XL, 1855, 356. Fringilla crissalis, Vigors, Zoöl. Blossom, 1839, 19. Oriturus wrangeli, Brandt, Bonap. Comp. Rend. 43, 1856, 413. Pipilo fuscus, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 517.—Heerm. X, S, 51 (nest).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 245.

Pipilo fuscus, var. crissalis.

5559 ♂

Sp. Char. Above dark olive-brown, the crown with a very slight tinge of scarcely appreciable dark rufous. Under parts with the color somewhat similar, but of a lighter shade, and washed with grayish; middle of the belly only whitish; the under tail-coverts pale rufous, shading into lighter about the vent and sides of lower belly; chin and throat well-defined pale rufous, margined all round by brown spots, a few of them scattered within the margin. Eyelids and sides of head, anterior to the eye, rufous like the throat. One or two feathers on the lower part of the breast with a concealed brown blotch. Outer primary not edged with white. Fifth quill longest; first shorter than ninth, or even than secondaries. Bill pale brown, darker above; legs light. Length, 8.50 inches; wing, 4.00; tail, 4.60.

Hab. Coast region of California.

The bill is sinuated, as in P. aberti, differing from that of P. erythrophthalmus.

This race is very similar to the original P. fuscus of Mexico, the original description of Swainson answering almost exactly. It is, however, considerably larger; the proportions of wing are similar; and there is no decided indication of whitish in the middle of the body beneath, such as is always distinctly appreciable in fuscus, and still more in mesoleucus.

A young bird differs but little from the adult except in having obsolete dusky streaks below; the upper parts are uniform.

Habits. The Brown, or Cañon Finch of California is found nearly throughout the State of California. Mr. Xantus obtained it at Fort Tejon, and Mr. Ridgway observed it among the chaparrals on the foothills of the western slope of the Sierras.

Dr. Cooper considers the name of Cañon Finch ill applied to this species, as it is equally plentiful in level districts, wherever trees and shrubbery exist. He regards it as one of the most abundant and characteristic birds of California, residing in all the lower country west of the Sierras, and extending up the slopes of the Coast Range to the height of three thousand feet. They are said to have habits very similar to those of all the other species, living much upon the ground, and seeking their food among the dead leaves, which they greatly resemble in color. This resemblance Dr. Cooper regards as a great protection to them from Hawks; their hues also correspond with those of the earth and the dusky foliage during most of the year. They are thus less conspicuous in the light, and they venture more fearlessly forth and feed in open grounds.

They have but little song, and only utter a few faint chirps and hurried notes, as they sit perched upon some low bush, in the spring. At San Diego Dr. Cooper saw the first nest with eggs on April 17, but some birds had laid much earlier, as he found young hatched by the 20th. He afterwards observed other nests, all of which were built in bushes, from two to four feet from the ground, and all but one contained three eggs; the other had four. He has found them built in low trees, and one in a vine growing over the porch of a house. The nest is formed of coarse twigs, bark, and grass, is thick and large, and is lined with fine root-fibres and finer grasses. The eggs are pale blue, spotted with purplish-brown blotches, mostly small and scattered. He gives the measurement of the eggs as .90 by .65 of an inch. In the more northern part of the State they are said to lay four eggs oftener than three. They are supposed by him to have two broods in a season.

Colonel McCall has no doubt that they are found throughout California, as he has met with them from the upper waters of the Sacramento to the mouth of the Gila; the former having its origin in the extreme north, and the latter touching the extreme southern boundary of the State. It is most abundant south of Santa Barbara.

Colonel McCall states that its habits and manners differ somewhat from those of the common Towhee and the Arctic Finches. Its flight is more even and regular, and is without that violent jerking of the tail from side to side, which gives such a singular appearance of awkwardness to the movements of the Towhee. It is less shy and suspicious than the Arctic. It is also much less decidedly a Ground Finch than either of the others. Its favorite abode he found to be the vicinity of watercourses, where it is generally to be seen in pairs, though he has, at times, surprised eight or ten together under the shade of a large bush at noon in a summer day, when he has had no difficulty in procuring three or four specimens before the party dispersed. It is at all times a familiar bird, boldly coming into the roads to feed, and permitting a close approach. If compelled to retreat, it darts suddenly into the thicket, but returns as soon as the cause of alarm has disappeared. Near Santa Barbara he found thirty or forty of these birds, in the month of July, dispersed over an old field of some five acres in extent, contiguous to a sea-beach, through which flowed a small stream of fresh water. They were feeding on the ground, sheltered by a rank growth of weeds. When one was flushed it flew into a neighboring tree instead of seeking shelter again in the weeds. The young at that time were fully fledged, and scarcely differed in the color of their plumage from the adults.

Dr. Heermann once met with a nest of this bird built in a grapevine overhanging the Sacramento River. He describes the eggs of this species as differing entirely from any of this genus he had ever met with, and as having so great a resemblance to the eggs of the three different species of Blackbirds inhabiting California that they were liable to be confounded with them unless marked when taken from the nest.

Dr. Newberry, who found this bird very common in the Sacramento Valley, states that when he first met with it, a strange bird to him, its habit of scratching among the dry leaves under the bushes, as well as its long tail and jerking flight from one clump of bushes to another, at once indicated to him its affinities.

Among the memoranda made by Mr. Xantus at Fort Tejon are the following in reference to this species: “474, nest and two eggs, found May 19 on a small thorn-bush in a very dark thicket, about six feet from the ground; 1,675, nest and one egg, on a thick thorny bush, six feet from the ground; 1,851, nest and two eggs, May 12, on a rose-bush, four feet from the ground, eggs already incubated.”

The eggs of this species measure one inch by .75, have a light ground of robin-blue, and are spotted and blotched with varying shades of dark and light purple. In some the color of the blotches is so deep as not to be distinguishable from black, except in a strong light. The lighter shades are a faint lavender.

Pipilo fuscus, var. mesoleucus, Baird

CAÑON BUNTING

Pipilo mesoleucus, Baird, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, June, 1854, 119 (Rocky Mountains).—Ib. Birds N. Am. 1858, 518, pl. xxix.—Kennerly, P. R. R. X, b pl. xxix.—Heerm. X, c. p. 15.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 247. ? Pipilo fusca, “Swains.,” Sclater & Salvin, P. Z. S. 1869, 361 (city of Mexico).

Sp. Char. Above very dull olivaceous-brown, with a grayish tinge; hood dull chestnut, conspicuously different from the back. Sides like the back, but paler; posteriorly, and about the vent and under tail-coverts, pale brownish-red. The ashy olive-brown of the sides scarcely meeting across the breast, the lower portion of which, with the upper belly, is rather pure white. The loral region, chin, throat, and upper part of the breast, pale yellowish-rufous, finely spotted on the sides and more coarsely across the breast with brown; an obscure spot in the middle of the breast; edge of outer primary white. Bill pale brown; legs flesh-color; first quill about equal to eighth, third and fourth longest. Length, 8.50 inches; wing, 3.80; tail, 4.70.

Hab. Valley of Upper Rio Grande and across to the Gila River. East to Santa Caterina, New Leon.

This race is similar in general appearance to P. crissalis, but the olive-brown and rufous are both of a lighter shade. The crown is of a decided rufous, conspicuously different from the back, instead of nearly the same tint. The light reddish under the head is wider throughout, and extends down to the upper part of the breast, blending with the colors of the breast and belly, instead of being narrower, more sharply defined, and restricted to the chin and throat; it is palest anteriorly, the chin and lore being almost white. The isolated larger spot on the breast is more conspicuous; the breast and belly are quite pure white, shaded with obsolete brownish blotches, instead of being uniform grayish-brown, with only an approach to whitish in the very middle. The edges of the wing and tail feathers are a good deal lighter, the outer web of the first primary being sharply edged with pure white, instead of obscure grayish-brown. The size generally is rather smaller, the wings more pointed.

Compared with P. fuscus, we find the tail decidedly longer; the wing more pointed; the first quill about equal to the eighth, instead of shorter than the secondaries. The colors generally are paler; the cap of head bright distinct rufous in strong contrast with the other plumage, instead of being only very obscurely tinged with that color. The white of belly is purer, and extends farther forward, displacing the ashy tinge almost to the buff of the throat.

If we consider all the brown Pipilos as modifications of one primitive species, it will be well to consider the Arizonan and New Mexican bird as the central figure around which the others are grouped. The common character will then be varied in the California race, crissalis, by the absence of decided rufous on crown, a darker shade of color, and an extension of the gray of sides over the whole under parts, almost entirely displacing the white. The wing is more rounded, and the general dimensions larger southward on the central plains of Mexico; the general tints are almost precisely as in the California bird, except that the white of belly is very evident; but the chestnut cap and extended whiteness of belly, together with the pointed wing of mesoleucus, are wanting. In P. albigula of Cape St. Lucas we have the general characters of mesoleucus, with paler colors, more restricted spots encircling throat, and a tendency to white in its lower part. In this it approaches albicollis of Southwestern Mexico.

Habits. This little-known form was first obtained by Dr. Kennerly, naturalist to the Pacific Railroad Expedition on the 35th parallel, under Lieutenant Whipple. He met with it at Bill Williams Fork, in Arizona, February 5, 1854. It was described by Professor Baird the following June. Dr. Kennerly furnished at the time no information in regard to its habits.

Dr. Heermann, in his Report on the birds observed in Lieutenant Parke’s expedition, mentions having met with this species in the vicinity of Tucson. Its habits, so far as he could judge of them from his opportunities, appeared very similar to those of Pipilo aberti.

Lieutenant Couch met with this species at Santa Catalina, Mexico, in April, 1853, but furnishes no information in reference to its manners. Mr. J. H. Clark, who obtained a specimen near the Copper Mines of the Mimbres, states that they were met with in abundance in the deep valleys or cañons of that region. They were almost always in or about the thick clumps of bushes, several usually being in company.

Dr. Kennerly, who met with them on a second trip, in June, 1855, near Los Nogales, in Mexico, speaks of them as not very common in that region. He found them preferring the dense bushes in the valleys. When approached, they became very restless, flying from one bush to another, accompanying their motions with very peculiar notes, which he does not describe.

Dr. Coues found this species abundantly distributed throughout the warmer portions of New Mexico and Arizona, from the valley of the Rio Grande to that of the Colorado. He did not observe any at Fort Whipple, though they were found breeding some twenty-five miles to the southward. He found them associating freely with Pipilo aberti, and inhabiting the same regions. The two birds have very similar habits.

Dr. Henry also states that this species is common in New Mexico both summer and winter, and, so far as he has observed, dwelling almost entirely among the mountains. It appeared to him very retiring in its habits, and seemed to prefer the cañons. He has seldom, if ever, observed it far from shady gorges, where, like its relative of the Eastern States, the Towhee Bunting, it passes the greater part of its time on the ground, and is generally accompanied by its congener, the Arctic Finch. When disturbed, it seeks the thickest cover, though it is by no means shy or difficult to approach. Its nest is usually constructed in the branches of a thick cedar or dwarf oak, and he has never known it to produce more than one brood in a season.

Dr. Cooper states that these birds are very abundant in Southern Arizona, that their habits closely resemble those of P. aberti, and that their eggs are similar to those of Pipilo fuscus.

Pipilo fuscus, var. albigula, Baird

CAPE TOWHEE

Pipilo albigula, Baird, P. A. N. S. Nov. 1859, 305 (Cape St. Lucas).—Elliot, Illust. Am. Birds, I, pl. xv (“= P. mesoleucus”).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 248.

Sp. Char. Similar to var. mesoleucus, having, like it, a distinctly rufous crown and white abdomen. Differing, however, in the following respects: The pale ochraceous gular area is more sharply defined, the buff being confined within the encircling series of dusky spots; the buff is palest posteriorly, instead of directly the opposite. The rufous of the crissal region is more restricted, only tingeing the anal region instead of invading the lower part of the abdomen, the white beneath also is shifted farther back, covering the abdomen alone, instead of the breast, the whole jugulum being distinctly ashy, like the sides. Wing, 3.80; tail, 4.25.

Hab. Cape St. Lucas.

A very large series of specimens from Cape St. Lucas agree in possession of the characters pointed out above, distinguishing them from mesoleucus, to which race the present one is most nearly related.

Habits. The White-throated or Cape Towhee of Cape St. Lucas was first met with by Mr. Xantus in the southern extremity of the peninsula of Lower California, and described by Professor Baird in 1859. Its close resemblance to P. mesoleucus suggests an equal similarity as to its habits, in regard to which we possess no actual knowledge. Mr. Xantus has furnished us with no memoranda as to the manners of the bird. We have only the brief mention among his notes to the effect that No. 4,855 is the nest with four eggs of this Pipilo, found in a wild Humulus thicket; and that No. 5,076 is a nest with eggs of the same, found in a thicket of wild roses in the garden fence.

Judging from the large number of the nests and eggs of this species collected by that gentleman at Cape St. Lucas, it would seem to be very abundant in that locality.

The eggs of this variety measure .95 of an inch in length and .72 in breadth. They bear a strong resemblance to those of the P. fuscus, but the markings are darker and more distinctly defined, standing out with a clear and striking effect, in marked contrast with the light background. The ground-color of the egg is a light tint of robin-blue. The markings of dots, dashes, and lines are all about the larger end, and are of a deep dark shade of purplish-brown, so dark as, except in a strong light, to be undistinguishable from black.

SECTION III

Brown; throat without light patch

Pipilo aberti, Baird

ABERT’S TOWHEE

Pipilo aberti, Baird, Stansbury’s Rep. Great Salt Lake, Zoölogy, June, 1852, 325 (New Mexico).—Ib. Birds N. Am. 1858, 516, pl. xxx.—Kennerly, P. R. R. X, b, pl. xxx.—Heermann, X, c, 15.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 244. Kieneria aberti, Bonap. Comptes Rendus, XL, 1855, 356.

6748 ♂

Sp. Char. General color of upper parts pale brownish yellowish-red; beneath brighter, and more ochraceous, especially on the under coverts, palest on the middle of the belly. Sides of head anterior to eyes, and chin dark brown. Bill and legs yellowish. Length, 9 inches; wing, 3.70; tail, 4.85.

Hab. Base of Rocky Mountains in New Mexico. Valley of Gila and Colorado.

This plainly colored bird is perhaps the largest of the North American Finches, and is without any blotches, spots, or variations of importance from one color, except on the chin and sides of the head. The bill is similar to that of P. erythrophthalmus, but the cutting edge is less concave and more sinuated. The tail is more graduated; the claws thicker and stronger. The wings are short and much rounded; the first quill shorter than the secondaries; fifth and fourth longest.

It may be easily distinguished from all the varieties of fuscus by the blackish lores and chin, as well as by the absence of any colored gular area, there being, instead, a pinkish rufous tinge prevalent over the whole throat and jugulum. There are no dusky spots across the throat as in fuscus.

Habits. Dr. Cooper assigns the base of the Rocky Mountains, in New Mexico, and the valleys of the Gila and Colorado Rivers, as the habitat of this species. Dr. Coues speaks of it as one of the most abundant and characteristic birds of those two valleys, and adds that it ranges northward to within a few miles of Fort Whipple, but is not found in the adjacent mountains. It was common at Fort Mohave, and particularly so at Fort Yuma.

Dr. Kennerly met with it at Camp No. 114, New Mexico, February 6, and again at Bill Williams Fork, February 12. He states that while travelling down the Big Sandy Creek and Bill Williams Fork, in the month of February, he found them very abundant. They confined themselves to the thick bushes near the water. Generally two or three were seen together. Their motions were very rapid, and their note was a peculiar, loud, chattering sound, sharp but not disagreeable. After leaving the Great Colorado he did not see it again.

On the borders of the Gila, east of Fort Yuma, Dr. Heermann found this bird in great abundance. It kept in the close sheltered thickets, where, secure from intrusion, it sought among the dead leaves for various seeds and insects and their larvæ, on which it feeds. In its habits it very much resembles the Pipilo fuscus, or Cañon Finch, diving into the bushes when alarmed, and repeating, at intervals, a short chirp. After leaving the Gila River he did not meet with any more, as he followed no longer the course of any large stream, for the borders of which these birds seem to have a decided preference.

Dr. Cooper regards this species as the almost exact counterpart of the Pipilo fuscus. The only difference he noticed in habits was in the character of its loud note of alarm, remarkably similar, however, to that of two very distinct birds of the same valley, namely, Centurus uropygialis and Phainopepla nitens. Like the Cañon Finch, this species is said to live almost constantly on the ground, but appears rather more gregarious, especially in winter.

About the first of April Dr. Cooper met with many of their nests. They were generally built in thorny shrubs, and were composed of a flooring of coarse twigs, or of green herbs, and strongly interwoven with strips of bark, grass, and leaves. One bird had taken advantage of the recent introduction of horses into the valley to obtain a lining of horse-hair for its nest. The eggs were in all cases only three, bluish-white, with brown spots and streaks in a ring near the large end, quite variable in number, and measuring one inch by .70. One of the nests was in a low mesquite-tree, another in a dense cluster of dead twigs hanging from a cottonwood. The time required for hatching was twelve or thirteen days, and in a fortnight more the young left the nest. Dr. Cooper found nests with eggs as late as May 25, and had no doubt that they raise two or more broods in a season. He adds that the song of the male, throughout April and May, is precisely like that of P. fuscus, and also reminded him of the notes of P. oregonus and of the eastern Black-throated Bunting (Euspiza americana).

Dr. Coues has kindly supplied me with the following interesting sketch of this species, as observed by him in Arizona:—

“This species appears to have a remarkably restricted geographical distribution. I never saw it at Fort Whipple, but on the Colorado bottom in the same latitude, and thence along the river to Fort Yuma, I found it to be one of the most abundant and characteristic birds of all. At the time I observed it, in September, it was generally in small flocks, and proved rather difficult to capture, partly because the dense underbrush it inhabited was almost impenetrable, and partly on account of its natural timidity. Everything along the river-bottom is scorched with the heat, and the dry dead twigs constantly snap at a touch, with such noise that it is almost impossible to force a passage through the underbrush without alarming all its inmates. The bird occurs everywhere along the river-side, but is particularly numerous on the patches of mesquite, and the extensive areas grown up to young willows and cottonwoods, and the arrowwood (Tessaria borealis). Its ordinary cry of alarm, if not its call-note, is a loud, clear chirp, very different from the mewing sound made under similar circumstances by its congener, the P. megalonyx. The latter, as is well known, is almost exactly like that of a Catbird. I never heard the song of this bird, which appears to sing only during the breeding-season, but Dr. Cooper says it resembles that of the western Black Pipilos, and I can indorse his observation, that this is curiously like the monotonous notes of the Black-throated Bunting,—Chip, chip, chee-chee-chee; the first two syllables deliberately pronounced, the others more rapidly enunciated, with greater emphasis. The associates of this species seem to be few, if indeed they be not confined to the P. mesoleucus, a very near ally. The moult seems to me unusually protracted, as many September specimens were still in poor plumage.

“Excepting my experience with this bird on the Colorado, I only met with it on the Hassayampa, a small stream a few miles from Fort Whipple, yet in a somewhat different region, across a slight mountain-ridge, lower and warmer. Two specimens were secured, adult and young, the first week in August.”

Dr. Coues, on his way from Arizona to the Pacific (Ibis, 1866, p. 261), mentions that he was often startled by the loud, clear, sharp chirp of this bird, which, though fringilline in character, is more than usually powerful, and is its alarm-note. Everywhere in the Colorado Valley this was one of the most characteristic birds. Fort Yuma seemed to be its head-quarters. It is, like all its congeners, a retiring species, and keeps perseveringly in the almost impenetrable undergrowth. It is said to be more decidedly gregarious than most of the genus, often collecting in flocks of a dozen or more, wandering restlessly, yet in a cautious manner, through the thickets.