FEINGILLID.E -THE FINCHES. 263 



Ghondestes grammaca BP. 1838. BAIKD, L. N. Am. 1S.J8. 45i;. (part* : Cat. X. Am. B. 1859, 

 No. 344. (part). COVES, Koy, 1X7:!, 146, (part) ; Check List, is;:!. No. isii (part) ; 'M ed. 

 1882, No. :M (part), ("grammica'"); B. N. W. 1S74, 15!) (part).-B. B. & R. Hist. N. Am. 

 B. i. 1374, 5(i>, i>l. 31. !i.v. 1. RIDUW. Num. X. Am. B. 1NM, No. JH. 



Emli. rim grammaca AUD. Syuop. 1839, 101; B. Am. iii, 1841,03, pi. 158. 



HAB. Mississippi Valley, north to Iowa, Wisconsin, and southern .Michigan, rasr, 

 regularly to Indiana, western Kentucky, etc., occasionally to Ohio, and casually t<> Massa- 

 chusetts and the District of Columbia; west to eastern portion of the Great Plains; soutli 

 to eastern Texa-. 



"Sp. CHAK. Hood chestnut, tinged with black towards the forehead, and with a 

 median stripe and superciliary stripe of dirty whitish. Rest of upper parts pale grayish 

 olive, the iiiterseapular region alone streaked with dark brown. Beneath white, a round 

 spot oil the upper part of the breast, a broad maxillary si ripe cutting off a white stripe 

 above, and a short line from the bill to the eye, continued faintly behind it, black. A 

 white crescent under the eye, bordered below by black and behind by chestnut, on the 

 ear-coverts. Tail-feathers dark brown, the outermost edged externally and with more 

 than terminal third white, with transverse outline; the white decreasing to the next to 

 innermost, tipped broadly with white. Length, 6 inches; wing, 3.30." (Hist. N. Am. B.) 



The colors of the female are slightly duller than in the male, 

 the chestnut less bright, the black not so intense ; the pattern, 

 however, is the same. 



The young bird has the breast and throat with a good many 

 spots of dark brown instead of the single large one on the breast. 

 The other markings are more indistinct. 



This handsomely marked bunting (for it is not a true sparrow, 

 nor a finch) is found abundantly in all suitable localities, its favor- 

 ite resort being fertile prairies and meadows adjoining strips or 

 groves of timber. In Illinois it evinces a special fondness for corn- 

 fields, in which it builds its nest at the foot of the stalks, while 

 the male sings from the fence or the top of a small tree by the 

 roadside. 



It has been a matter of surprise to us that writers who have de- 

 scribed the habits of western birds have not mentioned more par- 

 ticularly the vocal capabilities of this bird, which in sprightliness 

 and continuity of song has few, if any, rivals among the North 

 American F>-in>//Ui<J\ Words entirely fail to describe its song, 

 which, among the oak groves of California, as well as on the 

 prairies of Illinois, is pre-eminent for the qualities above mentioned. 

 As the bird perches upon the summit of a small tree, a fence post, 

 or a telegraph wire, his notes may be heard throughout the day- 

 in the morning before those of any other, and late in the evening 

 when all else but this unweary songster are silent ; indeed, often 

 have we been awakened at midnight by a sudden outburst of silvery 

 Avarblings from one of this species. This song is composed of 

 a series of chants, each syllable rich, loud, and clear, interspersed 



