FRIXGILLlDJi;--THE FINCHES. 521 



Mr. H. E. Dresser, in his paper on the birds of Southern Texas, mentions 

 finding the Cliestuut-collared Bunting in flocks early in the spring, on the 

 prairies near San Antonio, but it was not a common bird there. 



Dr. Woodhouse found this species quite rare in the Indian Territury, where 

 he was only able to secure a single specimen. 



Captain Blakiston met with this species on the Saskatchewan Plains on 

 the 15th of May, 1858, — a higher range than has been noticed liy any one 

 else. 



Dr. Heermann, while on a tri]> to the Eocky Mountains in 184o, met with 

 this species in small llocks and pairs, scattered over the prairies of the Platte 

 Eiver, and was so fortunate as to meet with one of its nests. It was built 

 on the ground, and was made of an interweaving of fine grasses and lined 

 with hair. He describes the eggs, which were four in number, as having a 

 white ground, with black lines at the larger end, and a few faint blotches of 

 a neutral tint scattered over their whole surface. 



This description does not quite correspond with the eggs collected liy Mr. 

 Audubon on the Upper Missouri. The.se have a clay-colored ground with the 

 slightest possible tinge of green, and are marked with fine dots of purplish- 

 brown, and larger markings, Ijlotches, and short lines of dark brown. They 

 measure .70 by .55 of an inch, and have a strong resemblance to the eggs of 

 both P. pictiis and P. iiiuccowni. 



Five eggs of this species, obtained at Fort Hays, Kansas, June 1, 1871, by 

 Mr. J. A. Allen, measure .75 of an inch in length by .58 in breadth. They 

 are small in proportion to the bird, and are somewhat pointed at one end. 

 Their ground is a gray or gra3ash-white shade of stone-color, and this is 

 somewhat sparingly marked with blotches of dark brown, almost black, and 

 lighter markings of purplish-brown. The nest was placed on the ground, and 

 was composed altogether of fine stems of grasses. 



Plectrophanes ornatiis, \ai melanomus, Pjaird. - e-r-i^fC*-^} , 



EL&CK-SHOULD£R£S LONGSFUR. 



PUdrophancs mclaiimnus, Baird, Birds N". Am. 1858, 436, pi. l.xxiv, i". 2. — HEEn.M.\NN, 

 X, c, 13. 



Sp. Crr.AR. Bill yellowi.sh, dark brown along the ciilmen. Male. Crown, a'short stripe 

 behind llie eye, and a short orescent behind the ear-coverts, entire breast as far back as 

 the thighs, and the lesser wing-coverts, black. The black on the breast margined with 

 dark cinnamon. Sides hf head, chin, throat, and region behind the black of the belly, 

 white. A broad half-collar of dark cinnamon-brown on the back of the neck. Tail- 

 feathere mostly white ; the innermost tipped with dark brown ; the white ending in an 

 acute angle. Length, 5.30; wing, .3.40; tail, 2.60. (No. 6,290.) 



Hab. Eastern slope of the Rooky Mountains, Mexico, on the table-lands, north to 

 Upper Missouri. Orizaba (Sclatkr, 1800, 251); San Antonio, Texas, spring (Drksskr, 

 Ibis, lcS65, 486); Fort Whipple, Arizona (Coues, P. A. K S. 1800, 84); Vera Cruz, 

 plateau, breeding (Sn.NricuRAST, I, 551). 

 Of. 



