550 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Coturniculus henslowi, Bonap. 



HENSLOWS BUNTING. 





.3^ 



Coturniculus passtrinui. 



Emberiza hcnslovi, \VD. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 360, iil. Ixxvii. — In. Syn. 1839, 104. — Ib. 

 Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 75, pi. cl.xiii. — Nrrr.iLL, Man. I, 1832, App. Colurniculns 

 hensloivi, Bon. List, 1838. — Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 481. — Baiud, Birds N. Am. 1858, 

 451. — Maynaud, Birds E. Mass. 1870, 117. — Samuels, 306. FrinijiUa hctislowi, 

 NUTTALL, Man. 1, (2d ed.,) 1840, 571. 



Sp. Ciiak. Upper parts yellowish-brown, the hood, neck, and upper parts of Iiack 



tinged with greeni.sh-yellow. Intorseapnlar I'eatliers 

 dark brown, suffused e.xternall}' with bright brownish- 

 red ; each feather with grayish border.s. Tertiaries, 

 ruuip. and tail-feathers abruptly dark chestnut-brown, 

 darkest centrally, paler externally, and narrowly mar- 

 gined with gray. Crown with a broad black spotted 

 stripe on each side ; these spots continued down to the 

 back. Two narrow black mandibular stripes and one 

 post-oonlar on each side of the head, and an obscure 

 black crescent or spot behind the auriculars. Under 

 parts light brownish-yellow, paler on the throat and 

 abdomen. The juguluin, upper part of the breast, and 

 tlie sides of the body, conspicuously streaked with 

 black. Edge of wing yellow. A strong tinge of 

 pale chestnut on the wings and tail. The median 

 tail-feathers and upper coverts chestnut or rufous 



brown, with sharply defined shaft-streaks of black. Length, 5.25 ; wing, 2.10 ; tail, 2.15. 

 Hab. Eastern United States as far north as Massachusetts ; westward to the Loup 



Fork of Platte. 



Tliis .species is related to C. jjosserinus, but readily distinguished by tlie 

 well-marked stripes on breast and sides, tlie greenish-yellow, not chestnut- 

 brown, of head and na]ie, and the two mandibular dusky stripes. The mid- 

 dle tail-leathers are reddish with only a \ery narrow sharply defined median 

 shaft-streak of black, instead of liaving the gi-eater portion of the centre 

 dusky with scalloiied edges. I have not seen young birds, but they probaljly 

 differ little from tiie adults. 



Habits. The liistoiy and general distribution of Henslow's Bunting is 

 still somewhat imperfectly known. Mr. Audubon first met with it, in 182(1, 

 in Kentucky, nearly o])i)osite to Cincinnati. It Nvas seen on the ground, 

 amongst the tall grass, and is said to have e.xhiliited all the ])eculiarities of 

 this tribe. He was afterwards intbrmed that this bird is abundant in the 

 State of New Jersey, and that it breeds there ; and in evidence of this he 

 mentions receiving a specimen from Dr. Trudeau, obtained by that gentle- 

 man himself Mr. Audulxm also mentions tbat both J)r. Bachman and he 

 have procured a great number in South Carolina, wdiere they abound, in the 

 latter part of autumn, and wliere, also, a portion remain during the winter. 

 In Florida, 'Sir. Audubon again met with tliese birds in the winter. They 



