FRINGILLID^E — THE FINCHES. 569 



The food of tliis bird, in Labrador, was found to consist of small coleop- 

 terous insects, grass- seeds, a variety of berries, as well as minute shell-fish, 

 for which they searched the margins of ponds near the sea-shore. They 

 were also seen to pursue insects on the wing. Mr. Audubon speaks of its 

 song as consisting of six or seven notes, and describes it as loud, clear, and 

 musical, although of a plaintive nature, diminishing in power to the last note. 

 Its flight he describes as low, swift, and protracted. 



Dr. Coues did not find this bird abundant in South Carolina during the 

 winter, and conjectures that it does not go so far to the south. Its migrations 

 do not appear to be well defined, and nowhere is it known to be alnindant 

 during this season. Lieutenant Couch met witli it at Brownville, Te.\as, and 

 Tamaulipes, Jlexico, and at Charco Escondido, in ilarch, at which time they 

 were in flocks, indicating a more southern migration than is generally sup- 

 posed. 



It extends its northern migrations to the extreme northern and northeast- 

 ern portions of the continent, and also to Greenland. On the Yukon and 

 Anderson Eivers it is replaced by the Z. gainhdi. It is not abundant in 

 Greenland. HolboU obtained a single specimen only in August, and after- 

 wards met with a flock of young birds. He infers that they breed in the 

 interior, but are i-estricted to a very narrow strip of territory. 



Eggs of this species, from Wyoming Territory, measure from .90 to .95 of 

 an inch in length by .70 in breadth, and are of an oblong-oval shape. The 

 ground-color is a light greenish-white, thickly marked with reddish-brown 

 and lighter markings of an obscure purplish-brown. The intensity, depth of 

 coloring, and size of tlie darker brown markings, vary. They are princi- 

 pally disposed about the larger end. 



Zonotrichia leucophrys var. gambeli, Gambel. 



WESTERN WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. 



Fringilla gambeli, Nutt. Mmi. I, ('2il ed.,) 1S40, 556. — G.\mbel, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. I, 

 1843, 262 (California.) Zonotrichia yambeli, Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. 2d series, I, Dec. 

 1847, 50. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 460, pi. Ixix, f. 1. — Lokd, Pr. R. A. lust. 

 IV, 1864, 119 (British Columbia). — Cooper & SucKLEY, 201. — D.iLL& B.\nnister, 

 Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 284 (Alaska). — Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 195. Zonotrichia leu- 

 cophrys, Newberry, Zobl. Cal. & Or. Route ; Rep. P. R. R. VII, iv, 1857, 87. 



Sr. Ch.^r. Preci.^ely similar to Z. Jenrophrys. but rather smaller; the lores are gray 

 throughout, this color continuous with a white superciliary stripe along the .side of the 

 head. Length, 6.2.5 ; wing, 2.8.3 ; tail, 3.08. 



Hab. Rocky Mountains to the Pacific coast, north to Nulato and Fort Kenai, east 

 through the valley of the Mackenzie River, and south to Jalisco and Mazatlan, Mexico. 



As stated in tlie previous article, the only appreciable and constant differ- 

 ence between this race and Z. /(•iiro2Jhri/s is found in the character of the 

 black stripe on the side of the crown. In Icacophri/s the black passes down 



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