IG 



NORTH AMKIUCAX BIRDS. 



sexual organs. The song is very agreeable, not in the least recalling the 

 monotonous ditty of the Chip Bird, or the rather weak performances of some 

 other species of the genus. In the latter i)art of summer and early autumn 

 tlie birds wei'e generally seen in small tioops, ])erhiips families, in w'eedy 

 places, associating with the western variety of Spizella socialis, as well as with 

 Goldfinches." 



lieutenant Couch met with inilividuuls of this species at Agua Xiieva, in 

 Coahuila, Mexico, in May, 1853. They were found in small flocks among 

 the mountains. Their nest and eggs are unknown. 



Mthapiza mf.htlia. 



Genus MELOSPIZA, IVmrd. 



Melosjyuxi, B.iir.n, Birds N. Am. 1S68, i78. (Tyijc, FrinyUla melodia, Wii,s.) 



Gen. Char. Body stout. Bill conical, very obsoletely notclicd, or smooth ; somewhat 



compres.sed. Lower mandible not so deep 



as the upper. Commissure nearly straight. 

 Gonys a little curved. Feet stout, not 

 stretching beyond the tail; tarsus a little 

 longer than the middle toe ; outer toe a 

 little longer than the inner; its claw not 

 quite reaching to the base of the middle 

 one. Hind toe appreciably longer than the 

 middle one. Wings quite short and round- 

 ed, scarcely reaching bej'ond the base of 

 the tail; the tcrtials considerably longer 

 than the secondaries ; the quills considera- 

 bly graduated ; the fourth longest ; the first 

 not longer than the tertials, and almost the 



shortest of the primaries. Tail moderately long, rather longer from coccyx than the 



wings, and considerably graduated ; the feathers _s, 



ov.al at tlie tip;;, and not stifToned. Crown and 



back similar in color, and streaked ; beneath thickly 



streaked, except in M. pahistris. Tail immaculate. 



Usually nest on ground ; nests stronglj' woven of 



grasses and fibrous stems ; eggs marked with rusty- j_- - rrn ' \'in. ■ ^- ';T.\mi\-i 



brown and purple on a ground of a clay color. S^jaflri'i'' ^VlBlL ^^' "'^^«l 



This genus differs from Zonotrkliia in the 

 shorter, more graduated tail, rather longer 

 hind toe, much more rounded wing, which is 

 shorter; the tertiaries longer; the first quill 

 almost the shortest, and not longer than the 

 tertials. The under parts are spotted ; the 

 crown streaked, and like the back. 



There are few species of American birds 

 that have caused more perplexity to the Mtiospiza meM,a. 



ornithologist than the gi-oup of Mhich Melospiza melodia is the type. Spread 



