134 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



iiiuler Lieutenant Parke, mentions first meeting witli this species near Tuc- 

 son. They were frequenting, in numbei's, the thick undei'growth, and were 

 seeking seeds and insects on the ground. They seemed inclined to shun 

 observation, and always kept in the most retired situations. Tliey were 

 sociable among themselves, going about singly or in pairs, associated with 

 the Pouspiza hilineatu and two or three other kinds of Fincli. ^^'llen started 

 they Hy low, diving into the bushes, and soon disappear from sight. Occa- 

 sionally, until reaching El Paso, Texas, birds of this species were met with, 

 mingling with the flocks of migrating Frhigillidce. He there procured a j)air 

 apparently just entering upon incubation. 



lusteail of being siuted by color, like most of the other Pipilos, to inhabit 

 dark thickets and among dry leaves, tliis species is clad in a gayer livery, and 

 seems well adapted for concealment in its summer resorts, and also among 

 the growing vegetation of the lower country during the rainy season. Dr. 

 Heermann found a lew wintering in tlie Colorado Valley, and yet more at 

 San Diego, but they left both places in March. He found them silent and 

 shy, hiding very closely in the bushes, and feeding altogetlier on the ground, 

 Tlie only note he heard, resembled the crowing note of the California Quail. 



Among the memoranda of ]\fr. Xantus, made near Fort Tejon, are the two 

 following : " 4,839, nest and two eggs (of Pvpilo chlorurus) found in a dry 

 hedge in Mr. Eitchie's garden ; 5,083, nest and eggs found in a dark garden- 

 hedge." 



The eggs of the cldorurns are like those of no other Pipilo that I have 

 met with. They are peculiar in shape, being nearly of an exact oval, neither 

 end being apparently much more rounded than the other. Their gi'ound- 

 color is white with a bluish tint, over which is profusely diffused a cloud of 

 fine dotting.s of a jjinkisli-drab. These markings are occasionally so fine and 

 so thickly distributed as to gi\-e to the egg the appearance of a uniform 

 color, or as an unspotted pinkish drab-colored egg. Occasionally the dots 

 are deeper and larger, and more sparsely diffused. 



In considering the eggs of the IHpilos in general we find certain variations 

 wliich deserve more than a passing notice. Those of crythrophthalmiis, 

 oreyonus, arcticus, and mcyalonyx are all fringilline in their characters, and 

 have a marked affinity to eggs of Melospiza, Zonotrichia, and many other 

 genera of this order. The eggs of aherti, fitscits, mesoleucus, and albu/u/a are 

 also all closely alike, and exhibit a very close resemblance to those of the 

 Afjclaii, and even of the Ictcri, while the eggs of P. chlorunts, though of a 

 fringilline character, are unlike either style. 



