276 BIRDS OF WESTERN AND 



64. Guiraca cceridea (Linn.). 



Coccoborus cceruleus Finsch, Abh. nat. Ver. zu Bremen, 1870, p. 339. 

 Mazatlan, Tepic, Grayson ; Plains of Colima, Xantus. 



" The Blue Grosbeak appears here from October to April ; I procured specimens, however, in the locality of 

 Tepic in the month of June. Tepic is in the tierra templada, and the climate is cooler than the Mazatlan 

 region. It is my opinion that the birds migrate to the high central plains of Mexico to breed." 



65. Guiraca jmreUhia (Licht.). 

 Manzanilla Bay, Xantus. 



66. Spermophila torqueola Bp. 



" airicejjs Baird, Ann. Lye. N. Y., viii., p. 479. 



Mazatlan, Grayson, Xantus ; Plains of Colima, Creston, Xantus ; Tepic, Grayson. 



"Our present bird, though diminutive in size and of a subdued, modest and becoming dress, possesses those 

 qualities of cheerfulness and a delicately sweet little song, which always render it attractive and interesting. 

 They are constant residents in the State of Sinaloa, near the coast, and in the vicinity of Tepic they are 

 quite numerous. I also saw them in Tehuantepec. 



" They do not associate in flocks, but often in pairs, sometimes a few may be seen in the same locality. I 

 always found them inhabiting the openiugs, in which there is an abundance of low bushes, weeds and gi'ass, 

 the small seeds furnishing their principal means of subsistence. 



" In the months of April, May and June the males are in full song. The nest is placed in a low bush, and'' 

 compactly formed of fine roots, with but little lining; the eggs, five in number, are nearly white or very pale 

 blue. Two broods are raised in a season and perhaps more, as I have found young birds just able to fly in 

 October." 



Mr. Sclater (Ibis, 1871, p. 6) decides that S. atriceps Baird, is S. torqueola Bp., in im- 

 mature plumage. 



67. Volatinia jacarina (Linn.). 



Mazatlan, Grayson ; Mazatlan River, Mts. of Colima, Xantus. 



"Common from the latter part of June to September, inhabits clearings with low brushwood and rank 

 weeds; the male, during the breeding season, may be seen making frequent short flights or jumps from its 

 perch on the top of a weed or bush, always returning to the same spot." 



68. Cyanospiza ciris (Linn.). 



Mazatlan, Grayson ; Plains of Colima, Xantus. 



"A winter visitant to this locality; specimens shot in February." 



69. Cyanosjnza amcena (Say). 

 Mazatlan, Grayson. 



70. Cyanosjnza versicolor (Bp.). 

 Mazatlan, Grayson. 



"This beautiful little finch is <]uite a eominnn species about the vicinity of Mazatlan, where it is a constant 

 resident; I also found it at Tepic in the State of Jalisco. It appears to represent, on the Pacific slope, its 

 more brilliantly plumnged ally of the Southern Atlantic States, the Nonpareil (C. «>»«), which is only a 

 winter visitor to this region. It has a sweet little song, which it often warbles in the morning and evening 

 from the top of some bush or weed in hearing of its modestly attired mate. The plumage of the adult male 

 is very jiretty, the rich reddish-purple j)redominating upon the ujiper and lower parts, whilst the rumjj is con- 



