OF NEW ENGLAND. 229 



Superciliary line, and edge of the wing, bright yellow ; breast 

 paler. Other under parts, white ; lower throat with a broad 

 black patch, forming a cross-bar. Upper parts, dull brown ; 

 interscapulars black-streaked. Wings with bright chestnut, 

 wanting in the 9 , who has less j'ellow, and no black beneath 

 except in streaks. 



(&). The nest is usually built upon the ground in dr^' fields, 

 and the eggs are bright, light blue, green-tinged, averaging 

 •75 X "55 of an inch. 



(c). The Black-throated Buntings are extremel}' rare so far 

 to the northward as Massachusetts, where, says Dr. Brewer, 

 only two of their nests have been found, to which may now 

 be added a third, which I myself found with fresh eggs, in the 

 early part of June, at Canton. It was in a dry grassy field, 

 near cultivated land, and such a place as these birds are said 

 usually to inhabit. The female left her nest on my approach, 

 and, after running through the grass, perched on a low fence, 

 from which she, together with the male, watched me silently. 

 These were the only living specimens that I have ever seen. 

 The Black-throated Buntings, says Wilson, " arrive in Penn- 

 sylvania from the south about the middle of May ; abound in 

 the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, and seem to prefer level 

 fields covered with rye-grass, timothy, or clover, * * *." They 

 are " never gregarious ; but " are " almost always seen singly, 

 or in pairs, or, at most, the individuals of one family together." 

 " Their whole song consists of five notes, or, more properly, 

 of two notes ; the first repeated twice and slowly, the second 

 thrice, and rapidly, resembling chip, chip, che che che. Of this 

 ditty, such as it is, they are by no means parsimonious," and 

 like " the Yellow-Hammer of Britain * * * they are fond of 

 mounting to the top of some half-grown tree, and there chir- 

 ruping for half an hour at a time." Wilson's description of 

 their eggs is wholly incorrect. 



XX. CYANOSPIZA 



(A) CYANEA. Indigo Bird. 



(A common summer-resident in southern New England, but 

 less so to the northward.) 



