VARIED BUNTING 137 



Distribution 



Range. — Western and southern Texas to Guerrero and Oaxaca. 



Breeding range. — The eastern varied bunting breeds from western 

 and southern Texas (Marfa, Brownsville) south through central and 

 eastern Mexico to Guerrero (Mexcala) and Oaxaca (Mitla) . 



Wintering range. — Winters from southern Sonora (Chinobampo), 

 central Nuevo Leon (Monterrey), and southern Texas (lower Rio 

 Grande Valley) south to Guerrero and Oaxaca. 



Casual records. — Casuallj^ north in spring and summer in Texas to 

 Edwards County and Aransas Refuge. 



Migration. — Early dates of spring arrival are: Nuevo Leon — China, 

 April 17. Texas — Brownsville, April 6; Chisos Mountains, April 29. 

 New Mexico — Guadalupe Canyon, June 9. Arizona — Tucson, May 4. 



Late dates of fall departure are: Arizona— Mohave Mountains, 

 October 27. Texas — Corpus Christi, October 27; Cameron County, 

 September 6. 



Egg dates. — Baja California: 3 records, May 5 to May 12. 



Texas: 14 records, April 3 to Jidy 8; 8 records, April 26 to July 7. 



PASSERINA CIRIS CIRIS (Linnaeus) 



Eastern Painted Bunting 



PLATES 10 AND U 



Contributed by Alexander Sprunt, Jr. 



Habits 



Sometimes it seems that a language other than our own succeeds in 

 conveying an idea more convincingly. In the case of the avian gem 

 we know as the painted bunting, Spanish seems more appropriate, 

 because in Spanish it is "mariposa" — butterfly. This bird, in its 

 dazzling brilliance, seems hardly a creature of feathers at all, but 

 rather a dancing butterfly. 



No other North American species is so brightly colored, or wears 

 such a Joseph's coat of startling contrasts. There is no blending of 

 shades whatever, the different hues are as sharply defined as if they 

 were cut by a straight edge. No wonder many people seeing it for 

 the first time can scarcely credit their eyes, because nothing else 

 approaches it. Many other bright birds occur hither and yon about 

 the country, but for flaming, jewel-like radiance, the nonpareil, as 

 we know it in the South, literally fulfills the name; it is "without 

 an equal." 



My acquaintance with the bii'd dates back to early boyhood days, 

 and my first nonpareil is still vivid in my memory, though I was only 



