FRIXGILLID.E — THE FINCHES — FIPILO. 



243 



mostly on the ground, scratching among the dead leaves in the concealment 

 of the undergrowth, and rarely venturing far from shelter. They never fly 

 more than a few yards at a time, and only a few feet above the ground. 

 About towns, if unmolested, they become more familiar, entering gardens 

 and making their homes about the houses. They have little musical power, 

 the males merely uttering a feeble, monotonous trill from the top of some low 

 bush. The nest is made on the ground under a thicket, constructed of dry 

 leaves, stalks, and grass mixed with fine roots. The eggs, four or fi\'e in 

 number, are greenish-white, minutely speckled with reddish-brown. They 

 measure 1.00 X 0.70. 



'^^^len alarmed they have a note something like the " mew " of a cat, from 

 wliich they are popularly known by the name of cat-bird ; and I have been 

 asked why the cat-birds of this country differ so much in color from those 

 of the East. If observers would name from the color instead of the note, 

 tliey would be more correct iu comparing it with tlie Eastern " chewink," 

 " towhee," or " ground-robin," — all one and the same bird, with various 

 local names {P. eri/throphthalmus). 



p. eri/throphthatmus. 



P. On^omts. 



P. megalonyx 



We give above figures to illustrate the difference in tlie size of the claws 

 of the feet of Pipilo crythrophthahnus, Oregonus, and mcgnlony.r. These 

 tliree species, with P. an'tlcus, form a series of which P. cri/tlirophtliahnus is 

 one extreme, with no white on the wing coverts, and medium-sized claws, 

 and P. vugalonyx, with its mucli spotted coverts and long claws, the other. 

 How far these are merely geographical varieties of one common species re- 

 mains yet to be decided ; here it is not necessary to settle the question, nor 

 the relationship of tliese to several closely allied species from Mexico. 



