FRINGILLID.E — THE FINCHES. 15 



20, frequenting grassy spots among the low bushes, and a month later they 

 were singing, he adds, much like a Canary, but more faintly. They are pre- 

 sumed to remain in the valley all summer. 



The eggs, four in number, are of a light bluish-green color, oblong in 

 shape, more rounded at the smaller end than the eggs of the socialis, and the 

 ground is more of a green than in those of >S'. 2Jcillida. They are marked and 

 blotched in scattered markings of a golden-brown color. These blotches are 

 larger and more conspicuous than in the eggs of the other species. They 

 measure .70 by .51 of an inch. 



Spizella atrignlaris, Baird. 



BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW. 



Spinites atrigularis, Cabanis, Miis. Hein. 1851, 133. Spizella atrigularis, Baird, Birds 

 N. Am. 1858, 476, pi. Iv, f. 1.— Is. Mex. Bound, ii. Birds, p. 16, pi. xvii, f. 1. — 

 Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 210. Struthus atrimentalis, Couch, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phil. VII, 

 April, 1854, 67. 



Sp. Chak. Tail elongated, deeply forked and divaricated. General color bluish-ash, 

 paler beneath, and turning to white on the middle of the belly. Interscapular region 

 yellowish-rusty, streaked with black. Forehead, loral region, and side of head as far as 

 eyes, chin, and upper part of throat black. Quills and tail-feathers very dark brown, edged 

 with ashy. Edges of coverts like the back. No white bands on the wings. Bill red, 

 feet dusky. Immature birds, and perhaps adult female, without any black on head. 

 Length, 5.50 ; wing, 2.50 ; tail, 3.00. 



Hab. Mexico, just south of the Rio Grande ; Fort Whipple, Ariz. (Coues) ; Cape St. 

 Lucas. 



This species is about the size of aS'. ;pusilla and S. socialis, resembling the 

 former most in its still longer tail. This is more deeply forked and divari- 

 cated, with broader feathers than in either. The wing is much rounded ; the 

 fourth quill longest ; the first almost the shortest of the primaries. 



Habits. This species is a Mexican bird, found only within the limits of 

 the United States along the borders. But little is known as to its history. 

 It is supposed to be neither very abundant nor to have an extended area of 

 distribution. It was met with by Dr. Coues in the neighborhood of Fort 

 Whipple, Arizona, where it arrives in April and leaves again in October, 

 collecting, before its departure, in small flocks. In the spring he states that 

 it has a very sweet and melodious song, far surpassing in power and melody 

 the notes of any other of this genus that he has ever heard. 



Dr. Coues furnishes me with the following additional information in regard 

 to this species : " This is not a common bird at Fort Whipple, and was only 

 observed from April to October. It unquestionably breeds in that vicinity, 

 as I shot very young birds, in August, wanting the distinctive head-markings 

 of the adult. A pair noticed in early April were seemingly about breeding, 

 as the male was in full song, and showed, on dissection, highly developed 



