FRINGILLID^ — THE FINCHES. 29 



lested, it becomes very familiar, and the old birds bring their young to the 

 door to feed, as soon as they can leave their nest. Their song is said to so 

 closely resemble that of the eastern bird, in melody and variety, that it is 

 impossible either to tell which is the superior or to point out the differences. 

 In wild districts it is always to be found near the sides of brooks, in thickets, 

 from which it jealously drives off other birds, whether of its own or other 

 species, as if it considered itself the proprietor. Its nest is built on the 

 ground or in a low bush. Dr. Cooper has seen newly fledged young as early 

 as May 6, at Olympia, though the rainy season was then hardly over. 



Mr. Nuttall pronounces its song as sweeter and more varied in tone than 

 that of the Song Sparrow. He heard their cheerful notes throughout the 

 summer, and every fine day in winter until the month of November, particu- 

 larly in the morning, their song was still continued. Their nests and eggs 

 were not distinguishable from those of F. mclodia. The nests were composed 

 of dry grasses, lined with finer materials of the same, and occasionally with 

 deer's hair. He states that they keep much in low ground and alluvial situ- 

 ations, amidst rank weeds, willows, and brambles, where tliey are frequently 

 to be seen hopping about and searching after insects, in the manner of the 

 Swamp Sparrow, which they so much resemble in their plumage. They are 

 usually very solicitous for the safety of their young or for their nests and 

 eggs, keeping up an incessant chirp. They raise several broods in a season, 

 and are, like the Song Sparrow, also engaged nearly the whole of the summer 

 in the cares of rearing their young. 



Mr. Townsend met with this species through several hundred miles of the 

 Platte country in great numbers, as well as on the banks of the Columbia, 

 generally frequenting the low bushes of wormM'ood {Artemisia). It appeared 

 also to be a very pugnacious species. Two of the males were often observed 

 fighting in the air, the beaten party going off crestfallen, and the conqueror 

 repairing to the nearest bush to celebrate his triumph by his lively and tri- 

 umphant strains. He again met with these birds, though not in abundance, 

 in June, 1825, at the mouth of the Lewis Eiver, on the waters of the Columbia. 



This Sparrow was also found very numerous at Sitka, by Mr. Bischoff, but 

 no mention is made of its habits. 



Melospiza melodia, var. rufina, Baird. 



RUSTY SONG SPARROW. 



Emieriza rufina, "Brandt, Desc. Av. Rossic. 1836, tab. ii, 5 (Sitka)," Bonaparte. Pas- 

 serella rufina, BoNAP. Consp. 1850, 477. (This may refer to Passerclla toivnsendi, but 

 is more probably the present bird.) Melospiza cinerea, Finsch, Abh. Nat. Ill, 1872, 

 41 (Sitka). (Not Fringilla c. Gmel.) M. guttata, Finsch, Abh. Nat. Ill, 1872, 41 

 (Sitka). (Not Fringilla g. Nutt.) 



Sp. Char. Resembling M. guttata in the undefined markings, slender bill, etc., but 

 olivaceous-brownish instead of rufous above, the darker markmgs sepia-brown instead 



