220 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



killed late in July. It was said to arrive in that region in the end of May, 

 and to frequent shady and moist clumps of wood. It was generally seen 

 on the ground. Its habits, so far as they were observed, correspond wdth 

 those of the Towhee Bunting, which it closely resembles in external appear- 

 ance. It feeds on grubs, and is a solitary and retired, but not a distrustful 

 bird. 



Besides its occurrence in the Valley of the Saskatchewan, these birds have 

 often been found on the high central plains of the Upper Missouri, on. 

 the Yellowstone and Platte Eivers. Audubon met with it at Fort Union. 

 Dr. Hayden obtained it on the Yellowstone, in August ; at Fort Lookout, 

 June 22 ; at Bijou Hills, from May 1 to the 15th ; at Bon Homme Island, 

 May 9. Dr. Cooper obtained it at Fort Laramie in September. Mr. Allen 

 found it in Colorado, where it was more abundant on the foothills than on 

 the plains. He also found this species an abundant inhabitant of the thick- 

 ets in the valley of the Great Salt Lake, in its habits strongly resembling 

 the common birds of the Eastern States. Though its song is also somewhat 

 similar, its call-note, he adds, is totally different, very nearly resembling that 

 of the Catbird. 



Dr. Woodhouse met with but few of these birds either in the Indian Ter- 

 ritory or in New Mexico. Mr. Dresser, in November, 1863, when hunting 

 in the Bandera Hills, noticed several of these birds near the camp, and ob- 

 tained several near San Antonio during the winter. None of these birds 

 appear to have been observed in the Arctic regions beyond the Saskatchewan 

 Plains. 



Mr. Nuttall met with this species on the western slopes of the Eocky 

 Mountains, but as he apparently did not appreciate the difference between 

 this form and the oregonus, we cannot determine with certainty to which his 

 descriptions apply in all cases. He found it, in manners and habits, the 

 counterpart of our common eastern species, frequenting forests and scratch- 

 ing among the dead leaves among bushes and thickets. He describes it as 

 more shy than the common species. If the nest be invaded, the male shows 

 more boldness, and reiterates liis complaints until the cause of his alarm is 

 removed. He speaks of its warble as quaint and monotonous, and very 

 similar to the notes of the Towhee, — but the note of our bird, totohee, is 

 never heard west of the mountains. In its stead this bird is said to have a 

 note like the mew of a cat. 



The egg of the ardicus is oval in shape, and measures one inch in length 

 by .70 in breadth. It has a white ground, but is so generally and so thickly 

 covered with fine dots of umber-brown, intermingled with paler markings 

 of lavender and neutral tints, that the ground can hardly be distinguished. 



