FRINGILLID.E — THE FINCHES. 593 



Mr. Piidgway states tliat the P. hilincaia is not so abundant as tlie other 

 species, and is more retiring in its lialtits. It principally frequents the desert 

 tracts and sandy wastes, on which are found only the most stunted forms of 

 sage-Lrush. Its song, though quite simple, is exceedingly fine, its modula- 

 tion being somewhat like und'-umt'-ze-e-c-fi-e-c, the first two syllables being 

 uttered in a ricli metallic tone, while the final trill is in a lower key, and of 

 the most liquid and tremulous cliaracter imaginable. This simple chant is 

 repeated every few seconds, the singer being perched upon a bush. He adds 

 that this bird arrives on the Truckee lleservation about the 13th of May. 

 The nest is built in sage-bushes, and the eggs are found from the 7th to 

 the 21st of June. The nests are usually about one foot from the ground, or 

 therealjouts. 



The eggs vary in size from .70 by .55 of an inch to .75 by .60. They are 

 of a rounded-oval shape, and of a pure white with a slight tinge of blue, 

 somewhat resembling the eggs of the Bachman Finch. 



Poospiza belli, Sclater. 



BELL'S SPARROW. 



Emhcriza belli, Cassin, Pr. A. N. Sc. Phila. V, Oct. 1850, 104, pi. iv (San Diego, Cal.). 

 Poospiza belli, Sclater, Pr. Zool. Soc. 1857, 7. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 470. — 

 Heerm. X, s. p. 46. Zonotrichia belli, Elliot, Illust. Birds N. Am. I, pi. xiv. — 

 Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 204. 



Sp. Char. Upper parts generall}^ with sides of head and neck, iiniform bluish-ash, 

 tinged with yellowish-gray on the crown and back, and with a few very obsolete dusky 

 streaks on the interscapular region. Beneath pure white, tinged with yellowish-brown on 

 the sides. and under the tail. Eyelids, .short streak from the bill to above the eye, and small 

 median spot at the base of culmen, white. A stripe on the sides of the throat and spot 

 on the upper part of the breast, with a few streaks on the sides, with the loral space and 

 region round the eyes, plumbeous-black. Tail-feathers black ; the outer edged with white. 

 Wing-feathers all bi'oadly edged with brownish-yellow ; the elbow-joint tinged with 

 yehowish-green. Bill and feet blue. Length, 5.70; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.90. (Largest 

 .specimen, 6,.338 (J, Cosnmnes River). 



Hab. Southern California. 



The colors are softer and more blended in the autumn ; the young are 

 obsoletely streaked on the breast. 



Habits. Bell's Finch has apparently a more restricted distribution tlian 

 the Black-throated species, and is resident wlierever found. It has been met 

 Avith at Posa Creek, Cal, by Dr. Heermann, at Fort Thorn by Dr. T. C. 

 Henry, and along the Colorado liiver by Drs. Kennerly and Mollhausen. 

 It has likewise been found in Soutliern Calii'ornia, as far north as Sacramento 

 Valley, and in the valley of the Gila. 



Dr. Cooper states that all the extensive thickets throughout the south- 

 ern half of California are the favorite resorts of this bird. There they 

 apparently live upon small seeds and insects, indifferent as to Avater, or 



