508 



SILK BUNTINGS. 



Occasion all}' they would alight on a bush, when tliey would remain quiet, much like a 

 (luail, without even a motion of the head. Wheu started out of a l)usli they would drop 

 at once to the ground and instantly disappear in the tall grass. Later in the day, after 

 the o-rass l)econies dr\, Leconte's Sjiarrows are^ more difhcult to start, and at this time 

 thev would lie before the dog nuicli like a quail. When wounded, they ran through the 

 grass with surprising rapidity. 



The note of this little Sparrow in winter is a kind of double chirp. First comes a 

 sharp note, very decidedly given, followed by one that is still sharper, l)ut with a hissing 



intonation. 



Alth(mii;h Leconte's Sparrows occur in the same fields with otlier sparrows, they do 

 not associate with them, nor do they gather at all in flocks with each other. I always 

 found tht'ui verv scr.ttering, ])erhaps a dozen individuals to an acre of grass land. I found 

 them conunon all through the latter part of Noveml)er and through the Avhole of Decem- 

 l)er until January 1st, when Ileft Rosewood. During this time there appeared to be 

 several miuTations. at all events, the liirds appeared to be much more common and widely 

 distril)uted at certain times than at otliers. 



GENUS XIX. SriZA. THE SILK BUNTINGS. 



Gen. Ch. Bill, ratlier thick, bvit not especially finch-like. Wings, ver.v long and pointed. Tail short 

 and not forked, but slightly cmargiuatc. Feet, moderately large. We have a single species only within our 

 limits. 



SPIZA AMERICANA. 

 Black-throated Bunting. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Sp. Cii. Size, medium. Form, slender. Color. Adult male, above, yellowish ash, tinged with 

 greenish, and streaked with dusky, becoming chestnut on the upper part of the wings, then brown on the 

 remainder and tail. White beneath, with superciliary and maxilliary lines, middle of breast, under wing 

 coverts, and edge of wing, yellow, with a triangular spot on throat and a small one on breast, black. 



Ad\ilt female, similar, but everywhere duller, and with the black of throat not as extended. Young 

 male, similar to the female. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Readily known in all stages by the yellow beneath, with the black, or. in case of the young, dusky, breast 

 and throat marks. Occurs in the eastern sections of the middle United States and extends west to Kansas, 

 Nebraska and Colorado, south to the Carolinas, north to New Jersey, and, rarely, as far as Massachusetts. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Length, (5.50 to 7.00; stretcli, 10..jO to 11. (X); wing, 3.25 to 3.50; tail, 2..50 to 2.75; bill, .53 to .58; 

 tarsus, .20 to .25. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nksts, placed in trees or bushes, composed of fine grass, weeds, and rootlets, rather loosely put together. 

 Eggs, three to five in number, oval in form, pale bluish-green in color, usually unspotted. Dimensions, .60 by 



.75 to .65 by .85. 



