AMPniSPIZA BILINEATA. 475 



Amphispiza BILINEATA, 



Black-tliroatvd SparroM^. 



( Wutf -tu-ze-ee of the Paiutes.) 



Emheriza bilmeata, Cassin, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1850, 104, pi. 3. 



Poospiza bilineata, Solateb, Proc. Zool. Soc. Loud., 1857, 7.— Baied, B. N. Am., 

 1858, 470; Cat. N. Am. B., 1859, No. 355.— Cooper, Orn. Cal., I, 203.— 

 CouES, Key, 1872, 140; Check List, 1873, No. 172.— B. B. & E., Hist. N. Am. 

 B., I, 1874, 590, pi. XXVI, fig. 8.— Henshaw, 1875, 274. 



Amphispiza bilineata, CouES, B. N.W., 1874, 234.' 



• This interesting little bird was found throughout the sage-brash country, 

 the most desert- tracts of which are its favorite abode. It was equally com- 

 mon in the western depression and in the Salt Lake Valley, as well as in 

 inteniiediate localities. Unlike the A. nevadensis, which frequents chiefly 

 the more thrifty growth of artemisia in the damper valleys, this species 

 prefers the arid mesas, where the growth is scant and stunted; and we 

 found it nowhere else so abundant as on the Carson Desert, near the 

 Soda Lakes, where much of the suiface consisted of loose, shifting sand. 

 It also differs markedly from that species in being migratory, being 

 merely a summer sojourner, and one of the latest to arrive, few, if any, 

 making their appearance in the Truckee Valley before the first of May, the 

 advance individuals being noted on the 13th of that month, in 1868. 



Like A. nevadensis. this species is remarkable for its peculiar song, 

 which in pensive tone and sad expression harmonizes so perfectly with its 

 desolate surroundings. It is from this song that the Indian name, WiU-tu- 

 ze-ze, is derived, for the notes are very nearly expressed by the syllaljles 

 wtiH, wulf, zeeeeee, repeated once or twice, the first two notes quick and 

 distinct, the last one a prolonged, silvery trill. Frequently a singer reverses, 

 at each alternate repetition of the song, the accent of the fii-st and last 

 portions, thus producing a very peculiar effect. 



List of specimens. 



lOG, Sjuv.; valley of the Truckee, July 25, 1867. 5J— 8J— 2J— 2,^ — ^^ — \ ^ —2/, 

 — If. Upper maudible, plumbeous-black; lower, pale blue, liiaceous basally, the tip, 

 dusky; iris, umber; tarsi and toes, dark plumbeous sepia. 



' ^^Ampkiftpiza, CouES, n. g. (type Embcriza bilineata, Cass.)." 



