NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



225^:. Sagebush Sparrow — amphispiza belli nevadensis. Light 

 greenish, marked all over with very fine dots of a reddish-brown, around 

 the larger end a ring of confluent blotches of dark purple and lines of 

 darker brown; almost black; size .80 by .60. This bird abounds in the 

 sage-brush deserts of Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. Nests 

 found near Carson City, Nevada, are described as being artfully concealed, 

 either sunken in the ground or a few inches above it, in the lower branches 



of a bush. Hab. Middle Province of United States, north to beyond 40- (resident.) 



226. Bachman's Finch — peucea ^stivalis. Pure white; four in 

 number; size .74 by .60. Bachman's Finch is confined within the limits 

 of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, where it breeds. It 

 is a summer resident of Southern Illinois, where it also breeds, but not 

 abundantly. The next is placed upon the ground, concealed in tufts of 

 thick grass, and composed entirely of wiry grass. 



Hab. Southern States from Florida and Georgia to Southern Illinois. 



** Mexican Sparrow — peuc^a mexicana. The following in regard 

 to this new bird is from the Auk, October, 1885, under the title of 

 " Ridgway on New American Birds," by J. A. A. : "A re-examination 

 of some specimens of Paiccea collected by Dr. J. C. Merrill, and identified 

 by Mr. Ridgway as Patccra arhomv ( Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., I, p. 127), 

 in the light of additional material, shows that the specimens represent 

 Cotnrnicidus mexicana of Lawrence, described from Mexican specimens in 

 1867, and subsequently referred by Mr. Ridgway (Hist. N. A. Birds, II, p. 

 38, foot note) to P. botterii. A second examination of the Texas specimens, 

 in comparison with the Mexican examples, results in the addition of a new 

 bird to the fauna of the United States, which Mr. Ridgway calls Peticaa mex- 

 icana [Laivi).'" Dr. Merrill, in his Notes on the "Ornithology of Southern 

 Texas," says the bird is found in some abundance on a salt prairie about 

 nine miles from Fort Brown, and it was obtained with difficulty, as it 

 could rarely be flushed from among the tall grass. " A nest, found June 

 16, 1877, was placed among the roots of a tussock of grass; it was made 

 of blades and stems of grasses, and was rather deep, but so frail that it 

 fell to pieces on removal. The eggs, four in number, were quite fresh. 

 They are unspotted, white, strongly tinged with greenish-blue, and measure 



.82 by. 6},.'' Hab. Me.xico and Fort Brown, Te.xas. 



228. Cassin's Sparrow — peuc^a cassini. Same as those of the pre- 

 ceding species, but smaller; size .72 by .58. Dr. Merrill says this bird 

 arrives at Fort Brown, Texas, about the middle of March. It is found in 

 rather open chapparal, but usually keeping in thick bushes. He says its 

 nest is difficult to find ; three were found placed at the foot of small bushes. 



