GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



683 



(Sub-family Sjnzime.) 

 Guiraca melanocephala, Sw., (black-headed grosbeak :) 



Hah. — High central plain from the Yellowstone to the Pacific. Table- 

 lauds of Mexico. 



Black-headed grosbeaks are quite numerous among the scrub-oaks at 

 the foot of the Wahsatch Mountains. Here I obtained six good speci- 

 mens. I obtained one of their nests at the First Cottonwood Creek, 

 Teton Basin, Idaho Territory, on the 22d of July. It was on a cotton- 

 wood sapling, about five feet above the ground, and was composed_of 

 pieces of grass and vines laid carelesslj^ together, with their ends stick- 

 ing out four or five inches; it contained two fresh eggs — No. 63, (1G317,) 

 9 No. 180 shot. They are peculiar in their habits: sometimes you may 

 hunt half a day without getting more than a glimpse at them, as they 

 flit about from bush to bush, yet their song, which at times is scarcely 

 distinguishable from that of our common cat-bird, (G^a/eoscoj^tes Gcwo- 

 linensis,) seldom escapes your ears; at other times you caimot walk 

 about for ten minutes without seeing several of them perched up on 

 the top of the highest bushes near by, entertaining you with their 

 song, without evincing the slightest symptoms of fear. 



Cyanospiza amoena, Baird, (lazuli finch :) 



Hah. — High central plains from the Kocky Mountains to the Pacific. 



