BUNTINGS. 



127 



into Mexico), is said by Russ to have been once im- 

 ported by Mr. Moller, of Hamburg; therefore he says 

 it can have little interest for aviculture. If there 

 were any prospect of it coming to hand again I should 

 not agree with him, but 1 fear that the present 

 stringent laws for the protection of North American 

 birds render that in the highest degree improbable, 

 and therefore I will not describe it. 



VESPER SPARROW OR BAY-WINGED BUNTING. 



(Pocecetes gramineus.) 



Above, ashy -brown streaked with black, most broadly 

 on back, less distinctly on nape and rump ; lesser wing- 

 coverts cinnamon, blackish at base ; remainder of wing 

 and tail ducky, the feathers with pale greyish-brown 

 edges, the median and greater coverts with dull buff- 

 whitish tips ; outermost tail-feather mostly white, with 

 an oblique blackish mark along the inner web ; second 

 feather with the end of the outer web white-edged ; 

 lores, eyelid, .and an indistinct eyebrow streak extending 

 above the ear-coverts sordid whitish with ill-defined 

 dusky .'.treats; ear-coverts browner, margined above 

 and below by brownish streaks ; cheeks buffy-white, 

 forming a moustachial streak, and separated from the 

 throat by a macular dusky-blackish line ; under surface 

 white, the chest,, sides, and flanks washed with buff 

 and with dusky streaks or spots ; under tail-coverts 

 unspotted ; flights below dusky, dull huffish along the 

 inner edges ; upper mandible brown, lower flesh-pink ; 

 feet pale brownish ; irides brown. Female said to 

 be identical. A comparison of the beaks from above 

 will probably show that in the male it is much more 

 bell-shaped than in the female. Hab., "Eastern North. 

 America to the Plains, from Nova Scotia and Ontario 

 southward ; breeds from Virginia, Kentucky, and Mis- 

 souri northward" (A.O.U. Check-List); "south in 

 winter to Gulf Coast (Florida to Eastern Texas) ; 

 casual in Bermudas " (Ridgway). 



J. G. Cooper says (" Ornith. Calif.," Vol. I., p. 187) : 

 " I found this bird wintering in the Colorado Valley in 

 considerable numbers, but it disappeared by April. I 

 have not seen them near the coast, and they seem 

 to seek the interior valleys chiefly in summer. Their 

 favourite resorts are grassy meadows and open woods 

 or orchards, where the grass grows high ; they also 

 seek food along roads when migrating. I am not sure 

 whether they breed in this State, but think they do 

 towards the north. Their nests (in the East) are 

 built on the ground, under tufts of grass, and usually 

 sunk below the surface ; they are formed principally 

 of withered wiry grate, lined with softer errass and 

 hairs. The eggs, four or five, are white, with several 

 shades of dark reddish-brown scattered in spots, chiefly 

 at the larger end. They probably raise several broods 

 annually, and do not migrate much from the middle 

 Atlantic States (Nuttall). 



" Their song is quite frequent, and resembles that 

 of the Canary, though less loud and varied. They 

 also sing sometimes late in the evening. They feed 

 much along roads, and are fond of dusting themselves 

 in such places, running along instead of flying -when 

 followed." 



Dr. Russ says that this species was imported once 

 Oy Reiche and than also by Geupel ; it may yet come 

 to hand from the Bermudas, or even Mexico, since this 

 mec-ies is recorded as having occurred at Oaxaca, in 

 Western Mexico. Ridgway, however, regards the 

 western and southern form as referable to a distinct 

 sub-spscies on very slight characters ; he, moreover, 

 even distinguishes two forms in California. I wonder 



how many sub-species we could make out of our House- 

 Sparrow ; it varies considerably in size, length of wing, 

 and colouring ! 



SANDWICH BUNTING (Passerculus sandwichensis). 



Above, ashy-brown, distinctly marked with pale- 

 edged black streaks ; wing-feathers pale brownish, with 

 dusky centres ; tail-feathers dull ashy-brown, with pale 

 ashy edges; crown with a narrow central pale sordid 

 grey stripe ; ' forehead and sides of crown blackish ; 

 nape somewhat more ashy ; lores, eyelids, and an eye- 

 brow stripe pale yellow ; the last-mentioned becoming; 

 white at back ; ear-coverts pale reddish brown, with a 

 black spot behind and a black margin below them ; 

 cheeks dull white or pale buffish, separated by a line of 

 more or less connected blackish markings from the 

 throat ; under surface white (more buff-tinted in winter), 

 the sides and flanks streaked with blackish, tinged with 

 reddish, triangular on the breast ; thighs reddish- 

 brown ; tinder wing-cove-rts and axillaries ashy ; flights 

 below dusky, with ashy inner margins ; beak dusky- 

 above, pale brown below; feet pale flesh colour"; 

 irides brown. Female not differentiated, but doubtless 

 easily distinguished by the more regularly conical out- 

 line of the beak when viewed from above. Hab.. North 

 America generally; Mexico to Guatemala; the islands^ 

 of Cozumel and Jolbox ; Bahamas 



This variable species has been sorted out by Pro- 

 fessor Ridgway into four sub-species, but Dr. Sharpe 

 says he has failed to find, in the series at his disposal,, 

 the definite characters laid down by American authors. 



J. G. Cooper (" Ornith. Calif.," Vol. I., pp. 181, 

 182) recognises a distinction of size between the two 

 sub-specie.s P. sandwichensis and P. alaudinus, but 

 admits that, ,?o far as he observed, their habits did not 

 differ. Under P. alaudinus he publishes the following 

 notes : " At the Columbia River I noticed the arrival of 

 this species from the south in March, and that they 

 resided there until late in October. In this State they 

 seem chiefly winter residents, abounding on the dry 

 interior plains as far south as San Diego, where they 

 remain until April in large flocks. I have not seen 

 them during the summer months, though they very 

 probably breed in some of the higher prairies of this 

 State, yet I saw none about the summits of the Sierra 

 Nevada in September. They prefer the dry, rolling; 

 plains to marshes, although occasionally found in the- 

 latter." 



" The song of this bird is faint and lisping, delivered' 

 from the top of a tall weed, during spring. Its nesfr- 

 is unknown, but P. savanna builds in the 'grass, and 

 lays pale greenish eggs, slightly spotted and splashed' 

 with pale umber (i\ uttall)" Dr. Sharpe does not 

 distinguish P. savanna as a species from P. sand- 

 wichensis, but Dr. Russ keeps the two separate in his 

 book. He says that P. savanna is one of the birds 

 usually met with in the bird-market, but of P. sand- 

 wichensis that it has only reached the Hamburg Zoo- 

 logical Gardens. Of the typical Seaside Sparrow- 

 (Ammodromus maritimus), Russ says : " It has no 

 song, and, apart from that, as it has never reached 

 us in any numbers, it is of no importance for avi- 

 culture." That would not prevent me from including 

 it if there were any reasonable prospect of it coming- 

 to hand at all, but under the present condition of 

 American law this is most unlikely. 



MANIMBE SEASIDE SPARROW (Ammodromus manimbe). 



Above, ashy-grey, streaked with black, the streaks. 



in winter with rufous edges ; nape and rump less. 



