FRTNGILLIDJS THE FINCHES. 263 



Chondestes grammaca BP. 1838. BAIBD, B. N. Am. 1858, 456, (part) ; Cat N. Am. B. 1859, 

 No. 344, (part). COUES, Key, 1872, 146, (part) ; Check List, 1873, No. 186 (part) ; 2d ed. 

 1882. No. 281 (part), ("grammica") ; B. N. W. 1874. 159 (part). B. B. & B. Hist N. Am. 

 B. i. 1874, 562, P L 31,flg. l.-BroGW. Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, No. 204. 



Emberiza grammaca ATJD. Synop. 1839, 101; B. Am. iii, 1841, 63, pi. 168. 



HAB. Mississippi Valley, north to Iowa, Wisconsin, and southern Michigan, east, 

 regularly to Indiana, western Kentucky, etc., occasionally to Ohio, and casually to Massa- 

 chusetts and the District of Columbia; west to eastern portion of the Great Plains; south 

 to eastern Texas. 



"Sp. CHAB. Hood chestnut tinged with black towards the forehead, and with a 

 median stripe and superciliary stripe of dirty whitish. Rest of upper parts pale grayish 

 olive, the interscapular region alone streaked with dark brown. Beneath white, a round 

 spot on the upper part of the breast, a broad maxillary stripe cutting off a white stripe 

 above, and a short line from the bill to the eye, continued faintly behind it black. A 

 white crescent under the eye, bordered below by black and behind by chestnut on the 

 ear-coverts. Tail-feathers dark brown, the outermost edged externally and with more 

 than terminal third white, with transverse outline; the white decreasing to the next to 

 innermost tipped broadly with white. Length, 6 inches; wing, 3.30." (Hist. N. Am. .) 



The colors of the female are slightly duller than in the male, 

 the chestnut less bright, the black not so intense; the pattern, 

 however, is the same. 



The young bird has the breast and throat with a good many 

 spots of dark brown instead of the single large one on the breast. 

 The other markings are more indistinct. 



This handsomely marked bunting (for it is not a true sparrow, 

 nor a finch) is found abundantly in all suitable localities, its favor- 

 ite resort being fertile prairies and meadows adjoining strips or 

 groves of timber. In Illinois it evinces a special fondness for corn- 

 fields, in which it builds its nest at the foot of the stalks, while 

 the male sings from the fence or the top of a small tree by the 

 roadside. 



It has been a matter of surprise to us that writers who have de- 

 scribed the habits of western birds have not mentioned more par- 

 ticularly the vocal capabilities of this bird, which in sprightliness 

 and continuity of song has few, if any, rivals among the North 

 American Fringillidte. Words entirely fail to describe its song, 

 which, among the oak groves of California, as well as on the 

 prairies of Illinois, is pre-eminent for the qualities above mentioned. 

 As the bird perches upon the summit of a small tree, a fence post, 

 or a telegraph wire, his notes may be heard throughout the day 

 in the morning before those of any other, and late in the evening 

 when all else but this unweary songster are silent; indeed, often 

 have we been awakened at midnight by a sudden outburst of silvery 

 warblings from one of this species. This song is composed of 

 a series of chants, each syllable rich, loud, and clear, interspersed 



