328 LIFE-HISTORIES OF 



stance, the down of Somateria mollissima was a 

 noticeable feature. The eggs were found from 

 June 1 5 to July 7, and there is but one brood in a 

 season. The same writer says when the nest is 

 approached, the female by affecting lameness and by 

 the employment of the ordinary arts, endeavors to 

 decoy intruders from its site. 



The eggs are oblong, and densely spotted with 

 ferruginous upon a light bluish-white ground, so 

 as to conceal almost completely the ground-color. 

 The measurement is .92 by .70 inches. 



Euspiza Americana, Bonap. 



The Black-throated Bunting is tolerably abund- 

 ent in Eastern Pennsylvania, and is chiefly a deni- 

 zen of meadow grounds and waste-fields. It is 

 never gregarious, but is always to be found in 

 pairs. Exceedingly tame and unsuspicious, it can 

 be readily approached, and when fired upon, after 

 the lapse of a few moments, will return to the spot 

 as though nothing had happened. It arrives from 

 the loth to the 1 5th of May. When preparing 

 for migration, they collect in particular localities 

 for which they affect a predilection from some 

 peculiar advantages which they possess ; but unlike 

 most birds of the family to which they belong, do 

 not associate with other groups. 



The flight of this species is low, undulating, and 

 but slightly sustained. 



Its song is rather unmusical and makes up in 

 quantity what it lacks in quality. For two months 



