FINCHES. 237 



a. About 6| inches long. $ . Crown, yellow, rendered 

 olive by an admixture of black, which here and there appears 

 in streaks. Back of the neck, and side of the head, ashy. Su- 

 perciliary line, and edge of the wing, bright yellow; breast, 

 paler. Other under parts, white ; lower throat with a broad 

 black patch, forming a cross-bar. Upper parts, dull brown ; 

 interscapulars, black-streaked. Wings, with bright chestnut, 

 wanting in the $ , who has less yellow, and no black beneath 

 except in streaks. 



b. The nest is usually built upon the ground in dry fields, 

 and the eggs are bright, light blue, green-tinged, averaging 

 .75 X .55 of an inch. 



c. The Black-throated Buntings are extremely rare so far 

 to the northward as Massachusetts, where, says Dr. Brewer, 

 only two of their nests have been found, to which may now 

 be added a third, which I myself found with fresh eggs, in 

 the early part of June, at Canton. It was in a dry grassy 

 field, near cultivated land, and such a place as these birds are 

 said usually to inhabit. The female left her nest on my ap- 

 proach, and, after running through the grass, perched on a 

 low fence, from which she, together with the male, watched 

 me silently. These were the only living specimens that I 

 have ever seen. The Black-throated Buntings, says Wilson, 

 " arrive in Pennsylvania from the south about the middle 

 of May; abound in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, and 

 seem to prefer level fields covered with rye-grass, timothy, or 

 clover." . . . They are " never gregarious ; but " are " almost 

 always seen singly, or in pairs, or, at most, the individuals of 

 one family together." "Their whole song consists of five 

 notes, or, more probably, of two notes ; the first repeated 

 twice and slowly, the second thrice, and rapidly, resembling 

 chip, chip, che che che. Of this ditty, such as it is, they are 

 by no means parsimonious," and like " the Yellow-Hammer 

 of Britain . . . they are fond of mounting to the top of 

 some half-grown tree, and there chirruping for half an hour 

 at a time." Wilson's description of their eggs is wholly in- 

 correct. 



