■-,42 XORTII AMEni<\\N J^IRDS. 



liiakiiig all possiMc jillowancc for seasonal (liflVrcnces in coloration, we have 

 found it inipossihle to reconcile tlieni witli tlu? ('. buinU. 



In tliis s]>ecies tlicr*' is a slight suiu'iticial reseniMance t<> /'oorrtfcsf/rn- 

 ininiiis; luit uj)on conijiarison it will lie iound to he entirely diiVerent: thus, 

 /*. (/rKinimna lacks the median li,nht stripe on the crown, has the lesser win<4- 

 coverts ndous and the lateral tail-leathers white, while the streaks are all 

 hlackisli and the ground-coh)r ditl'erent; the generic details, too, are quite 

 dilVerent. 



Habits. This species has heen obtained only in Eastern Massachusetts, 

 where, in the nei.^hhorhood of Ipswich, it was found among the sand-hills by 

 the sea-shore. The jilace where the individuals taken were met with is a 

 rather remarkable tract, three miles in length and nearly one in breadth. It 

 is .as treeless as the (Ireat Plains, and as bleak and barren, with no vegetation 

 exce[)t a scant growth of coarse grass. ]\Ir. Maynard obtained his first speci- 

 men early in I)ecend)er, liSlJS, Although others were seen, yet this was all 

 he was then able to obtain. He has since taken others in the same place 

 and season. Xothing is knowu as to its habits. It uttered, as it rose, a shoi-t 

 chirp of alarm. 



Passerculus rostratus, Baird. 



SAN DIEGO 8FABB0W. 



Emhcriz'i rofttrain, Cassin, Pr. A. X. S.\ VI, 18.">2, 348. Ammodramus rostratus, Cassin, 

 I'll. I, 1855, 22«j, pi. xxxviii. Pusscrculus rostratus, Baiud, iiirJs N. Am. 1858, 446. 

 — C'oiji'EU, Oin. till. I, 1870, 184. 



Sr. CfiAK. Bill very lontr Co') of an inch above). Wliolo upper parts and sides of 

 head and neck pale; brow nish-i^ ray (almost till oiisj, nearly every leather with ii darker 

 central blotch, darkejjt alonir the .shaft. A scaieel\ ap|>reeiable eential stripe hi the 

 crown, an obscun' yellowish-white supcicilijiry, and a whitish maxillary one. Tender 

 parts pure white ; sti-eaked on the breast and the sides of throat and IxKly w'th dark 

 brown (the streak jtaler externally). Under tail-eoverts nnsj)Otted white. Tail and 

 Avin;,' feathers and wiiii;s niaririned with the color of the back; the edges of tertiaries 

 rather paler. LeuL^th. O..30: winir, li.i'O; tail, 2.."i0. 



II AB. Coast of California, south to Cape St. Lucaa; mouth of Colorado River (Du. 

 Palnoou). 



The bill of this species is very long and conical, the cutting edge nearly 

 straight. The wings are rather long, the tertiaries nearly as h)ng in the 

 closed wing as the i)riniaries; the second, third, and fourth quills longest, 

 the first rather h)nger than the fifth. The tail is short and emarginate, the 

 featliers narrow, acute, and moderately stiff. The tai*si are long ; the claws 

 little curved. 



This species resembles the Pas'^crculus savroina rather more than any of 

 the other sparrows with s[)otted breasts ; the bill is, how^ever, very much 

 longer and larger, exceeding any of our American s])ecies of its size, the 

 upper outline more convex. Its colors are much paler, and it lacks the 



