, FRINGILLID.E -THE FINCHES. 593 



Mr. liidgway states tliat the P. hllineata is not so abundant as the other 

 species, and is more retirin.t,' in its lialiits. It principaUy fretpients the desert 

 tracts and sandy wastes, on which are found only the most stunted forms of 

 sage-brusli. Its soni,', though (piite simple, is exceedingly tine, its modula- 

 tion being somewhat like ii'ut' -irut' -zr-e-c-c-c-c , the first two syllables bcin^' 

 uttered in a rich metallic tone, while the final trill is in a lower ki;v, and of 

 the most liquid and tremulous character imaginable. This simjde chant is 

 repeated every few seconds, the singer being perched upon a bush. He adds 

 that this bird arrives on the Truckee Ileservation about the 13th of May. 

 The nest is built in sage-bushes, and the eggs are found from the 7th to 

 the 21st of June. The nests are usually about one foot from the ground, or 

 thereabouts. 



The eggs vary in size from .70 by .55 of an inch to .75 by .60. They are 

 of a rounded-oval shape, and of a pure white with a slight tinge of blue, 

 somewhat resembling the eggs of tlie Bachman Finch. 



Poospiza belli, Sclater. 



BELL'S SPABSOW. 



Emberiza belli, Cassin, Pr. A. X. Sc. Philii. V, Oct. 1850, 104, pi. iv (San Diego, Cal.). 

 Poospiza belli, Sclater, Pr. Zobl. Soc. 18.'.7, 7. — Baikd, Birds X. Am. 1858, 470. — 

 Heerm. X, s. p. 46. Zonotrichia belli, Elliot, Illust. Birds X. Am. I, pi. xiv. — 

 Cooper, Orn. Cal. I, 204. 



Sp. Char. Upper parts generally, with sides of head and neck, uniform bluish-ash, 

 tinj^ed with yellowish-gray on the erown and baek. and with a few very obsolete dusky 

 streaks on the interscapular region. Beneath pure white, tinged with yellowish-brown on 

 the sides and under the tail. Eyelids, short streak from the bill to above the eye, and small 

 median spot at the base of culmen, white. A stripe on the sides of the throat and spot 

 on the upper part of the breast, with a few streaks on the sides, with the Irral space and 

 region round the eyes, plumbeaus-black. Tail-feathers black ; the outer edged with white. 

 Wing-feathers all broadly edged with brownish-yellow ; the ell)ow-joint tinged with 

 yellowish-green. Bill and feet blue. Length, 5.70; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.U0. (Largest 

 specimen, G,338 J. Cosumnes River). 



Hab. Southern California. 



The colors are softer and more blended in the autumn; the young are 

 obsoletelv streaked on the l)reast. 



Habits. Bell's Finch has apparently a more restricted distril)ution than 

 the Black-throated species, and is resident wherever found. It has been met 

 with at Posa Creek, Cal., by Dr. Heermann, at Fort Tliorn by Dr. T. C. 

 Henrv, and aloui^ the Colorado Itiver bv Drs. Kennerlv and Mollliausen. 

 It has likewise been found in Soutliern California, as far north as Sacramento 

 Valley, and in the valley of the Gila. 



Dr. Cooper states that all the extensive thickets throughout the south- 

 ern half of California are the favorite resorts of this l»ird. Tliere they 

 apparently live upon small seeds and insects, indifterent as to water, or 



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