AMERICAN FINCHES. 29 



water to drink and wash, and gravel in the bot- 

 tom of the cage, is all they require. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SEXES. The male of 

 this bird is easily distinguished from the female ; 

 the male being all blue, the female a grayish 

 brown on the back, the lower parts clay color. 



LOCATION. Found, in summer, throughout the 

 United States ; in the autumn, they migrate south. 



NONPAREIL, OR PAINTED BUNTING. 



This beautiful bird is a little larger in size, and 

 somewhat inferior in song to the Indigo Finch, 

 but what it lacks in song it makes up in the 

 richness and variety of its plumage. The male 

 is elegantly marked with vermilion, blue, yellow 

 and green. They are very docile, and both male 

 and female, when in full feather, are lovely cage 

 birds. The male has a sweet note, it bears some 

 resemblance to the Indigo, but is weaker and 

 more concise. The planters on the Mississippi 

 breed them in their aviaries, arid I think they 

 might be raised here ; but they require more care 

 in winter than any of our Finches, as they are 



