FUI\GILLID.K - THE FINCJIK.S. 



41 



recently l)eeii doterted l>y l\Ir. IJiilgway in Soutliern Illinois, where it is a 

 sunnner resilient, and where it breeds, hut is not almiulant. It inhabits old 

 fields, where, perched u]>on a fence-stake or an old dead tree, it is described 

 as chanting a very dtdi-ditful son*;. It was first t;iken on the 12tli of July, 

 liSTl, (»n the road about halt- way between Blount Carniel and Oiney. The 

 bird was then seen on a fence, and its unfamiliar appeamncu and fine sonj; 

 at once attracted his notice as he was ridiny by. x\s seyeral were heard 

 sin«Mn«' in the same nei«diborhood, it seemed common in that lo'^ality, and 

 as a yount: bird was taken in its first i»luma<i;e there is no doubt thjit it is a 

 regular summer visitant of Sinithern Illinois, and breeds there. Mr. liidg- 

 way si)eaks of its song as one of the finest he has eyer heard, most resem- 

 bling the sweet chant of the Field Sparr(»w, but is stronger, and yaried 

 by a clear, high, and yery musical strain. He describes its song as resem- 

 bling the syllables the'e'e'e^ei'-t'd-ldt, lut-lnt, the first being a very fine trill 

 pitched in a yery high musical key, the last syllable al)ruj)t and metallic in 

 tone. 



The food of this species. Dr. I>achman states, consists of the seeds of grasses, 

 and also of coleopterous insects, as well as of a yariety of the smaU berries 

 so abundant in that i)art of the country, lie speaks of its fiight as swift, 

 direct, and somewhat protmcted, and adds that it is often out of sight before 

 it alights. 



Dr. Coues did not meet with this Sparrow in South Carolina, but he was 

 informed by Professor Leconte that it occurs about Columbia and elsewhere 

 in the State, freciuenting open j)ine woods and old dry fields. 



Dr. Bryant met with its nest in Florida, Ajjril 20. It was similar, in con- 

 struction, to that of the Sayannah Sparrow, and contained fiye eggs. It was 

 the only S])arrow found by him in the pine barrens near Enterprise, and 

 was only seen occasionally, when it was a yery ditticult bird to shoot, as it 

 runs round in the grass more like a mouse than a bird, and will not fly 

 until almost trodden on, then moying only a few feet at a time. 



The nests of this bird, found by Dr. Bryant in Horida and by Dr. (lerhardt 

 in T^orthern Georgia, were all placed upon the ground and concealed in tufts 

 of thick grass, and constructed entirely of coarse \viry grasses, with no other 

 lining than this material. The eggs, four in number, are of a pure, almost 

 brilliant white, of a rounded oyal shape, and measure .74 by .60 of an inch. 



FeucsBa sDStivalis var. arizonsB, Kidgway. 



ABIZOHA SPABKOW. 



Pewcea ca^ni, Baiud, Birds N. Am. 1858, 486. (Los Xogales specimen.) 



Sp. Char. (6,327 ^, Los Nog^ales, Northern Sonora, June, C. B. Kennerly.) Similar 

 to P. astivalis, but paler; wings and tail lonprer. Above light cliestnut, all the feathers 

 margined and tipped with bluish-gray, but the reddish prevailing. Interscapular and 



VOL. II. ._ - - - 6 



