FRINGILLID.E — THE FINCHES. 



51 



Habits. The Fox-colored S|nirrow, in its seasons of niii^rations, is a very 

 coniniun l»ird tliroiighout the United States east of the Mississi}>|ti lliver. 

 It has not heen asirertained to breed in any i»art of the United States, tlmu^h 

 it may do so in Xortiieastern Maine. Mr. IJoardnian has not met with it 

 near Calais, nor did I see nor could I hear of it in any i)art of Xova Scotia 

 or New JJrunswick that I visited. In passing north, these birds begin their 

 northern movements in the middle of March, and from that time to the last 

 of Ajnil they are gradually approaching their summer quarters. Their tii-st 

 ji])pearance near Boston is about the loth of March, and they linger in tiiat 

 vicinity, or successive parties appear, until about the 20th of Ajnil. The last 

 comei-s are usually in song. On their return, the middle or last of ()ctol)er, 

 they i>ass rai)iilly, and usually make no stay. In Southwestern Texas these 

 birds were not observed by Mr. Dresser, nor in Arizona by Dr. Cones, but in 

 the Indian Territory Dr. Woodhouse found them very abundant on the 

 ;ip]n'oach of winter. Dr. Coues speaks of them as common in South Caro- 

 lina from November to April, but less numerous than most of the Sparnjws. 



In the vicinity of Washington this bird is found from October to April. 

 I have met with small groups of them through all the winter months among 

 the iallen leaves in retired corners of the Capitol grounds, where they were 

 busily engaged, in the manner of a Fipilo, in scratching in the earth for 

 their food. At those ]yeriods when the ground was open, their habits were 

 eminently similar to those of the gallinaceous birds. In March and April 

 they were in ct)mpany with the Wliite-throated Sparrows, but passed north 

 at least a month earlier. 



beconiin;:^ hrifflit rufous on the nimp and exposed portion of the tail, but a shade darker than in 

 P. ilidoi ; head uniform brown, with a sli^lit tinge of ash ; featliers of the back ix'ntred with a 

 streak of darker brown. Wings nearly the same color as the back, with no white bands ; outer 

 webs of the <juills rufous, inner webs dark brown ; secondary coverts rufous, with dark brow;i 

 centres ; pri?'iary coverts uniform browj. Beneath dulLwhite, with the 'throat and breast thickly 

 covered with elongated triangular s|)ots and streaks of dark reddish-brown ; sides streaked with 

 rufous-brown ; middle of abdomen with a few small triangular sjwts of dark brown ; under tail- 

 coverts brownish -white, with a few small spots of bright rufous ; tibi:ie dark brown. The auricu- 

 lars are tinged witli n-ddish-lnown. Firistles at the base of the bill are numerous, extending 

 over the nostrils. Tail rather long, broad, and nearly even. Third (piill longest ; secontl and 

 fourth e.jual, and but slightly shorter ; first intermediate between tlie fifth and sixth, and one 

 fouitli of an inch shorter than the third. 



"Length, t).7'» : extent of wings, 10.7.5 ; wing, .3..35 ; tarsus, 1 inch. 



" This s]»ecies differs gi'eatly in color from P. iliam. It is darker in all parts ; the feathers of 

 the ba<k are ru!bus-brown, centred with darker, instead of ash centred with brownish-red ; the 

 two white bands on the wing are wanting ; the breast and throat are thickly streaked with 

 elongated spots of dark reddish-browr., while in P. iliaca the sj)ots are less numerous, shorter 

 and broader, and ]>riglit rufous, and the (.'entral part of the throat is nearly free from spots ; the 

 under tail-coverts are brownish-white, with mfous spots, instead of nearly jiure white." 



There are some features in this bird, as described by Mr. Verrill, which seem to characterize it 

 as ditferent from P. ilinoi, although it is barely possible that it is this T'ird in immature dres:.. 

 The streaked back at once sejjarates it from all our si>ecies excepting ilhtca. Xothi.i'C is said of 

 its ha})its. One specimen was killed in Anticosti, July 1 ; the other, Au.^nist S. The true iliaca 

 was found on the island, which fact rentiers it still more probable that this is its young. 



