r,8 XUUTII AMKRICAN 1UUD3. 



In tliis rcstrictcMl (listriluiti»)ii the present l)inl is a C()ni])ani<)n of tlie 

 Mr/()spii(( mr/o(h'(t, var. hrrnnrttun', an«l tlic cliaractcristics of form aro the 

 saini' in l)ntii as conijtanMl witli thoi?- Mi^Mlc Province ami X<»rtht'rn repre- 

 scntativt's ; wliih* tln'V hotli ilitli*r from (lie latter (^toirnsemli of Pussitrf/tt, and 

 rtfjinn of Mf/o.yHzn) in ])Ui'er, liuhter, and less hrown colors. 



Haiuts. l)r. ('oo]>er met with several individuals of this hird towards the 

 snmniits of the Sierra Nevada, in September, IM'.\, hut was unahle to j)reserve 

 any of them. So far as he was ahle to observe them, they had no song, and 

 their habits were "jenerallv similar to those of the J\ totnt.siKili. 



The Thiek-billed Sparrow was found by Mr. Kidi^way as a very common 

 bird among the alder swamps in the ravines of the eastern slope of the Sierra 

 Nevada duiing the summer. Near Carson City, A])ril lio, in a swampy 

 thicket near the streams in the level slo|)es, he heard, for the first time, its 

 l)eautiful sung, and killed a sj>eeimen in the midst of its utterance of what, 

 he adds, was one of the most exipiisitely rich utterances he ever heard. 

 This song, he states, lesembles, in richness and volume, that of thi* Louisi- 

 .ina Water Thrush (Scu/rns ImlorUunuis), (pialities in which that bird is 

 hardly ecpialled by any othe: \orth American bird. They were singing 

 in fill parts of that swampy thicket, and up the ravines as far as the snow. 

 From the nature of the ]>lace and the character of their song, they were 

 at first supi>osed to be the Water Thrush, until specimens of these ex- 

 quisite songsters were secured. He regards this bird as second to none of 

 our singers Indonging to this family, and though in variety, sprightliness, 

 and continuity, and also in passionate emotional character, its song is not 

 equal to that of the (liouuesttn f/ramman/, yet it is far superior in power and 

 richness of tone. Mr. Ifidgway regards this l»ird as easily distinguishable 

 from the P. schistwea, of which, however, it is only a variety. There is a 

 total discrepancy in its notes, and while neither species is resident in the 

 latitude of Carson City, through which both kinds ])ass in their migrations, 

 the P. srh i.'itacca lingers in the spring only a short time, soon passing to the 

 northward, while the P. inKinrhiinchHs arrives later and reujains ihrough the 

 summer. The former nr.ikes its tempomry al)ode among the willows along 

 the river, while the latter breeds in the shrubbery of the mountain ravines. 



Subfamily SFIZINJE. 



Char. Bill variable, always larcre, much arrlied. an«l with tli»^ ciilmon considerably 

 curved : sometimes of enormous size, and with a irreater development backward of the 

 lower jaw, which is always appreciably, sometimes considerably, broader behind than the 

 upper jaw at its base : nostrils exposed. Tail rather variable. Bill prcnerally lilaok, licrht 

 blue, or red. Winers shorter than in the first ^rronp. Gape almost always much more 

 stron^dy bristled. Few of the species sparrou'-like or plain in their appearance; usually 

 blue, red, or black and white ; except in one or two instances the sexes very different in 

 color. 



