66 



NORTH AMEKICAN JJIIIDS. 



8i'. CiiAK. Mole. Sides of tlio htail and sides and hack of tlic lUM-k asli ; crown tinj^ed 

 with yt'llowisli-<;rt't'n and faintly strcakiMl with thisky. A snpcrriliary and sliort maxillary 

 line, middle of the lurast, axillaries, and edjjfe of the win<( yrllow. Chin, loral re^'ion, 

 patch on side of tiu'oat, belly, anti under tail-coveits white. A Idack patcli on the 

 throat diniinishinjj to the brea.st. and enihng in a spot on the upper part of the helly. 

 Wing-coverts chestinit. Interscapular region streaked with black; rest of back inimacu- 

 hite. Length, about (;.70; wing, 3.50. 



Female witl' the markings less (hstinctly indicated : the black of the breast replaced by 

 a black maxillary line and a streaked collar in the yellow of the u]»i)er part of the breast. 



Tlvn. United States from the Atlantic to the border of the high Central Plains, south 

 to Panama and \ew Granada. Xalaj»a (SrL. 18o7, 205); Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 18); 

 Turbo, N. G. (Cassin. P. A. N. 8. 1800, 140j ; Panama (Lawr. VII, 18G1, 298); Nica- 

 ragua, Graytown (Lawr. VIII, 181) ; Veragua (8alv. 18G7, 142); Costa Rica (Lawk. 

 IX, 10;J) ; Vera Cruz, winter (Sum. M. B. 8. I, 552). 



Aniuiifj adult males, scarcely two iiulividuals exactly alike can be found. 

 In some tlie black of the throat is continued in blotches down the middle 

 of the breast, while in others it is restricted to a spot immediately under 

 the liead. These yariations are not at all dependent upon any difference 

 of habitat, for specimens from remote regions from each other may be found 

 as nearly alike as any from the same locality. Some specimens from Central 

 America are more deeply colored tlian North American ones, owing, no 

 doubt, to the freshness of the plumaiie. 



Habits. The histoiy of the lilack-throated Bunting has, until yery re- 

 cently, been nmch obscured by incorrect 

 obseryations and wrong descriptions. Eyi- 

 dently this bird has been more or less con- 

 founded with one or two other species entirely 

 difl'erent from it. Thus Wilson, Audubon, 

 and Nuttall, in speaking of its nest and eggs, 

 giye descriptions applicalde to Coturnicuhi>i 

 jHtHscrhnis or to C. Jmn-sJovi, but which are 

 wholly wrong as applied to those of this 

 h bird. Xuttall, whose obseryations of North 

 American ])irds were largely made in Massa- 

 chusetts, speaks of this bird being <juite com- 

 mon in that State, \yhere it is certainly yery 

 rare, and describes, as its song, notes that 

 haye no resemblance to those of this Bunt- 

 ing, but which are a yery exact description of the musical performances of 

 the Yellow-winged Sparrow. 



It is found in the eastern portion of Xorth America, from the base of the 

 Black Hills to the Atlantic States, and from Massachusetts to South Carolina. 

 I am not aware that on the Atlantic it has eyer been traced farther soutli 

 than that State, but farther west it is found as far at Lmst as Southwestern 

 Texas. During winter it is found in Central America, and in Colombia, 

 South America. 



Euspiza americana. 



