FULNCilLLlD.K — TlIK nNCIIKS. ^5 



it in I/^Mj^'s expedition. It was oltserved. tlnniLjli liurlv, iil(in«' the luinks of 

 the Arkansas iJiver ihirin;^ tin- siunnuT niontiis, as far as the l>ase of the 

 liocky Mount.'iins. It was said to ficcnicnt tlie bushy vaUeys, keeping' niueh 

 in the ^'rass, after its food, and seldom aliLrhtinu' on either trees or slirults. 



Townsend, who found tliis rather a connnon liird on the ("(dunihia, re- 

 {^'arded it as shy and retiriiiLj in its hahits, the female heiujj; very rarely se(Mi. 

 It possesses lively and ]>leasin^ powers of sonj;, whieh it pours forth from 

 the uj»per hranches of low trees. Its nests were usually found ]>la('ed in 

 willows alon;^' the margins of streams, and were eompused of sniall stieks, 

 line jj;rasses, and hutlldo-hair. 



Mr. Xuttall found the nest of this l»ird fastenetl between the stem and two 

 branehes of a larj^e fern. It was funnel-sha]>ed, bcini: six inches in height 

 and three in breadth. 



This bird jjossibly ooonrs (pnte rarely, as far east as the Mi.ssissippi, as 1 

 have what is said to be its Q*f)j, taken from a nest near St. Louis. It only 

 becomes abundant on the plains. Mr. IJid^'way found it very generally dis- 

 tributed throuu;h(tut his route, inhabitiuLj all the busbv localities in the 

 fertile districts. He reijiarded it as, in nearly e\"cry resi)ect, the exact 

 counterpart of the eastern ('. rt/(nira. The nf)tes of the two birds are so 

 exactly the same that their soni,' wouM be undistin^Tjuishabk' but for the fact 

 that in the amaiia it is apprecia)>ly weaker. He found their nests usually 

 in the low limbs of trees, near their extremity, and <»nly a few feet from the 

 •ground. Mr. d. A. Allen found this s]>ecies connuon in Colorado, more so 

 amonL( the foot-hills than on the j»lains, but does uot a]>i»ear to have met 

 with it in Kansas. 



This species, Mr. Lord states, visits Vancouver Lsland and British Cobnubia 

 early in the summer, arrivinj.,^ at the island in May, and rather later east of 

 the Cascades. The song of the male is said to be feeble, and only now and 

 then indulged in, as if to cheer his more somltre partner during incubation. 

 The nest, he adds, is round and open at the top, composed oi' various mate- 

 rials worked together, lined with hair, and placed in a low bush, usually by 

 the side of a stream. 



The Lazuli Finch was met with in larcfc numbers, and manv of their nests 

 ])rocured, by ^fr. Xantus, in the neighborhood of Ft. Tejon, California. Indeed, 

 it is a very abundant species generally on the Pacific coast, and is found at 

 least as far north as Paget Sound, during the summer. It arrives at San 

 Diego, according to Dr. Cooper, about Ajiril 2'2, and remains there until Oc- 

 tober. A male bird, kept in a cage over winter, was Ibund to retain its blue 

 ]dumage. It is a favorite cage-bird in California, where it is absurdly known 

 as the Indigo l>ird. During the summer months, according to Dr. Cooper, 

 there is hardly a grove in the more o])en portions of the State nninhabitetl by 

 one or more pairs of this beautiful s])ecies. Although tlie female is very shy 

 and ditlicult to obtain, except on the nest, the male is not timid, and fre- 

 t^uently sings Lis lively notes from the top of some bush or tree, continuin 



it 



