86 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



iiiiisical in all weathers and tlirouiiliout tlie sniniiuM". lie describes its soiif;,' 

 as unvaried, as rutlier monutonfms, and closely resenihlini,' that of C. ctjanea. 



Their nest, he adds, is usually built in a bush, not more than three or four 

 feet from the ground, formed of fibrous roots, strips of bark, and j^rass, with a 

 lining of vegetable down or haii-, and securely b:. jid to the surrounding 

 l>ranches. The eggs, five in number, he describes as white, faintly tinged 

 with l)lue. At Santa Barbara he found them freshly laid ^lay 6. 



These l)irds are never gregarious, though the males come in considerable 

 flocks in the spring, several days before the females. They travel at night, 

 arriving at Santa Cruz about April 12. A nest found by Dr. Cooper, May 7, 

 in a low bush close to a public road, was about three feet from the ground. 

 It w\as very strongly built, supported by a triple fork of the branch, and was 

 composed of blades of grass firmly interwoven, and lined with horsehair and 

 cobwebs. It measured three inches in height and three and three fourths 

 in width. The cavity was two inches deep and one and three fourths wide. 



In Arizona Dr. Coues found this bird a summer resident, but not abun- 

 dant. 



At Puget Sound this bird arrives about ^fay 15. Dr. Suckley states that 

 in Oregon it was observed returning from tlie south, in large Hocks, in one 

 instance of several hundred individuals. 



The eggs of the Lazuli, wdien fresh, are of a light blue, which on the least 

 exposure so n fades into a bluish-white. They are almost exactly oval in 

 shape, and measure .75 by .60 of an inch. One end is somewhat more 

 rounded, but the difference is slight. 



Cyanospiza versicolor, Baird. 



VABIED BUNTING. 



Spiza versicolor. Box. Pr. Zoiil. Sno. 1837, 120. — In. Conspectus Av. 1850, 475. — Cab. 

 Mus. Hciu. 1851, 148. CnrdueUs luxaosus, LKssoNvEfV- Zoul. 1839, 41. Ciianospiza 

 versicolor, Baihd, Birds N. Am. 1858, 503, pi. hi, f. 2. — Cooper, Oin. Cal. I, 234. 



Sp. Cii.\r. Posterior half of hood, with throat, dark brownish-red ; interscapular 

 reirion siniihir. but darker. Forepart of hood, lesser wina-co verts, back of the neck, 

 and rump, purplish-blue; the latter purest blue; the belly reddish-purple, in places tinged 

 with blue, more oViscure posteriorly. Feathers of -winp: and tail dark-l)rown, edjjfcd with 

 dull bluish. Loral region and narrow frontal band black. Feathers on side of rump 

 white at base. Lent^th, 5.50; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.38. 



Female. Yellowish-brown ; paler beneath, and lightest behind. No white on wing. 

 Tail with a bluish cfloss. 



Hab. Northern Mexico, and Cape St. Lucas. I^alapa (Scl. 1859, 305); Oaxaca (Sgl. 

 1850, 379); Orizaba (Scl. 1857, 211); (Su.m. Ll. B. S. I, 551; breeding); Guatemala 

 (ScL. Ibis, I, 17). 



The bill is stouter and more swollen 1 I' ^ end, and the mandible is much 

 more curved than that of C. cjanca ; ana xls perfectly concave commissure, 

 without any shallow lobe in the middle, and the much more arched ridge. 



