i:^4 NOKTII AMEIUCAX BIRDS. 



inuler Lieutenant Parke, mentions first nieetin*^ witli tliis species near Tuc- 

 son. They were frequentiii,i,% in numbers, tiie thick undergrowth, and were 

 seeking seeds and insects on the ground. They seemed inclined to shun 

 observation, and always kept in the most retire«l situations. Tliey were 

 sociable among themselves, going about singly or in ])airs, associated with 

 the roospiza hilineata and two or three other kinds of Fiuch. When started 

 they Hy low, diving into the bushes, and soon disa})pear from sight. Occa- 

 sionally, until reaching El Paso, Texas, birds of this species were met with, 

 mingling with the flocks of migrating Frirnjillulw. He there procured a [Kiir 

 apparently just entering upon incubation. 



Instead of being suited by color, like most of the other Pipilos, to inhabit 

 dark thickets and among dry leaves, this species is clad in a gayer livery, and 

 seems well adapted for concealment in its summer resorts, and also among 

 the growing vegetation of the lower country during the rainy season. Dr. 

 Heermann found a few wintering in the Colorado Valley, and yet more at 

 San Diego, but they left both places in ^larch. He found them silent and 

 shy, hiding very closely in the bushes, and feeding altogether on the ground. 

 The only note he heard, resembled the crowing note of the Calii'ornia Quail. 



Among the memoranda of Mr. Xantus, made near Fort Tejon, are the two 

 following : " 4,839, nest and two eggs (of Pipilo chlonirus) found in a dry 

 hedge in Mr. Kitchie's garden ; 5,083, nest and eggs found in a dark garden- 

 hedge." 



The eggs of the chlorvrns are like those of no other Pipilo that I have 

 met with. They are peculiar in shape, being nearly of an exact oval, neither 

 end being apparently nuich more rounded than the other. Their gi'ound- 

 color is white with a bluish tint, over which is profusely diffused a cloud of 

 fine dottings of a pinkish-drab. These markings are occasionally so fine and 

 so thickly distributed as to give to the a^^^f the appearance of a uniform 

 color, o'* as an unspotted pinkish drab-colored egg. Occasionally the dots 

 are deeper and larger, and more sparsely diffused. 



In considering the eggs of the Pipilos in general we find certain variations 

 which deserve more than a passing notice. Those of erytJu'opJUhalrmis, 

 orerjoniLS, arcticus, and mcf/alonyx are all fringilline in their characters, and 

 have a marked affinity to eggs of Melospizn, Zonotiichia, and many other 

 genera of this order. The eggs of aherti,f}iscns, mcsolcucits, and nfhif/u/a are 

 also all closel}^ alike, and exhibit a very close resemblance to those of the 

 Affclaii, and even of the Icteri, while the eggs of P. chlomrus, though of a 

 fringilline character, are unlike either style. 



