88 I'llOXIPAEA ZENA. 



upper parts, olivaceous-green, with the inner web of tail and wings, brown. Under portions, including under 

 wing coverts, black ; with the abdomen and flank tinged with olivaceous and sprinkled with white. Under tail 

 coverts, olivaceous, with each feather edged with white. 



Young male, lacks the black of the top of the head, and the same color beneath is not as extended. 



Female. Olivaceous above, paler beneath, becoming grayish on the abdomen and flanks. Irides, bill and feet 

 brown in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



This little Finch, of which we procured a single female specimen in Florida, may be distinguished from all other 

 North American species by its small size, combined with the peculiar form and color, as described above. It is an 

 inhabitant of the West Indies and adjacent islands. This is the only instance on record of its being captured within 

 the limits of the United States. 



MEASUREMENTS. 



Dimensions of the single specimen taken at Miami. Length, 4-20; stretch, 6-50; wing, 2-06; tail, 1-75; bill, -35; 



tarsus, -55. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



The following description was kindly sent to me by Mr. Ridgway : 



"Nest, collected in Spanishtown, Jamaica, May 4, 1862 by W. T. March. Shoe-shaped. Length, '5 inches; height, 

 3 inches ; entrance, 2 Inches in diameter. 



Eggs, four in number, -70x'50; ground dull white ; faintly sprinkled more dense in a ring round larger end 

 with small brown dots. Resemble very nearly eggs of Spizella pusilla." 



HABITS. 



Although there are now but a few houses at Miami or vicinity, yet this section has been 

 settled many years. The inhabitants who formerly occupied this spot have left many evidences 

 of their presence in the shape of ruinous walls, old wells, etc. Tradition points to this place 

 as being the haunt of pirates, and we were informed upon reliable authority that one of 

 those infamous men lived here until quite recently. Indeed, there are individuals now living 

 who have seen him. He was a Spaniard named Yusippie, and was the leader of a band of 

 blood-stained villains who lived upon the banks of the Miami, while the river formed a fine 

 harbor in which to moor their vessels, that they might not be seen from the open ocean. 



Among the traces which these Spaniards have left behind them are evidences of cultivation 

 of the soil. The ground has been cleared for some distance back of the old fort, but is now 

 mainly grown up to bushes and trees ; there arc, however, frequent glades in the midst of these 

 thickets which are entirely void of shrubs, being only covered with grass and low herbage. 

 These spaces vary from a few yards to several rods in diameter, and are closely surrounded 

 by foliage. The trees and bushes are so thickly covered with vines and creeping plants that 

 their forms are entirely concealed and they resemble rolling clouds of living green rising in 

 huge billows one above the other. This deciduous mass is thickly starred with the large, white 

 flowers of the Ipomcea Bona-Nox and the purple blossoms of the wild convolvulus, while the 

 orange and yellow Lantana Gamara fills the air with a peculiar fragrance. As can readily be 

 imagined these dense thickets were filled with birds, and therefore we frequently visited the 

 lovely spots for the purpose of taking the various kinds found there. 



Mr. Henshaw was collecting here with me on the 19th of January, 1871, when his quick 

 eye detected a small bird among the thick bushes, and he instantly shot it. After making his 

 way into the thicket and searching for a time he returned, bearing his prize, but with a puzzled 

 expression on his countenance, that instantly communicated itself to mine when I saw the little 

 "ray bird which he held in his hand, for it was a species which I had never beheld. It proved 

 to be the Black-headed Finch, the first and, up to this date, the only specimen ever taken in 

 the United States.. As Mr. Henshaw brushed through the lantanas to secure the bird, the 

 spicy odor of the crushed leaves filled the air and floated around us as we were examining the 

 specimen ; therefore the PJionipara Zena is ever associated in my mind with the shrub upon 

 which it is figured, and thanks to the care of my artist and engraver, both the bird and plant 

 are placed before the reader in a highly creditable manner. 



