FRINOlLLIDyE-TlIE I'INCHES. 51717 



Arr. Audubon says tliat this l.ird visits Louisiana and all the Southern 

 districts m M-.nter, remaining li-oni November to March, in great numbers 

 iJiey lorm gr...,.s of from tliirty to fifty, and ^ive together in great harmony 

 feeding upon small seeds. At this time they are plump to exce«s, and are 

 regarded as a gi-eat delicacy. 



When kept in confinement these binls become quite tame, and in the 

 spring will sing at all hours of the day or niglit. 



The nest of this bird is usually, if not always, on the ground, but in 

 various situations, as I have found them on a*hillside, in the mi.lst of low 

 underbrush, in a swampy thicket, at the foot of some large tree in a garden 

 as at Halifax, by the edge of a small pond, or in a hollow and decayin.^ 

 stump, llieir nest is large, deep, and capacious, with a base of moss or 

 coarse glasses, woven with finer stems above and lined with hair, a few 

 feathers, hne rootlets of plants or soft grasses. The eggs varv from four 

 to seven 111 number. Thoir ground-color is of a pale green or" a greenish- 

 white marked over tl,e entire egg with a fox-colored or rusty brown Ooca- 

 siona ly these markings are sparsely scattered, permitting the ground to be 

 plainly visible, but generally they are so very abundant as to cover the entire 

 egg so closely as to conceal all other shade, aqd give to the whole a deep 

 uniform rufous-brown hue, through which the under color of light green is 

 hardly distinguishable. They measure .90 by .08 of an inch. 



Zonotrichia querula, Oambel. 



HARBIS'S 8PAEHOW ; BLACK-HOODED 8PAKR0W. 



Prinjillu quernla, NvrrA..,,, Man. I. (..1 o,l.,) 1840, .-i.'",.'; (Westport, Mo.). Zo„oMchia 

 guemlu GA^inKL, J. A. N. So. 2.1 So,-. 1, 1847, 51. - Honap. Consp. 1850. 478.- 

 Ba.ud, Hn■,ls^. Am. 1858, 462.-Am.kn, An,.,-. .Naturalist, May, 1872. FnnffiHa 

 han-,v Avi,. n„,Ls An,. VII, 1843, 331, pi. ..o,-..|.xxxiv. Fn;u,itl<' amata, P,t. Max 

 lie.se II, 1841. - I„. Cab. ,lo>..-. VI, 1858, 279. ZonoMchia corn,,/,,, B,.. Consp. 1850 



Sp. Char. Hood and iiapc, .si.Ie.s of head ant.^rio,- to and inolmlin- the eye. chin 

 throat, and a few spots in the n.i.Idle ,.r the npper ,.a,-t of the l.r ,st' and on its side.,' 

 black. Snles of head and neck ash-gray, with the face of a na.Tow orescent l.ack of the 

 ear-eovert,s. Interscapular region of back with the feathers reddish-brown streaked with 

 dark brown. Breast and belly clear white. Sides of body light brownish streaked 

 Two narrow white bands aero.ss the g,-eater and .ni-ldle coverts. Lengt:: about 7 inches • 

 wnif, 3.40 ; tail, 3.05. ' ' 



Ha... Mi,ssou.-i Rive.-, above Fort Leavenwo.-th. ChilliTothe, Mo. (Hoy). Very coni- 

 mou in Eastern Kansas (Allkn). San Anto..io Texas, spring (Dhesskk, Ibis, 1865, 488). 



The bill of this species appears to be yellowish-red. More immature 

 specimens vary in having the black of the head abox-e more restricted, the 

 nape and sides of the head to the bill pale reddish-brown, lighter on the latter 

 region. Others have the feathers of the anterior iwrtion of the hood edged 

 with whitish. In all there is generally a trace of black anterior to the eve 

 73 



