, FRINGrLLID.K- THE FINCHES. 593 



^Ir. liiclgway states that the P. hilincata is not so abundant as the other 

 species, and is more retiring in its liahits. It principally tVeiiuents the desert 

 tracts and sandy wastes, on wiiich are i'ound only the most stunted forms of 

 sage-brusli. Its song, though (jnite simple, is exceedingly tine, its modula- 

 tion being somewhat lii<e a-Ht'-irut'-zc-c-c-r-c-r, the first two syllables being 

 uttered in a rich metallic tone, while the final trill is in a lower key, .u. , of 

 the most liquid and tremulous character imaginable. This simple chant is 

 repeated every few seconds, the singer being perched upon a busli. He adds 

 that this bird arrives on the Truckee Iteservation about the Kith of May. 

 The nest is built in sage-bushes, and the eggs are found from the 7th to 

 the 21st of June. The nests are usually about one foot from the ground, or 

 thereabouts. 



The eggs vary in size from .70 by .oo of an inch to .75 by .60. They are 

 of a rounded-oval shape, and of a pme white with a slight tinge of blue, 

 somewhat resembling the eggs of the Bachraan Finch. 



Poospiza belli, Sclater. 



BELL'S SPARROW. 



Emberim belli, Cas.sis, Pr. A. N. Sc. riiila. V, Oct. IbSO, 104, pi. iv (San Diego, Cal.). 

 Poospiza belli, Sn.ATKlt, Pr. Zoijl. Soc. LSi'iT, 7. — Haikd, Biiils N. Am. IS-iS, 470.— 

 Heerm. X, .s. J). 46. Zonotrichia belli, Ei.l.ior, lUu.st. Birds N. Am. I, pi. xiv. — 

 CoiU'Eii, Orii. Cal. I, 204. 



Sp. CnAH. Tapper parts generally, with sides of heail and neck, nnilorin bluish-ash, 

 tinfred with yellowish-gray on the erown ami back, and with a Ccw very obsolete dusky 

 streaks on the inter.scapular region. T?eneath pure white, tinged with yellowi.sli-brown on 

 the sides and under the tail. Eyelids, short streak from the bill to above the eye, and small 

 median .spot at the ba.se of eulmen, white. A stripe on the sides of the throat and spot 

 on the upper part of the breast, with a few streaks on the sides, wi-th the loral space and 

 region round the eyes, plumbe«us-black. Tail-featiiers black ; the outer edged with white. 

 Wing-teathors all broadly edged with l)rownish-yellow ; the elbow-joint tingcil with 

 yellowish-green. Bill and feet blue. Length, 5.70; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.00. (Largest 

 .specimen, 0,338 ^, Cosumncs River). 



Had. Southern California. 



The colors are softer and more blended in the autumn; the young are 

 obsoletely streaked on the l)reast. 



Habits. Bell's Finch has apparently a more restricted distril)ution tlian 

 tiio Black-throated species, and is resident wherever found. It has been met 

 with at Posa Creek, Cal., by Dr. Heermann, at Fort Thorn by Dr. T. C. 

 Henry, and along the Colorado Kiver l)y Drs. Kennerly and IMitllhausen. 

 It has likewise been i'ound in Southern California, as far north as Sacramento 

 Valley, and in the valley of the Gila. 



Dr. Cooper states that all the extensive thickets throughout the south- 

 ern half of California are the favorite resorts of tiiis bird. There th(!y 

 apparently live upon small seeds and insects, indifferent as to water, or 

 73 



