44 NUUTII AMKIMCA.V HIUUS. 



iittontioii attmcted by the now note of ii bird unfamiliar to him. It was 

 fiiuiid, after houio ()l).serviitit)ii, to imiceud from tliis spocies Ho desuribos 

 it as lisiiijf wi.n a ironiulous motion of its wiii;,'s some twenty feet or more, 

 and then descending' aj,'ain, in tiie same manner, to within a few yanls of 

 the spot wlienco it started, and as accompanyinj,' its entire fHj,'ht with a 

 len},'tliened and jdeasinf,' s(tn;,'. The ooinitry in tliat nei^diborliood is very 

 barren, covered witii low stunted liushea, in whicli the bird takes refuge on 

 Iteing alarmed, h1'i''"o I'upidly throuj^h the j,'rass and shrubbery, and very 

 adroitly and elfectually evadinjf its jjursuer. He observed them during four 

 or (ive days of tlie jijiirney of his ]iarty, and after that saw no more of them. 

 They aeemeil, at the time, to Ije migrating, though tiieir continued and oft- 

 repeated song also showed that they were not far from readiness for the 

 duties of incubation. 



The Fi'idad eussini is said, by Mr. Sumichrast, to be a resident species in 

 the valley of Orizaba, in the Stale of Vera (,'ruz, Alexico, and to be gen- 

 erally distributed throughout the temperate region of that district. It is 

 very probable, however, that he has in view the Mexican race of P. (cstivalis 

 (var. hotterii), and not the present sjjccies. 



Mr. J. A. Allen, who considers this bird only a western form of P. ccstiva- 

 lis, mentions (Am. Naturalist, May, 1872) finding it (juite frequently near 

 the streams in Western Kiinsas, where its sweetly modulated song greets 

 the ear with the first break of dawn, and is again heard at night till the 

 last trace of twilight has disappearetl. Mr. Allen also states, in a letter, 

 that this bird was " tolerably common along the streams near Fort Hays, but 

 very itiring, singing mostly alter nightfall and before sunrise, during the 

 morning twilight. Wiien singing, it had the habit of rising into the air. I 

 shot three one morning thus singing, when it was so dark I could not find 

 the birds. The one I obtained does not differ appreciably from specimens 

 from Mr. Cassin's collection, labelled by him Peuccca cassini, collected in 

 Texas." 



Mr. Ividgway regards this record of the manners of this bird, while sing- 

 ing, as indicating a specific difference from P. aestivalis. The latter, in 

 Southern Illinoi.s, has never been heard by him to sing at night, or in the 

 morning, nor even on the wing; but in broad midday, in the hottest days of 

 June, July, and August, he often heaul them singing vigorously and sweetly, 

 as they perched upon a fence or a dead tree in a field, exactly after the man- 

 ner of our common Spizdla pusilla. 



Among Dr. Ileermann's notes, quoted by Mr. Dresser, is one containing 

 the statement that he found this species not rare on the prairies near the 

 Medina Eiver, in Texas, where it breeds. Mr. Dresser also states that when 

 at Howard's Ranche, early in May, he found this bird by no means uncom- 

 mon. He confirms Dr. Heermann's account, that it is easily distinguished as 

 it rises in the air, from a bush, with a pecidiar fluttering motion of the wings, 

 at the same time singing, and then suddenly dropping into the bushes again. 



