86 XOIITH AMEUICAV BIRDS. 



musical in all weathers and tlirongliniit tlie sninnier. He describes its song 

 as unvaried, as ratlier niunutonous, and closely n'senil)ling thai of C. cijtoiea. 



Their nest, lie adds, is usually built in a Imsli, not more than three or four 

 feet from tiie ground, formed of fihrdus roots, strips of bark, and grass, witli a 

 lining of vegetable down or hair, and securely bound to the surrounding 

 branches. The eggs, Hve in nunil)er, he describes as white, faintly tinged 

 with liiue. At Santa Barbara he found them freshly laid May 0. 



Tliese birds are never gregarious, though the males come in considerable 

 flocks in the sju'ing, several days before tlie females. They travel at night, 

 arriving at Santa Cruz about April 12. A nest foiuid by Dr. (Jooper, May 7, 

 in a low ))usii close to a public road, was about three feet from the ground. 

 It was very strongly l)uilt, supported by a triple fork of the l)ra.nch, and was 

 composed of blades of grass firmly interwoven, and lined with horseliair and 

 cobwebs. It measured three inches in heiglit and three and tlireo fourths 

 in widtli. The cavity was two inches deep and one and three fourths wide. 



In Arizona Dr. Coues found this bird a summer resident, but not abun- 

 dant. 



At Pugot Sound this bird arrives abont ^lay lo. Dr. Suckley states that 

 in Oregon it was observed returning from tlie south, in large Hocks, in one 

 instance of several hundred individuals. 



The eggs of the Lazuli, when fresh, are of a light blue, which on the least 

 exposure soon fades into a bluish-white. They are almost exactly oval in 

 shai)e, and measure .75 by .00 of an inch. One end is somewhat more 

 rounded, but the difference is slight. 



Cyanospiza versicolor, Baird. 



VABIED BUNTING. 



Spiza versicolor, Rox. IV. Zoiil. Sue. 1837, 120. -- In. Conspectus Av. 1850, 47.5. — Cab. 

 Mils. Hciii. IS.'il, 148. ('(inluclis lii.niosii.i, Li:sso\,,Et'v. Zoul. 1839, 41. Cjicinospiza 

 vcrsioiliir, Baikd, Uinls N. Am. ISi'i^, .fiOS, pi. hi, f. 2. — C'oupeu, Oin. Cal. I, 234. 



Sp. Char. Po.storior half of hooil, with throat, dark browiii.sh-rod ; interscapular 

 icfrion similar, but darker. Forepart of hood, lesser wiiip-eovert.s, hack of the neck, 

 and rump, purplish-hluu ; the latter purest blue ; the belly reddish-purple, in places tinged 

 with blue, more ob.^onri' posteriorly. lA'athers of wing and tail dark-l)r()wn, edged with 

 dull Ijluish. Loral region and narrow I'lontal band blat!:. Feathers on side of rump 

 whili! at base. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.38. 



Female. Yellowish-brown ; paler beneath, and lightest behind. No white on wing. 

 Tail with a bluish gloss. 



Had. I>(ortliern Mexico, and Cape St. Lucas. Xalapa (Sci,. 1850, 305); Oaxaca (Scl. 

 18.59, 379); Orizaba (Scl. 1857. 214); (Su.m. M. B. S. I, 551; breeding); Guatemala 

 (ScL. Ibis, I, 17). 



The bill is stouter and more swollen to the end, ami the mandible is much 

 more curved than that of C. ci/anca; and its perfectly concave commissure, 

 without any shallow lobe in the middle, and the much more arched ridge, 



