124 NORTH AMKIilCAN IllUDS. 



(Ifiiil IfiivcH, which they i^'vcatly rt'soinlilo in mlnr. This rt'scinlilimcn Dr. 

 Coopor i't',u;iii<ls as 11 jii'ciit |ir(iti'c'ti(iii In tiicni iVoiii lliiwivs; tlw.'w litirs also 

 (•()ncs])(Piiil with thcisc (if till' iMi'th ami tlai dusky Inliaj^i! tliiriiij,' iiinst ui thu 

 year. Thi-y uiv thus lo.ss cinispiciKJiis in tin- li^'lit, and they venture nioro 

 iearlo-ssly luith and i'(!ed in open j^ruunds. 



They have but little .soiij,', and oidy utter a lew faint chirpa ami hurried 

 notes, as they sit pereiied u|ion some low laisli, in tlu! s])rinij;. At San Diei^o 

 j)r. t'ooinT saw the lirst nest with e^^^s on April 17, Imt some birds had laiil 

 mu(;h earlier, as he found youn^' hatched by tlie 20th. He afterwards observed 

 other nests, all <jf which were Imilt in liusiies, from two to four feet from the 

 <,'round, and all but one contained three ej;<,'s ; the other had four. He has 

 found them l)uilt in low trees, and one in a vine growinj,' over the porch of a 

 house. The nest is formed of coarse twigs, bark, and j^rass, is thick and 

 large, and is lined with line root-lilires and finer grasses. Tiie eggs are i)alo 

 blue, spotted with puridish-lirown blotclies, mostly small and .scattered. Ho 

 gives the nuiasurenient of the eggs as .!)t) by At') of an inch. In the more 

 northern part of the State they are said to lay four eggs oftener than three. 

 Tiiey are supjiosed by him to have two broods in a season. 



Colonel McCall has no doul)t that they are found throughout California, 

 as he has met with them from the upper waters t)f the Sacnimento to the 

 mouth of the (lila; the former having its origin in the extreme north, and 

 the latter touching the extreme southern boundary of the ytate. It is most 

 aliundant sontii of Santa Harliara. 



Cohmel McCall .states that its habits and manners diller somewhat from 

 those of the common Towhee and the Arctic Finches. Its Hight is more 

 even and regular, and is without tiiat violent jerking of the tail from side to 

 side, which gives such a singular aj)pearance of awkwardness to the move- 

 ments of the Towhee. It is less shy iind suspicious than the Arctic. It is 

 also nnich less decidedly a (Jround Finch than either of the others. Its fa- 

 vorit? abode he I'ound to be the vicinity of watei'cour.ses, where it is gener- 

 ally to 1k! seen in ])airs, though he has, at times, surprised eight or ten 

 togetlier under the shade of a large bu.sh at noon in a summer day, when he 

 has liad no difHculty in ])rocuring three or four ai)ecimens before the party 

 dispersed. It is at all times a familiar bird, boldly coming into the roads to 

 feed, and permitting a close a])proaeh. If conijielled to retreat, it darts sud- 

 denly into the thicket, Init returns as soon as the cause of alarm has disa])- 

 peared. Xear Santa IJarbara he found thirty or forty of these birds, in the 

 month ot July, dispersed over an old field of some five acres in extent, con- 

 tiguous to a sea-beach, through which ilowed a small stream of i'resli water. 

 They were feeding on the ground, sheltered l)y a rank growth of weeds. 

 When one was finished it flew into a neighboring tree instead of seeking 

 shelter again in the weeds. The yoi.ng at that time were fidly fledged, and 

 scarcely differed in tlie color of their plumage from the adults. 



J)r. Heermann once met with a ncstof tiiis bird built in a grapevine over- 



