134 NOliTlI AMERICAN BIUDS. 



under Lieutenant Piuke, mentions first meeting with this species near Tuc- 

 son. Tliey weie liequentinj^, in numbers, the thick undergrowth, and were 

 seeking seeds and insects on the ground. They seemed inclined to shun 

 observation, and always kept in the most retired situations. Tiiey were 

 sociable among themselves, going abi^ii singly or in jiairs, associated with 

 the rooapiza hilincutu and two or three other kinds of I'iiicii. When started 

 they Hy low, diving into the bushes, and soon disajjpear from sight. Occa- 

 sionally, until reaching El Paso, Te.xas, birds of this species were met with, 

 mingling with the flocks of migrating Frimjillida;. He there procured a i)air 

 apparently just entering upon incubation. 



Instead of being .suited by coh)r, like most of the other Pipilos, to inhabit 

 dark thickets and among dry leaves, this species is clad in a gayer livery, and 

 seems well adapted for concealment in its summer resorts, and also among 

 the growing vegetation of the lower country during the rainy season. Dr. 

 Heerniann found a few wintering in the Colorado Valley, and yet more at 

 San Diego, but they left both places in March. He found them silent and 

 shy, hiding very closely in the bushes, and feeding altogether on the ground. 

 The only note he heard, resembled the crowing note of the California Quail. 



Among the memordiida of Mr. Xantus, made near Fort Tejon, are the two 

 following : " 4,8l-5i), nest and two eggs (of Plpilo Morurus) found in a dry 

 hedge in Mr. Kitchie's garden ; 5,083, nest and eggs found in a dark garden- 

 hedge." 



The eggs of the clilorurns are like those of no other Pipilo that I have 

 met with. They are peculiar in shape, being nearly of an exact oval, neither 

 end being apparently much mure rounded than the other. Their ground- 

 color is white with a bluish tint, over which is profusely diffused a cloud of 

 fine dottings of a pinkish-drab. These markings are occasionally so fine and 

 so thickly distributed as to give to the egg the appearance of a uniform 

 color, or as an unspotted pinkish drab-colored egg. Occasionally the dots 

 are deeper and larger, and more sparsely diffused. 



In considering the eggs of the Piinlos in general we find certain variations 

 wliich deserve more than a passing notice. Those of crijthrop]ith(dmiis, 

 om/onus, arrticus, and vui/alonifc are all fringilline in their characters, and 

 have a marked affinity to eggs of Mdospiza, Zonotrichia, and many other 

 genera of this order. The eggs of aberti,fitsciis, mesolcncm, and ft/hif/nla are 

 also all closely alike, and exhibit a very close resemblance to those of the 

 Af/claii, and even of the Ictcri, while the eggs of P. chlonirus, though of a 

 fringilline character, are unlike either style. 



