BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 317 
line of the breast are obsolete; the maxiliary streaks have 
disappeared, and the back part of the median line of the 
crown begins to show white. 
‘‘Here our evidence of the further changes ceases for want of 
specimens. There is still much difference between number 3, 
and the adult. In the former the characteristic chestnut and 
grayish collar has not appeared; the handsome white and 
chestnut markings of the back are wanting; the color and 
markings of the under parts are unsettled; the bill is light, 
instead of dark bluish-brown, and the whole general coloration 
is uncertain, and blended, very different from the bold, strik- 
ing pattern of the adult. From these specimens we are there- 
fore to draw the conclusion that in the young bird, distinct 
maxillary streaks are present, the breast is streaked thickly 
entirely across; the tail feathers though pointed, are not nar- 
row and acuminate as in the adult; that yellow is the ground 
color of the entire plumage, tail and wings excepted, and lastly, 
that these characters gradually pass with age, into those 
of the adult.” 
The interest of ern tisidaikis in this bird justifies the space 
we have given for the foregoing notes. They were penned 
only a comparatively short time after the rediscovery of the 
species, which was originally observed and named by Audubon, 
but for a long time lost. That this bunting breeds considerably 
in favorable localities, in a large part of the State, I have no 
doubt, as it has of late years come to be observed in the breed- 
ing season in Freeborn, Big Stone and Grant counties. I have 
never seen the nest or eggs, but my very reliable friend Lewis, 
who has explored northern Dakota, gives the former as essen- 
tially like that of the Yellow-winged Sparrow, but possibly con- 
structed of a little coarser grasses, and a little bulkier in its 
general appearance. ; 
SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 
‘‘Bill much more slender than in Emberiza henslowi. First 
quill the longest, the rest diminishing rapidly. Tail emarginate 
and rounded, with the feathers acute. Upper parts light yel- 
lowish-red, streaked: with brownish-black; the margins of the 
feathers and scapulars pale yellowish- -white: tail feathers 
dusky, margined with light-yellowish; lower parts with the 
cheeks, and a broad band over the eyes, fine buff; median line 
yellowish-white; the buff extending to the femorals and along 
the sides, streaked with brownish-black. Throat, neck, and 
upper parts of the breast without streaks, and plain buff.” 
Length, 4.40; wing, 2.13; tail, 1.90. 
Habitat, Plains eastward to Illinois, South Carolina, and 
Florida, and from Manitoba to Texas. 
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