PAINTED FINCH. 281 



on the edge of the fences, where briars are convenient. It raises two 

 broods each season. The eggs are four or five, of a beautiful pearly, 

 rather bluish colour, speckled with blackish, and are deposited in a sim- 

 ply constructed nest, lined with fine fibrous roots or horse-hair, and ex- 

 ternally formed of fine grass. They readily breed in confinement, if their 

 prison is rendered tolerably comfortable. The young are fed at first in 

 the manner of Canaries, but at the end of ten or twelve days are taught 

 to swallow grains of rice, insects or berries. No sooner are figs or grapes 

 ripe than these birds attack them, feeding for some time almost entirely 

 upon them. Towards evening, they also pursue insects on wing. 



Some persons give the name of Nonpareil to this species, but it is 

 more commonly known by the name of Pape, which, in fact, is a general 

 appellation given by the inhabitants of Louisiana to all the smaller spe- 

 cies of thick-billed birds. 



The Painted Finches do not proceed far eastward, nor, indeed, up 

 the Mississippi, being seldom seen above the City of Natchez, on that 

 river, or farther to the east than the Carolinas. It retires southward in 

 the beg-inning; of October. 



The Chickasaw Wild Plum, on a twig of which I have represented a 

 group of these birds, is found growing abundantly in the country where 

 the birds occur. It is a small shrub, the fruit of which is yellow when 

 ripe, and excellent eating. 



FaiNGiLLA Ciais, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of the United States, p. 107. 



Emberiza Ciris, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. p. 313 Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 410'. 



Painted Bunting, Lath. Synops. vol. iii. p. 206 Wils. Amer. Omitli. vol. iii. p. 68. 



PI. xxiv. fig. 1. Male ; Fig. 2. Female. 



Adult Male, in full plumage. Plate LI II. Fig 1. 



Bill short, robust, conical, somewhat bulging, straight, acute ; upper 

 mandible broader, slightly declinate at the tip ; gap-line a little declinate 

 at the base. Nostrils basaL roundish, partly concealed by the frontal 

 feathers. Head and neck rather large. Body full. Feet of moderate 

 length ; tarsus a little longer than the middle toe ; toes free, the lateral 

 ones nearly equal ; claws compressed, arched, acute. 



Plumage blended, tufty, somewhat compact on the head and back. 

 Wings of ordinary length, the third quill longest. Tail shortish, even, 

 of twelve rounded feathers. 



