234 APPENDIX TO OSCINES. 



ent from their usual spring notes. The position and song -were such that I failed to 

 recognize the bird, and on two occasions have shot them before suspecting the true na- 

 ture of the case. When alarmed iu this position, they drop almost perpendicularly 

 to the ground, as in the habit of the Brown Thrush, a miniature of which, in attitude 

 and song, they seem to be. I have heard the same song near the ground, but not often. 

 Late iu January their winter song is freely varied witli passages irom their well-known 

 summer notes, and by the first of March the peculiar notes of winter have all dis- 

 appeared. 



Lai!k Fixch (C. grammaca). Usually considered to find its eastern limit in Illinois, 

 is a summer resident in this locality. I am of the opinion that both it and the Shrike, 

 above mentioned, are comparatively recent additions to our fauna. I first saw it in 

 1860, since which time it has increased in numbers, and at present is not uncommon. 

 It nests iu meadows, and the young take to trees as soon as they are able to fly. I sus- 

 pect, from not meeting either these birds or the Shrikes after the breeding season is 

 fairly over, that they join their comrades in the west before going south. [This spe- 

 cies has occurred in Florida (spec, in Mus. S. I.) — E. C] 



Night-Hawk ( C. pojyetue). I have noticed, when skinning this bird, that the male, 

 in spring, exhales a strong hircine odor. If this is common to all birds of the family, 

 it may have added apparent reason to the superstition from which the family name is 

 derived. 



Chijixey SwjVLlow (C. pelasgia). No writer seems to have mentioned what many 

 have noticed in this bird, that the broad line of black extending from the nostrils along 

 the bill to the gape, across the lores, in front of and above the eyes, is composed of 

 feathers of different structure from those of the general plumage. These are short and 

 thick set, remarkably velvety both to the eye and touch. 



There is another curious anomaly in this remarkable bird, which I have not seen 

 nientinued : On the under-surface of the wing a linear bare space will- be noticed, 

 extending from the carpal-joint to the base of the first primary. This seems to have 

 been caused by friction, and suggests that the bird uses the wings to assist the feet 

 and spiny tail in clinging to the chimney-side. That certain birds do make use of 

 their wings as supports has been affirmed in the pages of the Naturalist ; but if this 

 is really the case do they not violate the law laid down for them by Owen (?), who says 

 (Anat. of Vert. vol. ii, p. 6) : "In no case do the anterior limbs (wings) take any share 

 in stationary support or prehension." 



Note. — Neither of the North American species of so-called Poospiza has occurred, to 

 my knowledge, in the Missouri region, but either may yet be found in the southwest- 

 ern portion. 



Tlicse birds seem scarcely congeneric with the type oi Poospiza, Emberiza nigro-mfa, 

 D'Okbig., and, in the extreme subdivision which at present obtains, may be distin- 

 guished under the following names : 



Amphispiza, Cones, n. g. (type JSnibmiza Mlineata, Cass.) 



AmPHISPIZA BILINEATA, Coues. 



Emheriza hilineata, Cass., Pr. A. N. S. P. v, 1850, 104, pi. 3 (Texas) ; 111. 1854, 150, pi. 23. 

 Poospiza MJmeata, Sci.., P. Z. S. 1857, 7.— Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 470 ; Mex. B. Surv. ii, part 



ii, 1859, Birds, 15.— HEEJ:.^^., P. E. E. Eep. x, 1859, Parke's Eoute, Birds, 14.— 



Coop., B. Cal. i, 1870, 203.— Dress., Ibis, 1865, 483 (Texas).— Cqoes, Pr. Phila. 



Acad. 1866, 86 (Arizona).— CouES, Key, 1872, 140.— B. B. & R., N. A. B. i, 1874, 



590, pi. 26, fig. 8. 

 Sab. — Middle Province of the United States. North 40°. South into Mexico. 

 A:iiPHispiZA BELLii, Coues. 



Emberiza bellii, Cass., Pr. Phila. Acad, v, 1850, 104, pi. 4 (California). 



Poospiza •bellii, ScL., P. Z. S. 1857, 7.— Br>., B. N. A. 1858, 470.— Heep.m., P. E. E. Rep. x, 

 1859, pt. vi, 46.— CouES, Pr. Phila. Acad. 1866, 86 (Arizona).— Coop., B. Cal. i, 

 1870, 204.— Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 177 (Ogden, Utah, var. )ievadensis, 

 EiDGW.).— Coues, Key, 1872, 141.— B. B. & E., N. A. B. i, 1874, 593, pi. 26, f. 9.. 



Zonotriclda bellii, Elliot, B. N. A. i, pi. 14. 



Bab.—Oi A. bellii proper. Southern California. Of A. bellii var. nevadensis (Eidqioav, 

 Eep. Birds 40th parallel, in press ; B. B. ^ 7?., N. A. B. i, 1874, 594), Middle Province of 

 the United States, to 40°, and somewhat beyond. 



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