ZOOLOGY — BIRDS. 51 



houses. At other times it chooses for the purposes of nidification the cactus plants, a deserted 

 woodpecker's hole, or the branch of a small tree. According to the locality chosen, the nest 

 ^s composed of different substances^ but is generally made externally of coarse grass or weeds, 

 and lined with hair or fine roots. The eggs, from four to six in number, are pale blue, marked 

 with spots and lines of black. 



CO'OCOBORUS CAERULEUS, Linn.— Blue Grosbeak. 



Coccoboms caentleus, DeKay's N. H. of N. Y. part I, p. 145, pi, 64, fig. 116.— AnD. B. of A. Oct. vol. Ill, p. 204, pi. 204. 

 Fringilla caerulea, Aud. Fol. pi. 122. — Nutt. Orn. vol. I, p. 529. 



This bird is quite abundant in Lower California, whither it migrates from the north in the 

 fall season. Specimens of both old and young were procured there late in the summer. 



COOCOBORUS MEL ANOCEPHALUS, S w a i n s o n .—Black-headed Grosbeak. 



Coccolorus mehnocephalus, Add. B. of A. Oct. vol. Ill, p. 214, pi. 206. 

 Fringilla maculaia, Aud. B. of A. Fol. pi. 373, figs. 2, 3 & 4. 

 Fringilla mdanocephalo, Aud. Orn Biog. vol. IV, p. 519. 



Abundant and migratory. During spring we saw these birds in Sacramento valley and in 

 the mountainous districts, feeding on the buds of young plants, and in September we saw numbers 

 of the young plumaged birds in Tejon valley. Its song, clear and musical, resembles very 

 much that of our robin, {Turdus migratorius.) The nest, formed with little care, of twigs very 

 loosely thrown together and lined with roots, is placed on the branches of a bush. The eggs, 

 four in number, are greenish blu«, marked with irregular spots of umber brown varying in 

 intensity of shade. 



PIPILO MEGALONTX, Baird. 



PipHo megalonyx, Baird, Gen. Eep. IX, 515. 



Very abundant in the valleys and mountains of California, where, retiring to the close sheltered 

 thickets, it passes its time in pursuit of insects. When disturbed in its avocations it utters a 

 note of alarm, and flying low passes from bush to bush, concealing itself with great facility. 

 The nest, made on the ground, is composed externally of oak leaves and coarse weed stalks, the 

 lining being of fine grasses and roots. The eggs, numbering from four to five, are of a faint 

 greenish white, minutely dotted with reddish brown spots. 



PIPILO FUSOA, Swains.— Canon Finch. 



Pi^ilo fmca. Swains. Philos. Mag. 1827, p. 434.— Cassin, B. of Cal. & Tex. p. 124, pi. 17. 

 Abundant and a resident of the country, as it is found at all seasons of the year. It prefers 

 the heavy growth of trees and shrubbery, on the borders of streams, building its nest in a bush 

 or grape vine at some height from the earth, differing in this latter respect from the other 

 American species with whose nidification we are acquainted and which always place their nests 

 on the ground. The nest is of coarse twigs and grass and lined with fine roots. The eggs are 

 four and of a pale blue, dashed with black spots and a few neutral tint blotches, forming a crown 

 at the larger end. These eggs differ entirely from those of the other known species of the same 

 genus, while they so resemble those of the different species of blackbirds as to be confounded 

 with them, unless marked when taken from the nest. 



