GRASSQUIT. 227 



were deposited. A second nest, found May 25 in a young eboily bush, four feet from 

 the ground, was deserted immediately after completion. It is a delicate little nest, sup- 

 ported at the rim and beneath by twigs, and built of a very fine, dried grass, with 

 whibh a few horse hairs, a leaf or two, and a small rag are interwoven: it is 1.70 inches 

 wide, by 1.50 inches in depth. Both these nests are open and transparent. A third 

 nest, found May 5, 1878, was attached to a hanging rim about four feet from the 

 ground. The nest was partly pensile, and was built of delicate rootlets. It contained 

 three young." 



Mr. Geo. B. Sennett writes that this diminutive bird is not uncommon near Lomita 

 on the Rio Grande, but that its smallness and its habit of frequenting low bushes and 

 weeds preclude its frequent observation where there is so much undergrowth. He also 

 states that it is quite tame and fearless. 



It is found in southern Texas and adjacent parts of Mexico. 



NAMES: Sharpe's Seed-eater, Little Seed-eater.— Texanisches PfafTclien (Germkn). 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Spermopbila moreletti Pnch. (1850). SPOROPHJLA MORELETTI SHARPEI 

 Lawrence (1889). 



DESCRIPTION: The top and sides of the head, back of the neck, a broad band across the upper part of 

 the breast extending all round, the middle of the back, the wings and tail, with the posterior uppfr 

 coverts, black. The chin, upper throat and neck all round, but interrupted behind, the rump, with 

 the remaining under and lateral portions of the body, white ; the latter tinged with brownish-yellow. 

 Two bands on the wing, across the greater and middle coverts, with the concealed basis of all the 

 quills, also white. Female: Dull yellow; olivaceous above, brownish-yellow beneath. 

 "Length, about 4.00 inches; wing, 2.05; tail, 1 90, inches." (B. B. & R. II, p. 91.) 



GRASSQUIT. 



Euetbeia bicolor Gundlach. 



This little Grassquit has been found repeatedly in the southern coast region of 

 Florida. Mr. Maynard gives the following interesting description of the discovery of 

 the Grassquit in Florida. He writes as follows : 



"Although there are now but a few houses at Miami or vicinity, yet this section 

 has been settled many years. The inhabitants who formerly occupied this spot, have 

 left many evidences of their presence in the shape of ruinous w^alls, old wells, etc. Tra- 

 dition points to this place as being the haunt of pirates, and we were informed upon 

 reliable authority that one of those infamous men lived here until quite recently. Indeed, 

 there are individuals now living who have seen him. He was a Spaniard named 

 YuSippie, and was the leader of a band of blood-stained villains w^ho lived upon the 

 banks of the Miami, while the river formed a fine harbor in which to moor their vessels, 

 that they might not be seen from the open ocean. 



"Among the traces which these Spaniards have left behind them are evidences of 

 cultivation of the soil. The ground has been cleared for some distance back of the old 

 fort, but is now mainly -grown up to bushes and trees ; there are, however, frequent 

 glades in the midst of these thickets which are entirely void of shrubs, being only 

 covered with grass and low herbage. These spaces vary from a few yards to several 

 rods in diameter, and are closely surrounded by foliage. The trees and bushes are so 

 thickly covered with vines and creeping plants that their forms are entirely concealed 



