378 PEINQILLID^. 



in some marshy ground near the sea. This bird was determined by Mr. Lawrence, to 

 whom it was sent for that purpose ^. 



In the United States S. socialis is one of the most familiar species, being extremely 

 abundant about houses, &c. i^, and building in shrubberies, making a rough nest of 

 coarse stems of grasses and other plants with a Iming of hair. The eggs, five in number, 

 are of a bluish-green colour, sparingly spotted towards the larger end with marks of 

 umber, purple, and dark blackish brown mingled with lighter shadings of purple ; they 

 are said to vary greatly in size ^. 



Mr. Brewster has given a description of. the young in the first plumage, in his 

 valuable paper on the first plumage in various species of North American birds (Bull. 

 Nutt. Orn. Club, iii. p. 121.) 



2. Spizella pinetorum. (Tab. XXVII. fig 3.) 



Spisella pinetorum, Salv. P. Z. S. 1863, p. 189 ' ; Ibis, 1866, p. 193 '; Ridgw. Ibis, 1884, p. 44'. 



S. sociali afflnis sed supra multo obscurior, capite summo saturate castaneo nee clare rufo distinguenda ; rostro 

 corneo, mandibula pallida, pedibus carneis. Long, tota 5'3, alse 2*7, caudae 2'4, rostri- a rictu 0'4, tarsi 

 0'65. (Descr. exempl. typ. ex Poctun, Guatemala. Mus. nostr.) 



Av. jun. capite summo sicut dorso striate. 



Hab. Guatemala, pine-ridges of Poctun (0. S.^ ^), Vera Paz (Hague). 



In our original description of this species we compared it with S. pusilla, but its 

 affinities, as Mr. Eidgway has since pointed out 3, are certainly with 8. socialis. A 

 single specimen only was obtained by Salvin during his expedition to Peten in 1863. 

 It was shot amongst tall grass growing in a savanna near the village of Poctun in the 

 department of Peten. Our second specimen of this species was sent us from Vera Paz 

 by Mr. Henry Hague. It is not so mature as the type, the head having streaks on the 

 crown, as is the case in immature birds of the allied species S. socialis. 



3. Spizella pallida. 



Emberiza pallida, Sw. Faun. Bor.-Am. ii. p. 251 '. 



Spizella pallida, Bp. Consp. Av. i. p. 480"; Baird, Mex. Bound. Surv. ii., Birds, p. 16'; Scl. 

 P.Z. S. 1859, p. 379*; Dresser, Ibis, 1865, p. 489'; Duges, La Nat. i. p. 140"; Baird, 

 Brew., & Ridgw. ii. p. 11 ' ; Sennett, Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. iv. p. 19 "; Coues, Key N. Am, 

 B. ed. 2, p. 381 \ 



j^ingilla pusio, Licht. Preis-Verz. Mex. Vog. p. 2; cf. J. f. O. 1863, p. 56'°. 



Supra pallide fusca, undique nigrioante striata, fascia vertioali pallida ; aUs et cauda nigricantibus pallide fusoo 

 limbatis, illis albido bifaaciatis ; capitis lateribus, cervice laterali et hypoohondriis fuscis, superciliis latis 

 sordide albis, corpore toto reliquo subtus albido ; rostro pallide corneo, pedibus carneis. Long, tota 5-2, 

 al8e2-4, caudse 2-5, rostri a rictu 0*43, tarsi 0-65. (Descr. feminse ex Puebla, Mexico, Jan. 1866. Mus. 

 nostr.) 



Eab. North America, British America, Central U.S., Texas ^ 7 8 9, — Mexico ^ {Deppe ^^), 

 Tamaulipas (Couch^); Guanajuato {Bugh^), Oaxaca {JBoucard^). 



