EMBEENAGRA.— SPIZA. 415 



We have few notes of the habits of this species, but it doubtless inhabits the edges of 

 low-lying tropical forests, living on or near the ground. Mr. Nutting says it is abun- 

 dant near Los Sabalos in Nicaragua, where it frequents brush-heaps at the edge of the 

 forest ^1. 



b. Pileus medius castaneus. 

 7. Embernagra chlorura. 



Fringilla chlorura, Aud. Om. Biogr. v. p. 336 '. 



Pipilo chlorurus, Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. N. Am. B, il. p. 131 ^j Sennett, Bull. U. S. Geol. Surv. v. 



p. 394'; Coues, Key N. Am. B. ed. 2, p. 398*. 

 Embernagra chlorura, Lawr. Mem. Boat. Soe. N. H. ii. p. 277 °. 

 fipilo rufipileus, Lafr. Rev. Zool. 1848, p. 176°; Bp. Consp. Av. i. p. 487'. 

 Embernagra blandingiana, Cass. B. Cal. & Tex. p. 70, t. 13'; Duges, La Nat. i. p. 140 \ 



Supra sordide olivacea ; alis et cauda extus viridescentibus, campterio flavo, capite summo Isete castaneo ; fronte, 

 capitis lateribus, corpora toto subtus (prajter gulam. abdomea medium et crissum alba) cinereis, loris et 

 stria rictali albis ; rostro corneo, mandibula ad basin albieante (vestitu sestivali omnino nigro), pedibus 

 corj'linis. Long.tota 6-6, alae 31, caudae 3-2, rostri a rictu 0-55, tarsi 0-95. (Desor. exempl. ex Mexico. 

 Mus. nostr.) 



Hob. North America, South-western States ^ Texas ^. — Mexico « t, Guanajuato (Z>?<^^s % 

 Mazatlan [Qrayson^). 



According to Grayson, this species is a winter visitor to the neighbourhood of 

 Mazatlan, where it is numerous in some localities, occurring from December to April. 

 Its notes, he says, have a faint resemblance to those of the Towhee Finch {Pipilo 

 erythropMhalmus). It passes much of its time among the weeds in old fields and bushy 

 places, feeding upon various kinds of seeds, including those of the silk-cotton^. Its 

 range does not extend to the southern parts of Mexico, Guanajuato being the limit 

 recorded in this direction ^. 



In Arizona E. chlorura occurs as a spring and autumn migrant, remaining neither in 

 summer nor winter. Its summer resort, where it breeds, is the Eocky Mountains and 

 the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada. Here Mr. Eidgway describes it as a charac- 

 teristic species, and one of the most abundant of the Fringillidse. He considers its 

 powers of song of high merit. The nest (not described by Brewer) is placed from 

 18 inches to 2 feet from the ground, among the thick bushes of a species of Sympho- 

 ricarpus. The eggs are an exact oval, white, with a bluish tint, and profusely marked 

 with a cloud of fine dots of a pinkish drab ^. 



SPIZA. 



Spiza, Bonaparte, Journ. Ac. Phil. iv. p. 1834; Ridgw. Pr. U.S. Nat. Mus. iii. p. 3; Coues, Key 



N. Am. B. ed. 3, p. 387. 

 Euspiza, Bonaparte, Saggio di una Distr. Meth. An. Vert. p. 141 (Aggiunte 1833). 



It seems to be now generally agreed by ornithologists in the United States that the 



