SONG-SPARROWS— SPARROWS— FINCHES— BUNTINGS. 



1S3 



PLATE CIV. 



Gould's, or Samuel's Song Sparrow. {Melospiza melodia, var. gouldii.) 



Fig. i. 



This variety is a resident of the coast region of California. Its 

 chief distinctive character is its small size. 



Heerman's, or California Song Sparrow. 



mani.) 



Fig. 2. 



{Melospiza mclodia, var. Iicer- 



This bird is the counterpart of the common Eastern Song Spar- 

 row. It has been found in California as far north as San Fran- 

 cisco, and to the south and southeast to San Diego, and the Mo- 

 han river. According to Dr. Cooper, it is found in every locality 

 where there are thickets of low bushes and tall weeds, especially in 

 the vicinity of water, and, whenever unmolested, it comes about 

 the gardens and houses with all the familiarity of the common 

 Song Sparrow. 



Laconte's Sparrow, or Bunting. {Cotumiculus leconteii) 



Fig. 3. 



This rare species was procured by Audubon in his expedition to 

 the Yellowstone. He speaks of its having very curious notes, 

 which he describes as of a sharp, querulous nature, and a general 

 habit o keeping only among the long, slender, green grasses that 

 here and there grew up in patches along the margins of the 

 creeks. So closely did it keep in the coverts to which it resorted, 

 that it was very difficult to force it to rise on the wing, when only 

 it could be procured. 



Kodiak Song Sparrow. {Melospiza melodia, var. insignis.) 



Fig. 4. 



This variety is met with from Kodiak and Oonatashka, and rep- 

 resents the extreme extent of the variations of Song Sparrows. 



Mexican Purple Finch. ( Carpodacus frontalis, var. hcemorrhousel) 



Fig. 5- 



This variety is a resident of the table lands of Mexico. Its 

 habits and characteristics are similar to the common House Finch 

 {Carpodacus frontalis), Plate CI, fig. 5, page 148. 



Dusky Redpoll Finch. {^Egiothus linaria, var. fuscesceus.) 



Fig. 6. 



This variety, it is thought, is based upon the midsummer plum- 

 age of the Redpoll Linnet. Plate XL VIII, fig. 9, page 69. 



Brewster's Linnet, or Finch. {Linota favirostris, var. berivsteri.*) 



Fig. 7. 



This bird was lately obtained by Mr. William Brewster, in Wal- 

 tham, Massachusetts. Nothing was observed by him regarding 

 its habits. 



Ochrous-headed Bunting; Baird's Bunting, or Sparrow. (Ccntrenyx 



ockrocep/ialus.) 



Fig. 8. 



This little species was, until lately, considered a very rare oird, 

 some thirty years having passed since Audubon's part}' to the Yel- 

 lowstone River — 1843 — obtained a single specimen. Dr. Coues, 

 who, in company with Mr. Aiken, took the second specimen, says : 



" Baird's Bunting is extremely abundant in Dakota, in some 

 places outnumbering all other birds together. I did not see it 

 immediately along the Red River, but at once encountered it be- 

 yond the low Pembina range of mountains, thirty or forty miles 

 west of the river, as soon as I came upon the high prairie. This 

 was the second week in July, when I shot some young birds just 

 fledged, though the great majority were then breeding. In two 

 days, July 14 and 15, I took thirty specimens, and more might 

 have been procured; during the summer about seventy-five were 

 preserved, showing all stages. Almost without exception my 

 earlier specimens were males, which attracted attention as they sat 

 singing on the low bushes of the prairie, the females lying con- 

 cealed in the grass, incubating or attending to the young. The 

 song is peculiar, consisting of two or three distinct syllables, in a 

 mellow, tinkling tone, running into an indefinite trill ; it may be 

 suggested by zijb-zip-zip-zr-r-r-r. In their general appearance 

 and habits, the birds are so nearly the same as the Savanna Spar- 

 rows that it was two or three days before I learned to distinguish 

 them at gunshot range. They do not go in flocks, yet there is a 

 sort of colonization among them, for we may ride a mile or two 

 over the prairie without seeing any, and then come upon numerous 

 pairs breeding together. I think it probable that a second brood 

 is usually reared each season, as I have shot equally young birds 

 six weeks apart. After the duties of incubation, the plumage is 

 renewed, it having become greatly worn and faded. When the 

 young are all on the wing, they associate together with their par- 

 ents, in loose straggling troops, mixing freely with the Chestnut- 

 collared Buntings and the Sky-larks. Their numbers sensibly 

 diminish in September, and they apparently move south during 

 the month, as I saw none after the 1st of October. In September, 

 in this latitude, there is a good deal of cold weather, and not un- 

 frequently a heavy snow-fall, sending the more delicate birds away 

 early. The birds feed upon various seeds, as usual, as well as 

 upon insects, even sizable grasshoppers, which in this region seem 

 to be eaten by almost every bird and animal." 



Mr. Henshaw, of Wheeler's expedition of 1873, also discovered 

 this species in Arizona, where he says he found them very nu- 

 merous. 



A nest discovered by Mr. Allen, on Big Muddy Creek, Dakota, 

 was built on the ground, and consisted of grasses and weed-bark, 

 circularly disposed, about four inches across outside. It contained 

 five fresh eggs, which measured 0.80 by 0.65, of a dull white 

 color, irregularly speckled with light reddish-brown. 



Sea Shore, San Diego, or Beaked Sparrow. {Passerculus rostratus.) 



Fig. 9. 



The habitat of this quiet and unsuspicious bird is confined to the 

 sea-coast of Southern California. Dr. Heerman first met with it, 

 in 1851, in the neighborhood of San Diego, in company with other 

 species. Whenever he met with this bird, he found it near low, 

 sandy beaches, and the heavy sedge-grass which abounds on the 

 shores, its food consisting of marine insects and seeds thrown 

 up by the tide, the sedge-grass affording them easy and immediate 

 concealment, when alarmed or pursued. Its note consists of a 

 short, sharp chirp. 



