68 



PAINTED BUNTING. 

 EMBERIZA CIRIS. 

 [Plate XXIV.— Fig. 1, Male,— Fig. 2, Female.'] 



Linn. Syst. 313. — Painted Finch^ Catesey, I, 44. — Edw. 130. 173. — Arct. ZooL p. 362, 

 No, 226. — Le Verdier de la Louisiane, dit vulgairement le Pape^ Brisson, III, 200. App. 

 74. — BuFFON, IV, 76. PL Enl. 159. — Lath. II, 206. — Linaria ctris, the Painted P'inch^ 

 or Nonpareil^ Bartram,/?. 291. Peale's Museum, No. 6062, and 6063. 



THIS is one of the most numerous of the little summer birds 

 of Lower Louisiana, where it is universally known among the 

 French inhabitants, and called by them " Le Pape^"" and by the 

 Americans the Nonpareil. Its gay dress and docility of manners 

 have procured it many admirers; for these qualities are strongly 

 attractive, and carry their own recommendations always along with 

 them. The low countries of the southern states, in the vicinity of 

 the sea, and along the borders of our large rivers, particularly 

 among the rice plantations, are the favorite haunts of this elegant 

 little bird. A few are seen in North Carolina; in South Carolina 

 they are more numerous; and still more so in the lower parts of 

 Georgia. To the westward I first met them at Natchez, on the 

 Mississippi, where they seemed rather scarce. Below Baton Rouge, 

 along the Levee, or embankment of the river, they appeared in 

 greater numbers ; and continued to become more common as I ap- 

 proached New Orleans, where they were warbling from almost 

 every fence, and crossing the road before me every few minutes. 

 Their notes very much resemble those of the Indigo Bird (Plate VI, 

 fig. 6.); but want the strength and energy of the latter, being more 

 feeble and more concise. 



I found these birds very commonly domesticated in the houses 

 of the French inhabitants of New Orleans; appearing to be the 



