Al,A.UDIDffl. BIllDS. ICTERLD^. 
cxlvii 
ABERT’S TOWHEE {P. aherti).-~-‘ This plainly- 
colored bird is among the largest of the North 
American species.” Habitat, at the base of the 
lioclvy Mountains in New Me.xico, valley of Gila and 
Colorado. 
BROWN TOWHEE (P. fuscus).—“ 'I’his species is 
much darker than P. aberti, and lacks the black on 
chin and sides of liead. The chin and throat are 
abruptly different from the breast ; the light patch 
margined with black spots.” It inhabits the coast 
region of California. 
CANON FINCH {P. mesoleucits) is similar in general 
appearance to the P. fnscns, and is found in the 
valley of the upper Rio Grande, and across to Gila 
River, east to Santa Caterina. New Leon. 
GREEN-TAILED BUNTING {P. cklorurns) is the 
Fringilla chlorura of 'I’ownsend. Habitat, valley of 
the Rio Grande and Gila, Rocky Mountains north to 
the South Pass, south to Mexico. 
FAMir,Y—AL AUDIOS. 
THE SKYLARK {Alauda arceTiszs)— Plate 13, fig. 
46. — This is the European species, which has been 
introduced into our country. It is recorded by 
authors as ‘‘accidental in Greenland and Bermuda, 
and in the Aleutian Islands.” 
THE SHORE LARK {EremopMla alpestrid). — This 
species is the same on both hemispheres, although our 
bird is regarded as a variety. It breeds in the Arctic 
regions. A variety, which is foniid to belong to 
.Middle America, is called E. chrysoleuca. 
Family — ICTERID/E. 
BOBOLINK ; REED-BIRD ; RICE-BIRD {Polichonyx 
oryzivorus) — Plato IV, fig. iii — is one of the most 
common of our summer visitors, reaching the north 
about the middle of May. 'J’o the rice-planters of 
the Southern States this bird is not particularly 
welcome, for the immense flocks which at times come 
upon the rice fields make incalculable mischief and 
loss for them. By the term Bobolink this bird is 
better known in the Northern States. Audubon 
says of it: “In IjOuisiana they arrive there, in 
small flocks of males and females, about the middle 
of March or beginning of April. Their song in 
spring is extremely interesting, and, emitted with a 
volubility bordering on the burlesque, is heard from 
a whole party at the same time; and it becomes 
amusing to hear thirty or forty of them beginning 
one after another, as if ordered to follow in quick 
succession, after the first notes are given by a leader, 
and producing such a medley as it is impossible to 
describe, although it is extremely pleasant to hear. 
While you are listening, the whole' flock simultane- 
ously ceases, which appears equally extraordinary. 
This curious exhibition takes place every time the 
flock has alighted on a tice.” 
Wilson says of him : “The song of the male, while 
the female is sitting, is singular and very agreeable. 
Mounting and hovering on wing, at a small height 
over the field, he chants out such a jingling medley 
of short, variable notes, uttered with such seeming 
confusion and rapidity, and continued for a consider- 
able time, that it appears as if half a dozen birds of 
different kinds were all singing together. Some idea 
may be formed of tliis song by striking the high 
keys of a pianoforte at random, singly and quickly, 
making as many sudden contrasts of high and low 
notes as possible. Many of the tones are, in them- 
selves, charming, but they succeed each other so 
rapidly that the ear can hardly separate them.” 
COW-BIRD ; COW BLACKBIRD {Molothrm pecoi-is) 
— Plate VI, fig. ix. — As a summer visitor this bird 
is very common in the Northern States. It derives 
its trivial name from the fact that it seems fond of 
the society of cattle. 'I'hey congregate in great 
numbers in the pastures where the cattle feed, prob- 
ably for seeds, worms, etc., found in the excrement. 
A most unaccountable habit of this bird is that of 
laying its eggs in the nests of other and smaller 
birds. Frequently tlie eggs are hatched and the 
young cared for by the foster mother until they are 
able to leave the nest. Occasionally a nest is found 
where the unwelcome egg of the Cow-bird (which, 
in some instances, half fills that of the little Warbler) 
is excluded or covered by the material of a new nest 
built over and within the old one. The Yellow- 
throat and Red-eyed Fly-catcher are victims of this 
annoyance from the Cow-bird. When the egg of 
the latter is deposited before the rightful tenant has 
commenced laying, the nest is generally deserted. 
It is believed that this bird does not build a nest, • 
but relies entirely on the good offices of other species. 
“From twelve to fourteen days is the usual time of 
incubation with our small birds ; but, although I can- 
not exactly fix the precise period requisite for the egg 
of the Cow Bunting, I think I can say almost positively 
that it is a da,y or two less than the shortest of the- 
above-mentioned species. In this singular circum- 
stance, we see a striking jjrovision ; for did this egg 
require a day or two more, instead of so much less 
than those among which it has been dropped, the 
young it contained would in every instance most 
inevitably perish, and thus, in a few years, the whole 
species must become extinct. On the first appear- 
ance of the young Cow Bunting, the parent being 
frequently obliged to leave the nest to provide 
sustenance for the foundling, the business of in- 
cubation is tlius necessarily interrupted ; the dis- 
position to continue it abates. Nature has now 
given a new direction to the zeal of the parent; and 
the remaining eggs, within a week or two at most, 
generally disappear. In some instances, indeed, they 
have been found on the ground near or below the 
nest, but this is rarely the case. I have never known 
more than one egg of the Cow Bunting in the same 
nest. The egg is somewhat larger than that of the 
Blue-bird, thickly sprinkled with grains of pale brown 
on a dirty white-brown. It is of a size proportion- 
able to that of the bird.” — Wilson. 'I'he Cow-bird 
is at all times gregarious and polygamous, never 
making and never exhibiting any signs of either con- 
jugal or parental aft'ection. It is distributed pretty 
generally throughout the United States, from the 
