88 
TilONIP ATA ZENA. 
upper parts, olivaceous-green, with the inner web of tail and wings, brown. Under portions, including under 
wing coverts, black; with the abdomen and flank tinged with olivaceous and sprinkled with white.- Under tail 
coverts, olivaceous, with each feather edged with white. 
Young male, lacks the black of the top of the head, and the same color beneath is not as extended. 
Female. Olivaceous above, paler beneath, becoming grayish on the abdomen and flanks. Irides, bill and feet 
brown in all stages. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
This little Finch, of which we procured a single female specimen in Florida, may be distinguished from all other 
North American species by its small size, combined with the peculiar form and color, as described above. It is an 
inhabitant of the West Indies and adjacent islands. This is the only instance on record of its being captured within 
the limits of the United States. 
MEASUREMENTS. 
Dimensions of the single specimen taken at Miami. Length, 4-20; stretch, 6-50; wing, 2-06; tail, 1-75; bill, -35; 
tarsus, -55. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
The following description was kindly sent to me by Mr. Ridgway:— 
“West, collected in Spanishtown, Jamaica, May 4,1862 by W. T. March. Shoe-shaped. Length, 5 inches; height, 
3 inches; entrance, 2 inches in diameter. 
Eggs, four in number, -70x -50; ground dull white; ftiintly sprinkled — more dense in a ring round larger end — 
with small brown dots. Resemble very nearly eggs of Spizellapusilla.” 
HABITS. 
Although there are now hut a few houses at Miami or vicinity, yet this section has been 
settled many years. The inhabitants who formerly occupied this spot have left many evidences 
of their presence in the shape of ruinous walls, old wells, etc. Tradition points to this place 
as being the haunt of pirates, and we were informed upon reliable authority that one of 
those infamous men lived here until quite recently. Indeed, there are individuals now living 
who have seen him. He was a Spaniard named Yusippie, and was the leader of a band of 
blood-stained villains who lived upon the banks of the Miami, while the river formed a fine 
harbor in which to moor their vessels, that they might not be seen from the open ocean. 
Among the traces which these Spaniards have left behind them are evidences of cultivation 
of the soil. The ground has been cleared for some distance back of the old fort, but is now 
mainly grown up to bushes and trees; there are, however, frequent glades in the .midst of these 
thickets which are entirely void of shrub.s, being only covered with grass and low herbage. 
These spaces vary from a few yards to several rods in diameter, and are closely surrounded 
by foliage. The trees and bushes are so thickly covered with vines and creeping plants that 
their forms are entirely concealed and they resemble rolling clouds of living green rising in 
huge billows one above the other. This deciduous mass is thickly starred with the large, white 
flowers of the Ipomoea Bona-Nox and the purple blossoms of the wild convolvulus, while the 
orange and yellow Lantana Camara fills the air with a peculiar fragrance. As can readily be 
imagined these dense thickets were filled with birds, and therefore we frequently visited the 
lovely spots for the purpose of taking the various kinds found there. 
Mr. Ilenshaw was collecting here with me on the 19th of January, 1871, when his quick 
eye detected a small bird among the thick bushes, and he instantly shot it. After making his 
way into the thicket and searching for a time he returned, bearing his prize, but with a puzzled 
expression on his countenance, that instantly communicated itself to mine when I saw the little 
gray bird which he held in his hand, for it was a species which I had never beheld. It proved 
to be the Black-headed Finch, the first and, up to this date, the only specimen ever taken in 
the United States. As Mr. Henshaw brushed through the lantanas to secure the bird, the 
spicy odor of the crushed leaves filled the air and floated around us as we were examining the 
specimen ; therefore the Phonipara Zena is ever associated in my mind with the shrub upon 
which it is figured, and thanks to the care of my artist and engraver, both the bird and plant 
are placed before the reader in a highly creditable manner. 
