268 Dr. E. Coues.— From Arizona to the Pacific. 
paired. But, then, it was not so astonishing after all; for in 
the garden of Southern California, even in November, I plucked 
ripe oranges and lemons from the trees, and ate figs and olives 
and luscious grapes grown in the open air, while the atmosphere 
was balmy as a May morning at home. 
To my surprise and gratification, I was here enabled to study 
no less than three species of the difficult group of Passerculi, all 
of which I found very abundant. P. rostratus kept among the 
thick weeds of the dry plain, being much on the ground, where 
it runs as easily as a Pipilo, and often flying up into the bushes 
and resting quietly so that it could be readily shot. It associates 
freely with both the other species; and I have seen great num¬ 
bers sunning themselves and catching flies on the piles of lumber 
that lay on the wharf, when they were so tame that I could have 
struck them with an ordinary cane. P. anthinus seemed confined 
to the moist salt grass and sedgy weeds of the seashore itself. 
When with difficulty it was flushed, its flight was very rapid and 
irregular; and it would alight again almost immediately, and 
run with great celerity among the roots of the thick grasses. 
It was thus exceedingly difficult to procure. P. alaudinus was 
common two or three miles away from the coast, but on the 
seashore itself I never found one mixing with P. anthinus ; 
it is a brush- and weed- rather than a grass-species. I found 
it associating with Anthus ludovicianus and Zonotrichia coronata. 
Regarding the specific relations of these Passerculi, I may 
state that P. rostratus differs so widely as to almost merit 
generic distinction. Of the two others, P. anthinus seems 
tolerably distinct, in its much darker colours, bright yellow 
about the head, and very numerous, distinct, dark-coloured 
spots over nearly the whole lower parts, together with a some¬ 
what differently shaped bill. P. alaudinus is much greyer and 
lighter-coloured generally, with a grey rather than yellow 
superciliary streak, and few sparsely distributed light-grey 
spots beneath. These points, taken into consideration with the 
differences of habit above noted, and the fact that, though thus 
found in the same localities, they constantly preserve their 
peculiarities, are perhaps sufficient to establish specific diversity. 
I must candidly confess, however, that I cannot satisfactorily 
