ZOOLOGY—BIRDS. 
51 
houses. At other times it chooses for the purposes of nidification the cactus plants, a deserted 
woodpecker’s hole, or the branch of a small tree. According to the locality chosen, the nest 
i s composed of different substances, but is generally made externally of coarse grass or weeds, 
and lined with hair or fine roots. The eggs, from four to six in number, are pale blue, marked 
with spots and lines of black. 
COCCOBORUS CAERULEUS, Linn.—Blue Grosbeak. 
Coccoborus caeruleus, DeKay’s N. H. of N. Y. part I, p. 145, pi, 64, fig. 146.— Aud. B. of A. Oct. vol. Ill, p. 204, pi. 204. 
Fringilla caerulea, Aud. Fol. pi. 122.-— Nutt. Orn. vol. I, p. 529. 
This bird is quite abundant in Lower California, whither it migrates from the north in the 
fall season. Specimens of both old and young were procured there late in the summer. 
COCCOBORUS MEL AKOCEPHALUS, S w a i n s o n .—Black-headed Grosbeak. 
Coccoborus melanocephalus, Aud. B. of A. Oct. vol. Ill, p. 214, pi. 206. 
Fringilla maculala, Aud. B. of A. Fol. pi. 373, figs. 2, 3 & 4. 
Fringilla melanocephala, Aud. Orn Biog. vol. IV, p. 519. 
Abundant and migratory. During spring we saw these birds in Sacramento valley and in 
the mountainous districts, feeding on the buds of young plants, and in September we saw numbers 
of the young plumaged birds in Tejon valley. Its song, clear and musical, resembles very 
much that of our robin, (Turdus migratorius .) The nest, formed with little care, of twigs very 
loosely thrown together and lined with roots, is placed on the branches of a bush. The eggs, 
four in number, are greenish blue, marked with irregular spots of umber brown varying in 
intensity of shade. 
PIPILO MEGALONYX, Baird. 
Pipilo megalonyx, Baird, Gen. Rep. IX, 515. 
Very abundant in the valleys and mountains of California, where, retiring to the close sheltered 
thickets, it passes its time in pursuit of insects. When disturbed in its avocations it utters a 
note of alarm, and flying low passes from bush to bush, concealing itself with great facility. 
The nest, made on the ground, is composed externally of oak leaves and coarse weed stalks, the 
lining being of fine grasses and roots. The eggs, numbering from four to five, are of a faint 
greenish white, minutely dotted with reddish brown spots. 
PIPILO FUSCA, Swains .—Canon Finch. 
Pipilo fusca, Swains. Philos. Mag. 1827, p. 434.— Cassin, B. of Cal. & Tex. p. 124, pi. 17. 
Abundant and a resident of the country, as it is found at all seasons of the year. It prefers 
the heavy growth of trees and shrubbery, on the borders of streams, building its nest in a bush 
or grape vine at some height from the earth, differing in this latter respect from the other 
American species with whose nidification we are acquainted and which always place their nests 
on the ground. The nest is of coarse twigs and grass and lined with fine roots. The eggs are 
four and of a pale blue, dashed with black spots and a few neutral tint blotches, forming a crown 
at the larger end. These eggs differ entirely from those of the other known species of the same 
genus, while they so resemble those of the different species of blackbirds as to be confounded 
with them, unless marked when taken from the nest. 
