BLACK-THROATED BUNTING. 345 
single males first appear, but usually the fields which were comparatively 
silent the day before, are filled with the monotonous notes of many birds. 
The females arrive a few days later, when pairing and breeding immedi- 
ately begins. Two or three males pursue a female about the fields, as is 
the habit of the Bobolinks, singing as they fly. The female sometimes 
tires of this rapid courtship, and seeks refuge and rest in woodland. 
From the time of their arrival till the young are well fledged, the male, 
perched on the top of a stump, tall weed, or fence stake, sings his chip, 
chip, che, che, che, che, which Dr. Coues interprets as “ Look! look! see me 
here! see,” with wearisome monotony. Only occasionally some more 
talented vocalist conceives the happy idea of a variation, and renders it 
che, che, che, chip, chip. ‘This is their only song, but sometimes when flying 
they utter a coarse guttural croak. 
The nest is usually placed on the ground, but sometimes attached to 
the stems of tall weeds, or more rarely in trees and bushes. When placed 
on the ground it is composed for the most part of dead stalks of clover, 
and is so inartistic and fragile that it can with difficulty be taken up en- 
tire. When placed above the ground, it is comparatively neat and com- 
pact, and built of vegetable fibres. The eggs are generally four, light- 
blue, unspotted, and almost exactly like those of the Bluebird. They 
measure .90 by .70. 
After the breeding season they are silent, and in August prepare to leave 
for the South. As in spring, their migrations are performed by night. 
Their coarse note is often heard as they fly overhead. LHarly in foggy 
September mornings these notes are frequently heard, and the birds seen 
as they descend to feed and rest in the thickets of young willows and 
wild cucumbers that cover the gravelly islands and low banks of our 
rivers. From the fact that I have never taken September birds with 
black on the throat, I am inclined to believe that in their winter plum- 
age 1t is wanting. (?) 
In their habits they seem to form a connecting link, if any were 
needed, between the families of Fringillidx and Icteridx, and their resem- 
blance to the latter family is further seen in their smooth, short, and 
dense plumage. 
eo 
Genus GONIAPHEA. Bowditch. 
Bill very large, nearly as high as long; the commissure conspicuously angulated just 
below the nostril. Lower jaw extending much behind the forehead. Rictus with a few 
long stiff bristles. A prominent knob in the roof of the mouth. Wings long, longer 
than the even tail, reaching to its middle. Tarsus shorter than middle toe. Outer lat- 
eral toe a little longer than inner. 
