They feed their young chiefly with insects, especially small caterpillars; the destructive canker-worm is one of their favorite articles of food, also the larvæ of insects and the smaller moths. When crumbs of bread are given them, they are eagerly gathered and taken to their nests.
In the Middle States they are said to have three broods in a season. This may also be so in New England, but I have never known one pair to have more than two broods in the same summer, even when both had been successfully reared. Nests found after July have always been in cases where some accident had befallen the preceding brood.
The nest of the Song Sparrow, whether built on ground, bush, or tree, is always well and thoroughly made. Externally and at the base it consists of stout stems of grasses, fibrous twigs of plants, and small sticks and rootlets. These are strongly wrought together. Within is made a neat, well-woven basket of fine long stems of grasses, rarely anything else. On the ground they are usually concealed beneath a tuft of grass; sometimes they make a covered passage-way of several inches, leading to their nest. When built in a tree or shrub, the top is often sheltered by the branches or by dry leaves, forming a covering to the structure.
The eggs of the Song Sparrow are five in number, and have an average measurement of .82 by .60 of an inch. They have a ground of a clay-color or dirty white, and are spotted equally over the entire egg with blotches of a rusty-brown, intermingled with lighter shades of purple. In some these markings are so numerous and confluent as to entirely conceal the ground-color; in others they are irregularly diffused over different parts, leaving patches unmarked. Occasionally the eggs are unspotted, and are then not unlike those of Leucosticte griseinucha.
Melospiza melodia, var. fallax, Baird
WESTERN SONG SPARROW
Zonotrichia fallax, Baird, Pr. A. N. Sc. Ph. VII, June, 1854, 119 (Pueblo Creek, New Mexico). ? Zonotrichia fasciata, (Gm.) Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. Ph. 2d Series, I, 1847, 49. Melospiza fallax, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 481, pl. xxvii, f. 2.—Kennerly, P. R. R. X, b. pl. xxvii, f. 2.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 215.
Sp. Char. Similar to var. melodia, but with the bill on the whole rather smaller, more slender, and darker. Legs quite dusky, not yellow. Entire plumage of a more grayish cast, including the whole superciliary stripe. The streaks on throat and jugulum in spring are almost black, as in melodia; in autumn more rufous; in all cases quite as sharply defined as in melodia. The bill is nearly black in spring.
Hab. Middle Province of United States, to the Sierra Nevada.
This race, intermediate between melodia and heermanni in habitat, is, however, hardly so in characters. The bill is more slender than in either, being much like that of guttata, and the tail is longer in proportion to the wing. In colors it is paler than either, the ground-cast above being nearly clear grayish: the streaks, both on the back and jugulum, are more sparse, as well as narrower; very frequently, in the winter plumage, those beneath lack the central black, being wholly rufous; such is the case with the type. In summer, however, they are frequently entirely black, the external rufous having entirely disappeared. As in heermanni, the rump is immaculate. The young bird differs as does the adult, though the resemblance to those of melodia and heermanni is more close than in the adult. The very narrow bill and long tail are the most characteristic features of form.
Habits. In habits and song, Dr. Cooper can find no appreciable differences between this variety and its nearest allies. He states that its nest, which he found in a willow thicket, was composed of bark and fine twigs and grass, and lined with hair. Its eggs he describes as bluish-white, blotched and streaked with reddish-brown, and as measuring .74 by .55 of an inch.
Dr. Coues found this species a common and permanent resident in Arizona, and he pronounces its habits, manners, and voice precisely like those of M. melodia. This species, he states, occurs throughout New Mexico, Arizona, and a part of Southern California, and is particularly abundant in the valley of the Colorado.
Dr. Kennerly observed this species only along Pueblo Creek, in the month of January. It did not confine itself to the open valley, but was often seen among the thick bushes that margined the creek, far up into the Aztec Mountains, where the snow covered the ground. In its habits it resembled the Poospiza belli, being very restless and rapid in its motions, accompanying them with a short chirp, feeding upon the seeds of the weeds that remained uncovered by the snow. Its flight was also rapid and near the earth. The bird being very shy, Dr. Kennerly found it difficult to procure many specimens.
According to Mr. Ridgway, the Western Song Sparrow is one of the most abundant of the resident species inhabiting the fertile portions of the Great Basin. It principally occupies the willows along the streams, but is also found in tulé sloughs of the river valleys. From a long acquaintance with the Western Song Sparrows, Mr. Ridgway is fully convinced of the propriety of recognizing this as a distinct variety from the eastern M. melodia. In all respects, as to habits, especially in its familiarity, it replaces at the West the well-known Song Sparrow of the East. When first heard, the peculiar measure and delivery of its song at once attracts attention. The precision of style and method of utterance are quite distinct and constant peculiarities. The song, though as pleasing, is not so loud as that of the eastern Song Sparrow, while the measure is very different. He noted the syllables of its song, and found them quite uniform. He expresses the song thus: Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha—wit´—tur´-r-r-r-r-r—tut. The first six syllables as to accent are exactly alike, but with a considerable interval or pause between the first and second notes. The second to the fifth follow in rapid succession, each being uttered with deliberation and distinctness. Then comes a pause between the last “cha” and the “wit,” which is pronounced in a fine metallic tone with a rising inflection, then another pause, and a liquid trill with a falling inflection, the whole terminating abruptly with a very peculiar “tut,” in an entirely different key from the other notes.
The nests and eggs were found in the Wahsatch Mountains, June 23. The nests were generally among bushes, in willow thickets, along the streams, about a foot from the ground. One of these nests found in a clump of willows, about two feet from the ground and near a stream, is a compact, firmly built nest, in the shape of an inverted dome. It is two and a half inches in height, and about the same in diameter. Externally it is composed of a coarse framework of strips of willow bark firmly bound around. Within is a compactly woven inner nest, composed of straws, mingled and interwoven with horse-hairs. The cavity has a depth and diameter of two inches. The eggs, four in number, measure .85 by .63 of an inch. Their form is a rounded oval, distinctly pointed at one end. They have a greenish-white ground, marked and blotched with splashes of purplish and reddish brown.
Melospiza melodia, var. heermanni, Baird
HEERMANN’S SONG SPARROW
Melospiza heermanni, Baird, Birds N. Am., 1858, 478, pl. 70, f. 1.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 212.
Sp. Char. Somewhat like melodia, but darker. The streaks on the back and under parts blacker, broader, more distinct, and scarcely margined with reddish, except in winter plumage. The median stripe on vertex indistinct. General shade of coloration olivaceous-gray rather than rusty. Length, 6.40; wing, 2.56; tail, 3. Bill and legs in size and color most like melodia.
Hab. Southern California; eastern slope of Sierra Nevada (Carson City), and West Humboldt Mountains, Nev.; Ridgway.
Of the various races of M. melodia, this one approaches nearest the typical style of the Atlantic region; agreeing with it in thicker bill and shorter tail, as compared with the var. fallax, which occurs between them. It differs from the var. melodia, however, in a more grayish cast to the ground-color of the upper plumage, being olivaceous-gray, rather than reddish; the black dorsal streaks are very much broader than the rusty ones, instead of about equal to them in width, and the edges to the interscapular feathers are not appreciably paler than the prevailing shade, instead of being hoary whitish, in strong contrast. In spring the “bridle” on the side of the throat and the spots on the jugulum have the black of their central portion in excess of their external rufous suffusion; but in autumn the rusty rather predominates; at this season, too, the rusty tints above overspread the whole surface, but the black streaks are left sharply defined. At all seasons, the spots on the jugulum are broader and rather more numerous than in melodia. The young can scarcely be distinguished from those of melodia, but they have the dark streaks on the crown and upper tail-coverts considerably broader.
Habits. The California Song Sparrow has been named in honor of the late Dr. Heermann, who first obtained specimens of this bird in the Tejon Valley, and mistook them for the Zonotrichia guttata of Gambel (M. rufina), from which they were appreciably different. Whether a distinct species or only a local race, this bird takes the place and is the almost precise counterpart, in most essential respects, of the Song Sparrow of the East. The exact limits of its distribution, both in the migratory season and in that of reproduction, have hardly yet been ascertained. It has been found in California as far north as San Francisco, and to the south and southeast to San Diego and the Mohave River.
The California Song Sparrow is the characteristic Melospiza in all that portion of the State south of San Francisco. It is found, Dr. Cooper states, in every locality where there are thickets of low bushes and tall weeds, especially in the vicinity of water, and wherever unmolested it comes about the gardens and houses with all the familiarity of the common melodia. The ground, under the shade of plants or bushes, is their usual place of resort. There they diligently search for their food throughout the day, and rarely fly more than a few yards from the place, and remain about their chosen locality from one year’s end to another, being everywhere a resident species. In the spring they are said to perch occasionally on some low bush or tree, and sing a lively and pleasant melody for an hour at a time. Each song, Dr. Cooper remarks, is a complete little stanza of a dozen notes, and is frequently varied or changed entirely for another of similar style, but quite distinct. Although no two birds of this species sing just alike, there is never any difficulty in distinguishing their songs when once heard. There is, he thinks, a similarity of tone and style in the songs of all the species of true Melospiza, which has led other observers to consider them as of only one species, when taken in connection with their other similarities in colors and habits.
Dr. Cooper found a nest, presumed to belong to this bird, at Santa Cruz, in June. It was built in a dense blackberry-bush, about three feet from the ground, constructed with a thick periphery and base of dry grasses and thin strips of bark, and lined with finer grasses. The eggs were of a smoky white, densely speckled with a dull brown. Although this bird was abundant around Santa Cruz, he was only able, after much searching, to find two of their nests. One was in a willow, close against the tree, and three feet from the ground, containing, on the 11th of May, four eggs partially hatched. This was built of coarse dry stems and leaves, lined with finer grasses and horse-hair. It was five inches in external diameter, and four high. The cavity was two and a half inches deep and two in diameter. These eggs had a ground of greenish-white, and were blotched and spotted with a purplish-brown, chiefly at the larger end. They were .82 by .62 of an inch in measurement. The ground-color was paler and the spots were darker than in eggs of Z. gambeli, the whole coloring much darker than in those of M. fallax. This nest was apparently an old one used for a second brood.
Another nest found as late as July 10, and doubtless a second brood, was in a thicket, six feet from the ground, and also contained four eggs. Dr. Cooper states that he has seen the newly fledged young by the 7th of May.
Dr. Heermann, in his account of this bird, which he supposed to be the guttata of Dr. Gambel, states that he found it abundant throughout the whole country over which he passed, and more especially so in the bushes bordering the streams, ponds, and marshes. Its notes, sweet, and few in number, resembled those of the common Song Sparrow. Its nests, usually built in thick tufts of bushes, were composed externally of grasses and lined with hair, and contained each four eggs, with a pale bluish-ash ground, thickly covered with dashes of burnt umber. Eggs of this species, from near Monterey, collected by Dr. Canfield, vary in measurement from .85 by .65 of an inch to .88 by .70,—larger than any eggs of Melospiza melodia that I have seen. Their ground-color is a light green. The blotches are large, distinct, and more or less confluent, and of a blended reddish and purplish brown. They are in some diffused over the entire egg, in others disposed around the larger end.
Melospiza melodia, var. samuelis, Baird
SAMUELS’S SONG SPARROW
Ammodromus samuelis, Baird, Pr. Boston Soc. N. H. VI, June, 1858, 381.—Ib. Birds N. Am. 1858, 455, pl. lxxi, f. 1.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 191. Melospiza gouldi, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 479.
Sp. Char. Somewhat like Melospiza melodia, but considerably smaller and darker. Bill slender and acute, the depth not more than half the culmen. Above streaked on the head, back, and rump with dark brown, the borders of the feathers paler, but without any rufous. Beneath pure white; the breast, with sides of throat and body, spotted and streaked with black, apparently farther back than on other species. Wings above nearly uniform dark brownish-rufous. Under tail-coverts yellowish-brown, conspicuously blotched with blackish. An ashy superciliary stripe, becoming nearly white to the bill, and a whitish maxillary one below which is a broad blackish stripe along the sides of neck; the crown with faint grayish median line. Length, 5 inches; wing, 2.20; tail, 2.35. Bill dusky; legs rather pale. Bill, .35 from nostril by .24 deep; tarsus, .71; middle toe without claw, .58. (5,553 ♂, Petaluma, Cal.)
Hab. Coast region of California, near San Francisco.
The above description is of a specimen in worn summer plumage, when the markings have not the sharp definition seen in the autumnal plumage. The autumnal plumage is as follows: Ground-color above grayish-olive, outer surface of wings, with the crown, more rufous; crown with narrow, and dorsal region with broad, stripes of black, the latter with scarcely a perceptible rufous suffusion; crown with a distinct median stripe of ashy. Streaks on jugulum, etc., broader than in the type, and with a slight rufous suffusion. Wing, 2.20; tail, 2.35; bill from nostril .31, its depth .22; tarsus .74; middle toe without claw, .60.
The type of Melospiza gouldi resembles the last, and differs only in having a more distinct rufous suffusion to the black markings; the measurements are as follows: Wing, 2.20; tail, 2.35; bill, .33 by .23; tarsus, .73; middle toe without claw, .59.
This is probably a dwarfed race of the common species, the very small size being its chief distinctive character. The colors are most nearly like those of heermanni, but are considerably darker, caused by an expansion of the black and contraction of the rufous markings. The pattern of coloration is precisely the same as in the other races. The present bird appears to be peculiar to the coast region of California, the only specimens in the collection being from the neighborhood of San Francisco.
Habits. Of the history, distribution, and general habits of this species, nothing is known. It was found at Petaluma, Cal., by Emanuel Samuels, and described in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History in 1858. The following description of the nest and eggs of this bird, in the Smithsonian collection, has been kindly furnished me by Mr. Ridgway.
Nests elaborate and symmetrical, cup-shaped, composed of thin grass-stems, but externally chiefly of grass-blades and strips of thin inner bark. Diameter about 3.50 inches; internal diameter 2.00, and internal depth 1.50; external, 2.00. Egg measures .78 by .62; regularly ovate in shape; ground-color, greenish-white; this is thickly sprinkled with purplish and livid ashy-brown, the specks larger, and somewhat coalescent, around the larger circumference. (3553, San Francisco, Cal., J. Hepburn.)
Melospiza melodia, var. guttata, Baird
OREGON SONG SPARROW
Fringilla cinerea, (Gm.) Aud. Orn. Biog. V, 1839, 22, pl. cccxc.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 119.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 145, pl. clxxxvii. Passerella cinerea, Bp. List, 1839.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 477. Fringilla (Passerella) guttata, Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 581. Zonotrichia guttata, Gambel, J. A. N. Sc. I, Dec. 1847, 50. Melospiza rufina, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 480.—Cooper & Suckley, 204.—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1859, 285.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 214.
Sp. Char. Bill slender. Similar in general appearance to M. melodia, but darker and much more rufous, and without any blackish-brown streaks, or grayish edges of the feathers; generally the colors more blended. General appearance above light rufous-brown, the interscapular region streaked very obsoletely with dark brownish-rufous, the feathers of the crown similar, with still darker obsolete central streaks. A superciliary and very indistinct median crown-stripe ashy. Under parts dull white, the breast and sides of throat and body broadly streaked with dark brownish-rufous; darker in the centre. A light maxillary stripe. Sides of the body and anal region tinged strongly with the colors of the rump. Under coverts brown. Length, 6.75; wing, 2.70; tail, 3.00. Legs rather darker than in melodia. Bill from nostril, .37; from forehead, .60.
Hab. Pacific coast of the United States to British Columbia.
A young bird from Napa Valley, Cal. (12,912, Colonel A. J. Grayson), probably referrible to this race, differs from the corresponding stage of heermanni, fallax, and melodia in the following respects: the ground-color above is much darker, being dull dingy-brown, and the dusky streaks broader; the white beneath has a strong yellowish tinge, and the pectoral streaks are very broad.
Habits. Dr. Cooper characterizes this species as the most northern and mountain-frequenting representative of the Song Sparrows, being a resident of the higher Sierra Nevada and on the borders of the evergreen forests towards the Columbia, and thence northward, where it is the only species of this genus, and where it is common down to the level of the sea. Specimens have been obtained at Marysville in the spring, by Mr. Gruber.
Dr. Cooper says that he has also met with this bird, and found it possessing habits and songs entirely similar to those of the eastern M. melodia, and resembling also those of the more southern M. heermanni. He was never able to meet with one of their nests, as, like other forest birds, they are more artful in concealing their treasures than birds that have become accustomed to the society and protection of man, and who, no longer wild, select gardens as the safest places in which to build. In the mild winters usual about the mouth of the Columbia, these birds do not evince any disposition to emigrate, but come familiarly around the houses for their food, when the snow has buried their usual supply.
Dr. Suckley remarks that this Finch is quite a common bird in the vicinity of Puget Sound, and that it is there resident throughout the year. He has found them in very different situations; some in thickets at the edges of prairies, others in stranded drift-logs on open salt marshes, as well as in swamps, and in the dense forests of the Douglass firs, peculiar to the northwest coast. Its voice, he adds, is, during the breeding-season, singularly sweet and melodious, surpassing that of the Meadow Lark in melody and tone, but unequal to it in force.
This species is stated to be a constant resident in the district wherein it is found, never ranging far from the thicket which contains its nest, or the house in the neighborhood of which it finds food and protection. Almost every winter morning, as well as during the summer, as Dr. Cooper states, its cheerful song may be heard from the garden or the fence, as if to repay those whose presence has protected it from its rapacious enemies. When unmolested, it becomes very familiar, and the old birds bring their young to the door to feed, as soon as they can leave their nest. Their song is said to so closely resemble that of the eastern bird, in melody and variety, that it is impossible either to tell which is the superior or to point out the differences. In wild districts it is always to be found near the sides of brooks, in thickets, from which it jealously drives off other birds, whether of its own or other species, as if it considered itself the proprietor. Its nest is built on the ground or in a low bush. Dr. Cooper has seen newly fledged young as early as May 6, at Olympia, though the rainy season was then hardly over.
Mr. Nuttall pronounces its song as sweeter and more varied in tone than that of the Song Sparrow. He heard their cheerful notes throughout the summer, and every fine day in winter until the month of November, particularly in the morning, their song was still continued. Their nests and eggs were not distinguishable from those of F. melodia. The nests were composed of dry grasses, lined with finer materials of the same, and occasionally with deer’s hair. He states that they keep much in low ground and alluvial situations, amidst rank weeds, willows, and brambles, where they are frequently to be seen hopping about and searching after insects, in the manner of the Swamp Sparrow, which they so much resemble in their plumage. They are usually very solicitous for the safety of their young or for their nests and eggs, keeping up an incessant chirp. They raise several broods in a season, and are, like the Song Sparrow, also engaged nearly the whole of the summer in the cares of rearing their young.
Mr. Townsend met with this species through several hundred miles of the Platte country in great numbers, as well as on the banks of the Columbia, generally frequenting the low bushes of wormwood (Artemisia). It appeared also to be a very pugnacious species. Two of the males were often observed fighting in the air, the beaten party going off crestfallen, and the conqueror repairing to the nearest bush to celebrate his triumph by his lively and triumphant strains. He again met with these birds, though not in abundance, in June, 1825, at the mouth of the Lewis River, on the waters of the Columbia.
This Sparrow was also found very numerous at Sitka, by Mr. Bischoff, but no mention is made of its habits.
Melospiza melodia, var. rufina, Baird
RUSTY SONG SPARROW
Emberiza rufina, “Brandt, Desc. Av. Rossic. 1836, tab. ii, 5 (Sitka),” Bonaparte. Passerella rufina, Bonap. Consp. 1850, 477. (This may refer to Passerella townsendi, but is more probably the present bird.) Melospiza cinerea, Finsch, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 41 (Sitka). (Not Fringilla c. Gmel.) M. guttata, Finsch, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 41 (Sitka). (Not Fringilla g. Nutt.)
Sp. Char. Resembling M. guttata in the undefined markings, slender bill, etc., but olivaceous-brownish instead of rufous above, the darker markings sepia-brown instead of castaneous. The white beneath much tinged with ashy; jugulum-spots blended, and of a sepia-brown tint. Wing, 3.00; tail, 3.00; bill .41 from nostril, and .25 deep at base.
Hab. Northwest coast, from British Columbia northward. (Sitka.)
The above characters are those of a large series of specimens from Sitka, and a few points along the coast to the southward and northward, and represent the average features of a race which is intermediate between guttata and insignis, in appearance as well as in habitat. Tracing this variety toward the Columbia River, it gradually passes into the former, and northward into the latter.
We have no distinctive information relative to the habits of this race.
Melospiza melodia, var. insignis, Baird
KODIAK SONG SPARROW
? Fringilla cinerea, Gmelin, I, 1788, 922 (based on Cinereous Finch, Lath. II, 274).—Penn. Arc. Zoöl. II, 68 (Unalaschka). Emberiza cinerea, Bonap. Consp. 1850, 478. Melospiza insignis, Baird, Trans. Chicago Acad. I, ii, 1869, p. 319, pl. xxix, fig. 2.—Dall & Bannister, do. p. 285.—Finsch, Abh. Nat. III, 1872, 44 (Kodiak).
Sp. Char. Summer plumage (52,477 ♂, Kodiak, May 24, 1868). Above brownish-plumbeous, outer surface of wings somewhat more brown, the greater coverts slightly rufescent. Interscapulars with medial broad but obsolete streaks of sepia-brown; crown and upper tail-coverts with more sharply defined and narrower dusky shaft-streaks. Crown without medial light line. Beneath grayish-white, much obscured by brownish-plumbeous laterally. A whitish supraloral space, but no appreciable superciliary stripe; a whitish maxillary stripe; beneath it an irregular one of dusky sepia; irregular streaks of dark grizzly-sepia on breast and along sides, blended into a broad crescent across the jugulum. Wing, 3.30; tail, 3.50; bill, .48 from nostril, .28 deep at base, and .21 in the middle, the middle of the culmen being much depressed, its extremity rather abruptly decurved.
Autumnal plumage (60,162, Kodiak, received from Dr. J. F. Brandt). Differs very remarkably in appearance from the preceding. The pattern of coloration is everywhere plainly plotted, there being a distinct vertical and sharply defined superciliary stripe. Ground-color above ashy, somewhat overlaid by rusty, except on the sides of the neck. Whole crown, outer surface of wings, and dorsal streaks, rusty rufous; black streaks on crown and upper tail-coverts obsolete. Beneath pure white medially, the markings rusty rufous. Wing, 3.30; tail, 3.60; bill, .47 and .30.
Hab. Kodiak and Unalaschka.
This race represents the extreme extent of variation in the species, and it would be difficult for a species to proceed farther from the normal standard; indeed, the present bird is so different even in form, especially of bill, from melodia, that, were it not for the perfect series connecting them, few naturalists would hesitate to place them in different genera.
Habits. No information has so far been published in reference to the nesting of this Sparrow, or of any peculiar habits.
Melospiza lincolni, Baird
LINCOLN’S FINCH
Fringilla lincolni, Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 539, pl. cxciii.—Nutt. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 569. Linaria lincolni, Rich. List, 1837. Passerculus lincolni, Bonap. List, 1838. Peucæa lincolni, Aud. Synopsis, 1839, 113.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 116, pl. clxxvii.—Bonap. Consp. 1850, 481.—Ib. Comptes Rendus, XXVII, 1854, 920. Melospiza lincolni, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 482.—Dall & Bannister, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 285 (Alaska).—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 216. Passerculus zonarius, (Bp.) Sclater, Pr. Zoöl. Soc. 1856, 305.
Sp. Char. General aspect above that of M. melodia, but paler and less reddish. Crown dull chestnut, with a median and lateral or superciliary ash-colored stripe; each feather above streaked centrally with black. Back with narrow streaks of black. Beneath white, with a maxillary stripe curving round behind the ear-coverts; a well-defined band across the breast, extending down the sides, and the under tail-coverts, of brownish-yellow. The maxillary stripe margined above and below with lines of black spots and a dusky line behind eye. The throat, upper part of breast, and sides of the body, with streaks of black, smallest in the middle of the former. The pectoral bands are sometimes paler. Bill above dusky; base of lower jaw and legs yellowish. Length, 5.60; wing, 2.60.
Hab. United States from Atlantic to Pacific, north to the Yukon River and the Mackenzie, and south through Mexico to Panama. Oaxaca (Scl. 1858, 303); Xalapa (Scl. 1859, 365); Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 18); Vera Cruz, winter (Sum. M. B. S. I, 552).
There is little or no difference in specimens of this bird from the whole of its range, except that one from near Aspinwall is considerably smaller than usual, the streaks on the back narrower, and the color above more reddish. A young bird from Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie, is much like the adult.
Habits. Lincoln’s Finch was first met with by Mr. Audubon in Labrador, and named in honor of one of his companions, Mr. Thomas Lincoln, now residing at Dennysville, Maine, by whom the first specimen was procured. His attention was attracted to it by the sweet notes of its song, which, he states, surpass in vigor those of any of our American Sparrows with which he was acquainted. He describes this song as a compound of the notes of a Canary and a Woodlark of Europe. The bird was unusually wild, and was procured with great difficulty. Other specimens, afterwards obtained, did not exhibit the same degree of wildness, and they became more common as the party proceeded farther north. He did not meet with its nest.
He describes the habits of this species as resembling, in some respects, those of the Song Sparrow. It mounts, like that bird, on the topmost twig of some tall shrub to chant for whole hours at a time, or dives into the thickets and hops from branch to branch until it reaches the ground in search of those insects or berries on which it feeds. It moves swiftly away when it discovers an enemy, and, if forced to take to flight, flies low and rapidly to a considerable distance, jerking its tail as it proceeds, and throwing itself into the thickest bush it meets. Mr. Audubon found it mostly near streams, and always in the small valleys guarded from the prevalent cold winds of that country.