A single specimen of this bird was shot in Massachusetts in 1845, by Mr. Samuel Jillson. It was taken in Gloucester, on the coast, where its appearance was, of course, purely accidental.
We are indebted to the careful observations of Mr. Ridgway for the principal portion of our knowledge of the manners and mode of life of this species, which he has recently ascertained to be an abundant summer resident in Southern Illinois. It is probably equally abundant throughout the State, and is found as far east as Ohio, where it becomes rare.
The Prairie Lark-Finch was found by that accurate observer very abundant at Sacramento, Cal., where it frequented alike the oak groves, the cottonwood and willow copses, and the weedy fields and meadows. At Sacramento it was eminently arboreal, quite in contrast with its habits as observed in Illinois. It was also met with in the interior, wherever the locality was suited to it. Near Salt Lake City it is one of the most numerous of the birds inhabiting the artemisia grounds, in the outskirts of the town, in company with Poospiza bilineata and Spizella breweri. It is called by the Utah boys the Snake-Bird, from the supposed resemblance of its striped head to that of a snake. At Sacramento it is greatly prized as a cage-bird, and young birds readily sell there for four dollars a pair. He states that the delightful song of this bird has no parallel among the North American Fringillidæ, and claims that in this respect it is pre-eminently superior to that of all the other members of this family. As it perches upon the summit of a small tree, on the telegraph wire, or upon a fence, its notes may be heard throughout the day, in the morning before those of any others, and late in the evening, when all except for this irrepressible songster is silence.
The song of this species is described as composed of regularly divided parts, almost perfect in compass, in vigor and continuity unsurpassed, if not unequalled, by any other North American species. It begins with a series of chants, the style reminding one somewhat of the Cyanospiza cyanea, but each syllable loud, rich, and clear, and uttered with a peculiar emotional trill, the whole seemingly delivered in a hurried manner, in one continuous gush of sprightly silvery notes, each accompanied by a metallic tremolo. As if exhausted, the singer falters, and the notes become scarcely audible, then suddenly reviving, as if in great joy, the song is resumed in all its vivacity, until the bird at last really appears to be overcome by its efforts.
Dr. Coues met with this species in Arizona in the winter. He writes me as follows: “The most eastern point where I observed this species was at St. Louis, Mo. I saw a good many in the suburbs of that city in May, 1865. It is one of the most abundant Sparrows about Fort Whipple, particularly during the migrations; the majority pass northward in April and May, but many breed in the vicinity, and some pass the winter in sheltered situations. It is generally seen in companies, frequenting the skirts of woods, the underbrush
along mountain rivulets, and similar situations, where the seeds of various plants are procurable; its general habits resemble those of the species of Zonotrichia.”
The nests were found by Mr. Ridgway in various situations; the larger number were upon the ground, but several were in trees varying in height from six to twenty feet from the ground. They were found from the latter part of May through June. A nest obtained in Southern Wisconsin by Mr. Thure Kumlien is very homogeneous in structure, consisting entirely of loosely intertwined stems of dry grasses, sedges, and carices. It was built on the ground, is nearly flat, and has only a very shallow cavity. Its entire height is less than two inches, and the depth of its depression not half an inch. The diameter of the nest is three and a half inches, and that of the cavity at the rim three inches.
The maximum number of their eggs is five. Their average measurement is .85 by .65 of an inch. The ground-color is usually a grayish-white, rarely a light brown, marbled and streaked with waving lines, and a few dots of black or a blackish-brown.
Genus ZONOTRICHIA, Swainson.
Zonotrichia, Swainson, Fauna Bor.-Am. II, 1831. (Type, Emberiza leucophrys.)