Mr. J. A. Allen, who considers this bird only a western form of P. æstivalis, mentions (Am. Naturalist, May, 1872) finding it quite frequently near the streams in Western Kansas, where its sweetly modulated song greets the ear with the first break of dawn, and is again heard at night till the last trace of twilight has disappeared. Mr. Allen also states, in a letter, that this bird was “tolerably common along the streams near Fort Hays, but very retiring, singing mostly after nightfall and before sunrise, during the morning twilight. When singing, it had the habit of rising into the air. I shot three one morning thus singing, when it was so dark I could not find the birds. The one I obtained does not differ appreciably from specimens from Mr. Cassin’s collection, labelled by him Peucæa cassini, collected in Texas.”
Mr. Ridgway regards this record of the manners of this bird, while singing, as indicating a specific difference from P. æstivalis. The latter, in Southern Illinois, has never been heard by him to sing at night, or in the morning, nor even on the wing; but in broad midday, in the hottest days of June, July, and August, he often heard them singing vigorously and sweetly, as they perched upon a fence or a dead tree in a field, exactly after the manner of our common Spizella pusilla.
Among Dr. Heermann’s notes, quoted by Mr. Dresser, is one containing the statement that he found this species not rare on the prairies near the Medina River, in Texas, where it breeds. Mr. Dresser also states that when at Howard’s Ranche, early in May, he found this bird by no means uncommon. He confirms Dr. Heermann’s account, that it is easily distinguished as it rises in the air, from a bush, with a peculiar fluttering motion of the wings, at the same time singing, and then suddenly dropping into the bushes again.
He adds that, in his absence, Dr. Heermann procured the eggs of this species on the Medina, and while he was himself travelling in July towards Loredo, he found a nest which he was fully confident belonged to this bird. It was placed in a low bush not above a foot from the ground, and in its construction resembled that of the Poospiza bilineata. The eggs were three in number, pure white, closely agreeing with those taken by Dr. Heermann, and larger and more elongated than those of the bilineata.
An egg of this species, taken in Texas by Dr. H. R. Storer, the identification of which, however, was incomplete, is more oblong than the eggs of P. æstivalis, and smaller, measuring .72 by .58 of an inch. It is pure white also.
Peucæa ruficeps, Baird.
RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW.
Ammodromus ruficeps, Cassin, Pr. A. N. Sc. VI, Oct. 1852, 184 (California).— Ib. Illust. I, V, 1854, 135, pl. xx. Peucæa ruficeps, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 486.—Cooper, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 218.
Sp. Char. Above brownish-ashy. The crown and nape uniform brownish-chestnut, the interscapular region and neck with the feathers of this color, except around the margins. A superciliary ashy stripe, whiter at the base of the bill. Beneath pale yellowish-brown, or brownish-yellow, darker and more ashy across the breast and on the sides of body; middle of belly and chin lighter; the latter with a well-marked line of black on each side. Edge of wing white. Under tail-coverts more rufous. Legs yellow. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.35; tail, 2.85.
Hab. Coast of California, to Mexico; ? Oaxaca, March (Scl. 1859, 380); ? Vera Cruz, temperate region; resident (Sum. M. B. S. I, 552).