A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1

Habits. The Bay-winged or Grass Finch is a very abundant species wherever found, and has a very extended distribution. Accepting as one species the slightly variant races above indicated, this bird extends from Florida and Mexico, on the south, to the 57th parallel of latitude, and from the eastern to the western shores. It was found by Richardson frequenting the plains of the Saskatchewan, where it arrives early in May and leaves in September, and where it nests abundantly in the short withered grass of that sterile region. Richardson did not trace it farther north than the 57th parallel, and it was not obtained on the Yukon or Anderson Rivers by Mr. MacFarlane or Mr. Lockhart. It breeds from Northern Virginia north.

In the Middle States it is partially resident, a portion remaining all the winter. South of Washington it is chiefly migratory, only found, in any numbers, from November to March, and probably but few remaining to breed. Audubon states that he never saw any of this species in any portion of Louisiana, Missouri, Kentucky, or Ohio. Mr. Dresser, on the other hand, found them common about San Antonio in August and September, and also in May and June, and had no doubt that some remain to breed.

It is very abundant throughout New England, arriving in some seasons as early as March 11, and remaining until quite late in the fall, often through November. It is found chiefly in dry open fields and pastures, where it nests, with no pains at concealment, on the ground, in depressions made by its own work. It is an unsuspicious and fearless species, neither seeking nor avoiding the companionship of man. It does not usually build near houses, yet is not unfrequently known to do so. It may be often found perched on fences along the roadside, chanting its simple and pleasing lay, and quite as frequently in the road feeding and dusting itself. The latter operation it is very fond of practising, and almost any day in the summer these birds may be found in such situations.

West of the Great Plains is found a marked variety of this species, differing in many respects from the eastern. The western species or race of this Finch, Mr. Ridgway states, is an abundant summer bird in all the elevated grassy portions of the West. It is especially characteristic of the higher grassy slopes of the elevated mountains, particularly in the Rocky Mountain regions, and its sweet and simple song is one of the pleasant associations of those regions. It descends, in the autumn, to the lower districts, having been observed during September in the greatest abundance among the “rye-grass” meadows of Senot Valley, at the northern end of the East Humboldt Range. It nests on the ground in grassy banks, in various situations.

Dr. Suckley found this bird abundant on the Nisqually Plains, about Puget Sound; and Dr. Cooper says it is common, in summer, on the prairies of the interior of Washington Territory. Dr. Cooper also found it wintering in the Colorado Valley, in considerable numbers, but all disappeared in April. He thinks they breed in Northern California, though he has never found them doing so. Dr. Newberry states that they are common in the Sacramento Valley, both in the summer and in the fall. It was found by Mr. Boucard, in winter, near Oaxaca, Mexico.

Their song is a very simple and pleasant succession of soft notes, resembling that of the Canary, but thinner and feebler. It is begun early in the morning and continued a few hours, and then renewed at sunset and kept up often until after dark. It is also not unlike the song of the Song Sparrow, but is neither so varied nor so loud and strong. It continues to sing until late in the season.

They feed in the road, eating insects, seeds, and grain. They are fond of searching also in ploughed fields, and keep principally upon the ground, exclusively so when they are searching for their food.

Although as unsuspicious as the Song Sparrow or the Chipping Sparrow, this Finch rarely, like them, comes about the house for crumbs of bread, but seems to prefer to forage for itself in the fields and by the roadside. Taken from the nest, these birds may be readily tamed, and soon become very interesting and familiar little pets, though Nuttall states that where several are thus kept they become very jealous of each other, and quarrelsome.

Their nest is always placed upon the ground, and is very simply constructed of dry stems of grasses, with no other lining than soft fine materials of the same. They have two, and sometimes three, broods in a season. When their nest is approached, they make use of various artifices to draw away the intruder, and often vary their devices in a very striking manner. In May, 1836, crossing a field within a few rods of my home in Roxbury, I nearly stepped upon a female sitting upon her nest. She immediately tumbled forward towards me, counterfeiting the most extraordinary lameness, so much so that I supposed that I had really stepped upon and severely injured her. I stooped to pick up what I supposed to be a wounded bird, and found her nest and four eggs. Visiting her nest again, as I approached she flew from it quietly and silently, and immediately began the same manœuvres, at some little distance from her nest, which she discontinued as soon as she noticed that I was examining her treasures. These devices she varied several times in a very remarkable manner. In Massachusetts I have known this species to have its complement of eggs by the 15th of April.

The eggs of this species are usually five, often four, and rarely six in number. They are of an oblong-oval shape, the smaller end but slightly more pointed than the other. They vary greatly in size, ranging from .90 to .80 of an inch in length, and averaging about .65 in breadth. Their ground-color is a pale greenish-white, marked with spots, lines, dots, and blotches of various shades of reddish and purplish brown. In some eggs the spots are few and small, chiefly confluent in a ring about the larger end, while the ground-color is very plainly distinguishable. In others the ground is nearly concealed by the abundance of the spots.

Genus COTURNICULUS, Bonap

Coturniculus, Bonap. Geog. List, 1838. (Type, Fringilla passerina, Wils.)

Coturniculus passerinus.

38741 ♂

Gen. Char. Bill very large and stout, (except in C. lecontei); the under mandible broader, but lower than the upper, which is decidedly convex at the basal portion of its upper outline. Legs moderate, apparently not reaching to the end of the tail. The tarsus appreciably longer than the middle toe; the lateral toes equal, and with their claws falling decidedly short of the middle claw; the hind toe intermediate between the two. The wings are short and rounded, reaching to the base of the tail; the tertiaries almost as long as the primaries; not much difference in length in the primaries, although the outer three or four are slightly graduated. The tail is short and narrow, shorter than the wing (except in C. lecontei), graduated laterally, but slightly emarginate; the feathers all lanceolate and acute, but not stiffened, as in Ammodromus.

This genus agrees with Passerculus in the short and narrow tail. The wings are much shorter and more rounded; the feet shorter, especially the middle toe, which is not as long as the tarsus. The tail-feathers are more lanceolate. The bill is much larger, and more swollen at the base.

The essential characters of this genus consist in the swollen convex bill; the short toes, compared with the tarsus; the short and rounded wings; and the very small, narrow, slightly graduated tail, with its lanceolate acute feathers (except in the South American C. manimbe).

In some respects there is a resemblance to Ammodromus, in which, however, the bill is very much more slender; the wings still shorter, and more rounded; the tail-feathers much stiffer, and even more lanceolate; the toes extending beyond the tip of the tail; the middle toe rather longer than the tarsus, instead of considerably shorter.

C. lecontei has the same general form, but a much smaller bill.

Synopsis of Species

Common Characters. Crown and back streaked with black upon an ashy, olive, or chestnut ground; beneath whitish, tinged across the breast with ochraceous or ashy, plain, or with blackish streaks on the breast. A light superciliary stripe.

A. Tail-feathers attenuated, acute at ends, much graduated. On the crown a median light stripe.

a. A dusky streak on each side of the throat, and one above the light ochraceous maxillary stripe.

1. C. henslowi. Bill very robust, .35 along culmen by .30 deep at base. Wing, 2.25; tail, 2.20. Head ochraceous or greenish olive, lighter on the throat; a blackish stripe on each side of the crown. Breast streaked with black at all ages. Hab. Eastern Province of United States.

b. No dusky streak on side of throat nor above the maxillæ.

2. C. lecontei. Bill very narrow, only .16 broad by .20 deep at base. Median stripe of the crown ochraceous for anterior third, the remaining part ashy-white; superciliary stripe wholly ochraceous; edge of wing white; breast sparsely streaked in the adult. Wing, 2.15; tail, 2.20. Hab. Plains west of the Missouri, from Texas to Dakota.

3. C. passerinus. Bill robust, .23, or more, broad, by .24, or more, deep at base. Median stripe of the crown ochraceous throughout; superciliary stripe yellow anteriorly, ashy posteriorly; edge of wing bright yellow, breast unstreaked in the adult, streaked in the young, in which the head stripes are ashy, with no yellow on wing or over lore.

Colors dark, the black markings predominating above. Ad. Anterior lower parts deep buff at all seasons. Juv. Dusky streaks on breast very distinct. Bill, .33 and .30; wing, 2.60; tail, 1.90. Hab. Eastern Province of United States, and West Indies … var. passerinus.

Colors pale, the light markings predominating above. Ad. Buff of the breast scarcely observable in summer. Juv. Dusky streaks on breast scarcely appreciable. Bill, .33 and .24; wing, 2.60; tail, 1.90. Hab. Western Province of United States … var. perpallidus.

B. Tail-feathers broad, rounded at ends; only slightly rounded. Crown not divided by a median stripe.

4. C. manimbe. Head clear ashy, whitish on throat; crown uniformly streaked with black. Supra-loral streak and edge of wing bright yellow. No streaks on breast in adult.

Breast tinged with ashy; black streaks on upper parts much narrower than the intervening ones of the ashy ground-color; dorsal feathers rufescent-umber medially, edged with ashy, and with a shaft-streak of black. Wing, 2.35; tail. 2.00. Hab. Brazil … var. manimbe.

Breast tinged with ochraceous; black streaks on upper parts much broader than the ashy ones of the ground-color; dorsal feathers black, edged with ashy; wing, 2.25; tail, 1.90. Hab. Buenos Ayres and Uruguay … var. dorsalis.

Coturniculus henslowi, BonapHENSLOW’S BUNTING

Emberiza henslowi, Aud. Orn. Biog. I, 1831, 360, pl. lxxvii.—Ib. Syn. 1839, 104.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 75, pl. clxiii.—Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, App. Coturniculus henslowi, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 481.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 451.—Maynard, Birds E. Mass. 1870, 117.—Samuels, 306. Fringilla henslowi, Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 571.

Coturniculus passerinus.

Sp. Char. Upper parts yellowish-brown, the hood, neck, and upper parts of back tinged with greenish-yellow. Interscapular feathers dark brown, suffused externally with bright brownish-red; each feather with grayish borders. Tertiaries, rump, and tail-feathers abruptly dark chestnut-brown, darkest centrally, paler externally, and narrowly margined with gray. Crown with a broad black spotted stripe on each side; these spots continued down to the back. Two narrow black mandibular stripes and one post-ocular on each side of the head, and an obscure black crescent or spot behind the auriculars. Under parts light brownish-yellow, paler on the throat and abdomen. The jugulum, upper part of the breast, and the sides of the body, conspicuously streaked with black. Edge of wing yellow. A strong tinge of pale chestnut on the wings and tail. The median tail-feathers and upper coverts chestnut or rufous brown, with sharply defined shaft-streaks of black. Length, 5.25; wing, 2.15; tail, 2.15.

Hab. Eastern United States as far north as Massachusetts; westward to the Loup Fork of Platte.

This species is related to C. passerinus, but readily distinguished by the well-marked stripes on breast and sides, the greenish-yellow, not chestnut-brown, of head and nape, and the two mandibular dusky stripes. The middle tail-feathers are reddish with only a very narrow sharply defined median shaft-streak of black, instead of having the greater portion of the centre dusky with scalloped edges. I have not seen young birds, but they probably differ little from the adults.

Habits. The history and general distribution of Henslow’s Bunting is still somewhat imperfectly known. Mr. Audubon first met with it, in 1820, in Kentucky, nearly opposite to Cincinnati. It was seen on the ground, amongst the tall grass, and is said to have exhibited all the peculiarities of this tribe. He was afterwards informed that this bird is abundant in the State of New Jersey, and that it breeds there; and in evidence of this he mentions receiving a specimen from Dr. Trudeau, obtained by that gentleman himself. Mr. Audubon also mentions that both Dr. Bachman and he have procured a great number in South Carolina, where they abound, in the latter part of autumn, and where, also, a portion remain during the winter. In Florida, Mr. Audubon again met with these birds in the winter. They were in great numbers in all the pine barrens of that State, in light and sandy soil, and in woods but thinly overgrown by tall pines. They never alight on trees, but spend their time on the ground, running with great rapidity through the grass, in the manner of a mouse.

In New Jersey they were found in ploughed fields, where they are presumed to have been overlooked and mistaken for the Yellow-winged Sparrow. Mr. Audubon supposed that they were not found farther eastward than that State.

Specimens in the Smithsonian collection have been procured in Georgia in December; in Maryland in July; at Fort Riley, Kansas, Southern Illinois, and in Nebraska, in June.

In Massachusetts they are regular summer visitants, though as yet they have been met with in only a few instances and in a somewhat restricted locality. They are now met with nearly every year, and several nests have been taken. Mr. Maynard obtained two specimens, May 10, in a wet meadow in Newton. Their song-note he describes as like the syllables see-wick, the first syllable prolonged, the latter given quickly. This bird was first obtained in Berlin, in that State, by Mr. E. S. Wheeler, who discovered its nest and eggs. It was mistaken for Bachman’s Finch, and was at first so placed on the record, though the error was immediately corrected. Since then, in that town, and in one or two others in its neighborhood, other nests have been met with. Mr. William Brewster obtained several specimens in Lexington, May 14, 1872. It is quite probable that it has been confounded with C. passerinus, and it is now supposed to be more common in the eastern part of the State than that bird.

One specimen of this Bunting was taken near Washington, during the summer season, from which circumstance Dr. Coues gives it as an exceedingly rare summer resident of the District of Columbia.

In 1871, Mr. Ridgway ascertained that, so far from being rare, Henslow’s Bunting is very abundant on the prairies of Southern Illinois, as well as the Yellow-winged species, but far exceeding the latter in numbers. Though entirely similar to that bird in habits and manners, it may be readily distinguished by its note, which is said to be an abrupt pil-lut, much more like the common summer-call of the Shore Lark than the lisped grasshopper-like chirp of the C. passerinus, and to be uttered as the bird perches on the summit of a tall weed, the tail being depressed, and the head thrown back at each utterance. A number of unidentified eggs were sent to me several years since, by Mr. Kennicott, from near Chicago. They resembled somewhat the eggs of C. passerinus, but were not the eggs of that species. I have now no doubt they belonged to this bird.

The nest is built in the ground, in a depression, or apparently an excavation scratched out by the bird itself, and is a well-made structure of coarse, dry, and soft reeds and grasses, well lined with finer materials of the same description. The eggs, five or six in number, somewhat resemble those of the C. passerinus. Their ground-color is a clear bright white, and they are spotted with well-defined reddish-brown markings, and more subdued tints of purple. The markings, so far as I have seen their eggs, are finer and fewer than those of C. passerinus, and are distributed more exclusively around the larger end. The eggs measure .78 by .60 of an inch, and are of a more oblong-oval than those of the common Yellow-Wing.

Coturniculus lecontei, BonapLECONTE’S BUNTING

Emberiza lecontei, Aud. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 338, pl. cccclxxxviii.—Max. Cab. Jour. VI, 1858, 340. Coturniculus lecontei, Bon. Conspectus, 1850, 481.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 452.

Sp. Char. Bill much more slender than in C. henslowi. First quill the longest, the rest diminishing rapidly. Tail emarginate and rounded, with the feathers acute. Upper parts light yellowish-red, streaked with brownish-black; the margins of the feathers and scapulars pale yellowish-white. Tail-feathers dusky, margined with light-yellowish. Lower parts, with the cheeks and a broad band over the eyes, fine buff. Medial line yellowish anteriorly, nearly white behind. The buff extending to the femorals and along the sides, streaked with brownish-black. Throat, neck, and upper parts of the breast, without any streaks, and plain buff. Length, 4.40; wing, 2.13; bill along ridge, .37; edge, .50. Legs flesh-color; bill dark blue.

Hab. Mouth of Yellowstone, to Texas.

Since the regret expressed in the Birds of North America (1858) at the loss of the single specimen known of this species, another has been received by the Smithsonian Institution from Washington Co., Texas, collected by Dr. Lincecum. It is in very poor condition, having been skinned for an alcoholic preparation, and does not admit of a satisfactory description of the colors. In its unspotted breast, the rufous feathers of the hind neck, the absence of maxillary stripes, and apparently in the markings of the wings, it is most like C. passerinus. Although the inner tail-feathers have the narrow stripe of henslowi, the bill is much smaller, as stated by Audubon, than in the others, and is apparently bluish, not yellow. The vertical stripe is deep buff anteriorly, and pale ashy posteriorly, instead of buff throughout, and the superciliary stripe is continuously buff, instead of yellow anterior to, and ashy behind, the eye. In the comparative length of wing and tail, it is most nearly related to henslowi, but the bill is very much narrower than in either. Upon the whole, there can be no doubt of its actual specific distinctness from both its allies.

Habits. Leconte’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow was procured by Audubon in his expedition to the Yellowstone. He speaks of its having very curious notes, which he describes as of a sharp, querulous nature, and a general habit of keeping only among the long, slender green grasses that here and there grew up in patches along the margins of the creeks. So closely did it keep in the coverts to which it resorted, that it was very difficult to force it to rise on the wing, when only it could be procured. Mr. Audubon did not meet with its nest or young, and they remain unknown.

This type specimen was presented by Audubon to Professor Baird. A second was sent to the Smithsonian Institution, from Texas, by Dr. Lincecum.

Coturniculus passerinus, BonapYELLOW-WINGED BUNTING

Fringilla passerina, Wilson, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 76, pl. xxvi, f. 5.—Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 180; V, 497, pl. cxxx. Fringilla (Spiza) passerina, Bon. Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 111. Coturniculus passerina, Bon. List, 1838.—Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 481.—Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 450.—Samuels, 305. Emberiza passerina, Aud. Syn. 1839.—Ib. Birds Am. III, 1841, 73, pl. clxii. Fringilla savanarum, (Gm.) Nuttall, Man. I, 1832, 494.—Ib. (2d ed.) 1840, 570.—(Gmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 921?) ?? Fringilla caudacuta, Lath. Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 459.—Nutt. Man. I, 1832, 505. ? Passerina pratensis, Vieillot. Coturniculus tixicrus, Gosse.

Localities: Oaxaca, March (Scl. 1859, 379). Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 18). Cuba (winter, common, Cab. Journ. IV, 7). Costa Rica (Cab. Journ. VIII, 1860, 411; Lawr. IX, 103). Vera Cruz (winter, Sum. Mem. Bost. Soc. I, 552).

Sp. Char. Feathers of the upper parts brownish-rufous or chestnut-brown, margined narrowly and abruptly with ash-color; reddest on the lower part of the back and rump; the feathers all abruptly black in the central portion; this color visible on the interscapular region, where the rufous is more restricted. Crown blackish, with a central and superciliary stripe of yellowish tinged with brown, brightest in front of the eye. Bend of the wing bright yellow; lesser coverts tinged with greenish-yellow. Quills and tail-feathers edged with whitish; tertiaries much variegated. Lower parts brownish-yellow or buff, nearly white on the middle of the belly, darkest on the jugulum. The feathers of the upper breast and sides of the body with obsoletely darker centres, these sometimes wanting. Sides of breast against bend of wing with a few black streaks, usually concealed. Length about 5 inches; wing, 2.40; tail, 2.00.

Hab. Eastern United States; south to Guatemala; Jamaica, resident; Porto Rico.

The young of this species have the jugulum and sides of the breast streaked with black, much more distinct than in the adult, and exhibiting a slight resemblance to C. henslowi. The upper parts are less varied.

Specimens from the Far West have the bill more slender, the reddish of the back considerably paler, the dark markings of the back restricted, the light stripe on the head with scarcely any yellow, a decided spot in front of the eye quite yellow, and little or no ochraceous on the breast.

The young bird, with streaked jugulum, may be most readily distinguished from C. henslowi by the grayer plumage without any shade of chestnut or greenish-yellow, the sparseness of streaks on the side, the absence of the two mandibular dusky stripes, and the broad dusky centres of the middle tail-feathers.

Quite a fine series of specimens from Jamaica and other West India Islands affords ample material to judge of the validity of the C. tixicrus of Gosse. It is scarcely possible to distinguish these Jamaican specimens from examples from the Eastern Province of the United States, though minute differences are observable. Their size is somewhat smaller, but they are resident in the region where obtained; and the shades of color are just appreciably darker. There are, however, no differences sufficient to justify retaining the name tixicrus, to designate even a variety.

All the specimens in the collection from Mexico and Guatemala are in the autumnal or winter dress, so that it is probable that they are not resident there; they appear to be identical with North American specimens, and referrible to the variety passerinus as restricted.

Between summer and winter specimens great differences are observable; in the former season the edges of the feathers become worn, so that often the chestnut spots disappear entirely, while the other markings become poorly defined, leaving the black blotches predominant.