282 P A I N T E D FINCH.
Bill dark brown above, light-blue beneath. Iris hazel. Feet light blue.
Head and upper neck pure azure, a circle of carmine round the eye.
Back and lesser wing-coverts yellowish-green. Lower back and under
parts deep carmine. Quills and tail purplish-brown ; secondary coverts
green.
Length 5^, extent of wings 7^; bill along the ridge ^, along the
gap ^ ; tarsus f, middle toe f.
Male in the third year. Plate LI 11. Fig. 2.
Head and under parts as in the full-plumaged male. Back mottled
with yellow and light green ; upper wing-coverts patched with green,
yellow and brown.
Male in the second year. Plate L I I I . Fig. 4.
Bill and upper part of the head as in the adult. Upper parts generally
olive-green ; under parts dull orange, paler behind.
Male in the first year. Plate L I I I . Fig. 3 .
Under mandible blue; in other respects similar to the female.
Adult Female. Plate L I I I . Fig. 5.
Bill brown. Feet light blue. Upper parts in general light olive
green ; under parts dull orange, paler behind.
THE CHICKASAW PLUM.
PRUNUS CHICASA, Mich. Plor. Amer. vol. i. p. 284. Pursh, Flor. Amer. vol. i. p. 3 3 2 .
—ICOSANDRIA MONOGYNIA, Linn. ROSACEA, Juss.
This species is distinguished by its oblongo-elliptical, acuminate,
serrulate leaves; smooth spinescent branches ; flowers in pairs, with very
short pedicels, and glabrous calyces; and its broadly oval fruits. It
flowers in April and May.
( 283 )
T H E R I C E B I R D.
ICTERUS AGRIPENNIS, CH. B O N AÍ».
P L A T E L I Y . MALE AND FEMALE.
VERY few of these birds pass through Louisiana in spring, and still
fewer, on their return, in autumn; for which reason I am inclined to
think that they do not spend the winter months so much in the Southern
parts of America as in some of the West India Islands. Indeed, I am
the more inclined to believe this to be the case, that they seldom penetrate
far into the interior, during their stay with us, but prefer the districts
bordering upon the Atlantic, through which they pass and repass
in incredible numbers.
In Louisiana, small detached flocks of males or of females appear
about the middle of March and beginning of April, alighting in the meadows
and grain-fields, where they pick up the grubs and insects found
about the roots of the blades. I have heard it asserted, though I cannot
give it as a fact, that the appearance of the Rice Bird in spring
forebodes a bad harvest. The idea probably originates from the circumstance
that these birds do not pass through Louisiana regularly every
year, there being sometimes three or four springs in succession in which
they are not observed.
The plumage of many of the males at this early season still resembles
that of the females, but it changes in the course of their stay, which is
seldom more than a fortnight. I have ascertained this fact by dissecting
many at this period, when, notwithstanding the dull colour of their plumage,
I found the sexual organs greatly developed, which is not the case
in autumn, even in the old males. I had another clew to the discovery
of this fact. No sooner did a flock of females make its appearance, than
these dull-looking gentlemen immediately paid them such particular attention,
and sang so vehemently, that the fact of their being of a different
sex became undeniable.
Here they pass under the name of Meadoxe Birds. In Pennsylvania
they are called Reed Birds, in Carolina Rice Buntings, and in the State
of New York Boblinks. The latter appellation is given to them as far
eastward as they are known to proceed for the purpose of breeding.
During their sojourn in Louisiana, in spring, their song, which is