LONG-EABED OWL.
f ' 579
BLACK-TIIKOATKI) BUNTING.
EMBERIZA AMERICANA, G-mel.
PLATBf MCMXMV: Km MD fekaie,
Ai.niimcn this handsome Bunting may be said to be abundant
111 o u r middle Atlantic districts,, it is there much less so than in the
vast prairies of the;south-west; and I consider those of the Texas to
afford the localities best adapted to its, habits. There,, as my compa-
|ii.ons and I were,returning from the capitft, of the infant republic,
Houston, we werS ;«irpris:ed to. see how very numerous the Blackthroated
Buntings were in every open piece of ground covered by
tufts of tall grass. They am also |»li»mlant on the open lands of
Missouri and Bl^pfe but rarer in Ohio, and scarce in Kentucky.
They are rarely .observed t,o pass over South Carolina, but in Pennsylvania
they arc plentiful, and there breed in every field covered with
grass or ¡grain. I hai|| also met with them in Massachusetts, but
beyond this they are not seen to the eastward.
At the. approach of the period of their removal from our Middle
"itiat.es southward,: the Black-throated Buntings congregate in particular
localities, as if to consult regarding their future proceedings. At.
this' season I once wont from Philadelphia in search of them, accompanied
by my friend Kdwakd IIariiis, and my «,11 John Woodhouse.
Having reached1 Sale« in New Jersey, we rambled' some time in the
neighbourhood, and found an elevated piece of ground, closely covered
with high rank weeds, among! which a great number of these birds
had assembled. It being late in July, the males were moulting, or
had already acquired their new plumage : the young, although full
grown, had not yet assumed their second clothing, in which the sexes
are distinguished ; and the females were generally ragged. The birds
were at first quite, gentle,, but after we had fired a few times they all
flew off to a considerable distance, from which, however, they soon
returned. On our continuing to harass them, however, they rose high
i u 11,0 air>5111,1 ®ew out of our sight in a southward direction. They
had then undoubtedly begun, migrating. These birds are very partial
to particular localities, Sandy soil, unmixed with clay or earth, is not