There are several species in Western America of the group to which this bird belongs, all characterized by agreeable and somewhat similar colors. In the States on the Atlantic, the Snow Bunting (_Plectrophanes nivalis_) is their only relative that is of usual occurrence,—though another, the Lapland Longspur (_Plectrophanes Lapponica_), occasionally appears, and of the capture of which, in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, several instances have come to our knowledge. Capt. McCown, who discovered this present species in Texas, gives no further account of it than that he shot it in company with a flock of Shore Larks. His notice is in the Annals of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, VI. p. 14. Dr. Henry has obtained it in the vicinity of Fort Thorne, New Mexico. These, with Dr. Heermann, are the only naturalists that have as yet noticed this bird in its native wilds. During the survey for a route for a railroad to the Pacific, by Lieut. Williamson’s party, to which Dr. Heermann was attached, he met with this bird in large numbers, and his collection contains numerous specimens in various stages of plumage. From these we have selected adults of both sexes, from which the plate now before the reader has been prepared. In Dr. Heermann’s manuscripts, kindly placed at our disposal for the purposes of our present work, we find this bird thus noticed:— “I found this species congregated in large flocks with the chestnut-collared Lark Bunting (_Plectrophanes ornatus_), and engaged in gleaning the seeds from the scanty grass on the vast arid plains of New Mexico. Insects and berries also form part of their food, in search of which they show considerable activity, running on the ground with ease and celerity. “We found this bird, as well as various other species, particularly abundant whenever we struck on the isolated water-holes that occur in this region, these being the only spots for miles around where water can be obtained. When fired at, or otherwise alarmed, they rise as if to fly away, but seem to be irresistibly impelled by thirst to return to the only localities where relief is to be obtained, and where, if the hunter is so inclined, large numbers of this handsome little bird, and others, may be slaughtered with little exertion. “From Dr. T. C. Henry, of the U. S. Army, I learned that in the spring, large flocks of this species appear at Fort Thorne, apparently on their return to the North, having migrated southwardly the fall previous, and that they leave on the return of mild weather. In several flocks of these birds I noticed also the Shore Lark (_Alanda alpestris_), but it formed a small proportion of the numbers.” The figures in our plate are about two-thirds of the size of life. DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS. Genus Plectrophanes. Meyer, Taschenbuch der deutschen Vögelkunde III. p. 56. (1822.)