Part 61

Male, 5-1/2, 7-3/4.

Abundant in Texas and along the Gulf of Mexico. Rather rare in South Carolina, from which it migrates in autumn.

Macgillivray's Finch, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p. 285; v. iv. p. 394; v. v. p. 499.

174. 3. Ammodramus caudacutus, Lath. Buff-breasted Shore-Finch.--Sharp-tailed Finch.

Plate CXLIX. Male and Female.

Second, third, and fourth quills longest, first and fifth equal; tail graduated. Upper part of the head with a central bluish-grey streak, deep brown at the sides with the feathers black in the centre; hind neck dull grey, tinged with brown; back brown, tinged with grey, some of the feathers marked with black and edged with greyish-white; quills dusky brown, edged with reddish-brown, the secondary and smaller coverts with their outer webs chiefly of the latter colour; tail-feathers dusky brown, margined with greyish-olive; a broad band of light yellowish-red from the base of the upper mandible over the eye, and extending beyond the middle of the neck, where it is broader; ear-coverts grey; a broad band of yellowish-red from the lower mandible down the neck; throat whitish, with a line of dusky streaks on each side; the lower part of the neck, a portion of the breast, the lower tail-coverts, and the sides, pale yellowish-red, streaked with dusky; the rest of the lower parts white.

Male, 5, 7-1/4.

Breeds from Texas along the coast to Massachusetts. Never in the interior. Resident in the Southern States. Very abundant.

Sharp-tailed Finch, Fringilla caudacuta, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. iv. p. 70.

Fringilla caudacuta, Bonap. Syn. p. 110.

Shore Finch, Fringilla littoralis, Nutt. Man, v. i. p. 504.

Sharp-tailed Finch, Fringilla caudacuta, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. ii. p. 281; v. v. p. 499.

175. 4. Ammodramus palustris, Wils. Marsh Shore-Finch. Swamp Sparrow.

Plate LXIV. Male.

Bill shorter than in the other species; tail-feathers less acuminate; upper part of head deep chestnut-red, streaked with black; hind part and sides of the neck light bluish-grey, cheeks dusky brown; a greyish-yellow streak over the eye; upper parts of body yellowish-brown, streaked with brownish-black; wing-coverts and secondaries broadly edged with yellowish-red, primaries with duller red; tail similar; throat greyish-white, with two small dusky streaks, the rest of the fore neck and part of the breast pale bluish-grey, the abdomen whitish, the sides yellowish-brown, streaked with dusky.

Male, 5-1/2, 7-1/2.

From Texas to North Carolina in winter. Spreads in spring and summer to the Missouri westward, and to Labrador eastward. Abundant.

Swamp Swallow, Fringilla palustris, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. iii. p. 49.

Fringilla palustris, Bonap. Syn. p. 110.

Swamp Sparrow, Fringilla Georgiana, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 502.

Swamp Sparrow, Fringilla palustris, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. i. p. 331; v. v. p. 508.

GENUS VI. PEUCÆA, Aud. PINEWOOD-FINCH.

Bill of moderate length, rather stout, straight, considerably compressed, acute; upper mandible with the dorsal line somewhat convex, the ridge rather narrow, the sides convex, the edges inflected, with the notches obsolete, the tip acute; lower mandible with the angle short and rounded, the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the ridge rounded, the sides convex, the edges involute, the tip acute. Nostrils small, roundish, partially concealed by the plumage. Head ovate; neck short; body moderately stout. Tarsus rather short, compressed, with seven scutella; toes moderate, very slender, hind toe rather large, lateral toes about equal, outer adherent at the base. Claws of moderate length, very slender, extremely compressed, arched, tapering to a fine point. Plumage very soft, blended. Wings very short, convex, rounded, the third and fourth quills longest, the first and seventh about equal. Tail rather long, graduated, of twelve narrow rounded feathers. No difference in the colours of the sexes. Name from [Greek: Peuchê], a pine.

176. 1. Peucæa Bachmanii, Aud. Bachman's Pinewood-Finch.

Plate CLXV. Male.

Feathers of the upper parts brownish-red margined with bluish-grey, those on the fore part of the back darker; quills dusky brown, primaries margined with yellowish-grey, secondaries with brownish-red; tail-feathers dusky brown margined with grey; a band of ochre-yellow from the base of the upper mandible over the eye; throat pale yellowish-grey, with a short dusky streak on each side; lower parts light yellowish-grey, the fore part of the breast and the sides tinged with brown.

Male, 6, 7-1/2.

Georgia and South Carolina. Rather rare. Migratory.