Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/403

Rh which I am acquainted. Its notes are very loud, considering the size of the bird, and can be heard ... considerable distance in the pine woods, where it is found, and where it is the only songster at that season. " In the beginning of November, this bird usually disappears, and I think it probably migrates farther south. Still it is likely that it does not go beyond the limits of the United States, and that som-^ few remain in Carolina during the whole winter, as, on the 6th of February, the coldest time of the year, I found one of these birds in some long grass, a few miles from Charleston."

Since then, kind reader, I have had the pleasure, in the company of its amiable discoverer, to hear the melodious notes of this southern spe- cies. Our endeavours, however, to find its nest have been unsuccessful. On my return from the Floridas to New York, in June 1832, I tra- velled through both the Carolinas, and observed many of these Finches on the sides of the roads cut through the pine woods of South Carolina. At this time, they filled the air with their melodies. I traced them as far as the boundary between that State and North Carolina, in which none were seen or heard. They were particularly abundant near the Great Santee River.

The food of this species consists of the seeds of grasses, coleopterous insects, and a variety of the small berries so abundant in that part of the country. Its flight is swift and direct, now and then protracted, so that the bird is out of sight before it alights.

I observed no diff'erence in the size or colour of the sexes, and have represented a Male in full summer dress, which was presented to me, while yet quite fresh, by my friend Bachman.

The beautiful plant on which it is placed, was drawn by my friend's sister, who has kindly rendered me similar services, which will be pointed out on the proper occasions ; and here let me again express my gratitude toward that amiable lady, and her esteemed brother.

Adult Male. Plate LXV. Fig. 1.

Bill short, conical, acute ; upper mandible almost straight in its dorsal outline, rounded on the sides ; lower mandible slightly convex beneath, the sides rounded ; edges of both sharp and inflected ; gap-line deflected at the base. Nostrils basal, roundish, partially concealed by the feathers.