Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/404

368 Head rather large, neck short, body rather full. Feet of moderate length, slender ; tarsus covered anteriorly with a few longish scuteUa ; toes free, scutellate above, the lateral ones nearly equal, hind-toe proportionally large ; claws slender, compressed, acute, slightly arched, that of the hind-toe longer.

Plumage soft, blended, rather compact on the back, slightly glossed. Wings shortish, curved, third and fourth quills longest, fifth and second nearly equal ; the secondaries long and rounded. Tail long, graduated, and deeply emarginate, of twelve straight, narrow feathers, tapering to a rounded point.

Bill dark brown above, light blue beneath. Iris hazel. Feet very light flesh-coloured. The general colour of the upper parts is reddish- brown, the central parts of the feathers on the back black, their margins bluish-grey. Secondary coverts duU yellowish-brown on the outer edge ; quills dark brown, the first seven or eight slightly edged with pale ochre, the rest edged with light brown ; flexure of the wing bright yellow ; small coverts varied with brown and yellowish-grey. Tail-feathers brown, lighter on the outer edges. A streak from the upper mandible over the eye, as well as the margin of the eye, ochre-yellow. Throat pale yellow- ish-grey, with a short streak of blackish on each side, from the base of the mandible ; fore part of the breast and sides tinged with brown ; the rest of the lower parts yellowish-grey.

Length 6 inches, extent of wings 71 ; bill along the ridge J, along the sides f ; tarsus |.

The Female is slightly smaller, but does not differ in colouring.

This species belongs to the same group as the Yellow-winged Sparrow, the Savannah Finch, the Lincoln Finch, and the Henslow Finch. At the same time, the form of the bill and tail indicates an affinity to the Sharp-tailed Finch, the Sea^side Finch, and MacGillivray's Finch, which are maritime birds, while the former do not betake themselves to the salt marshes. Both groups, however, have the tail-feathers more or less sharp.