Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/550

5i4 breast and abdomen white, tinged with cream-colour, the under tail- coverts white. An obscure spot of dark brown on the middle of the breast ; and the feathers that cover the flexure of the wing, when closed, are bay.

Length 64 inches, extent of wings 8| ; bill along the back -j%, along the edge j% ; tarsus §.

Adult Female. Plate CLXXXVIII. Fig. 2.

The female resembles the male, but is paler in its tints, and rather smaller.

The species is very closely allied to the Field Sparrow and the Chip- ping Sparrow, which are at least as much Emberizae as Fringillae ; but as the generic characters and affinities of species cannot be conveniently detailed in a work like this, I must for the present defer the grouping of these, and the numerous birds allied to them.

Bekberis canadensis, Willd. Sp. PI. vol. ii. p. 227. Pursh. Fl. Anier. Sept. vol. i. p. 219. — Hexandria Monogynia, Linn. Berberides, Juss.

This species of Barberry is very abundant in Maine and Massachusetts, as well as in the British provinces. It is an erect shrub, from five to eight feet in height, with triple prickles, simple obovate remotely serrated leaves, short corymbose racemes; yellow flowers, and pendulous oblong red berries, having an agreeable acid taste.