206 VERTEBRATES: BIRDS. 



The Genus Pocccctcs has the bill rather large, wings 

 long and pointed, the second and third quills longest, 

 tail short, forked, stiff, and its feathers acute. 



The Grass Finch, or Bay-winged Bunting, P. grami- 

 neus, Baird, of the United States from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific is six and a quarter inches long, the wing three 

 and one tenth inches ; above yellowish brown, the feath- 

 ers streaked abruptly with dark brown ; beneath yellowish 

 white, the breast, sides of neck, and body streaked with 

 brown, and the wings with the shoulder light chestnut- 

 brown. The Bay-winged Bunting sings sweetly, and, at 

 times, for a half-hour without changing its place. Its 

 nest is built in the grass, and partly sunk in the ground ; 

 the eggs four to six, bluish white, with undefined blotches 

 of pale reddish-brown. 



The Genus Coturniculus has the bill very large and 

 stout, tarsus longer than the middle toe, wings short and 

 rounded, tail short, narrow, graduated, but slightly emar- 

 ginate, the feathers lanceolate and acute, but not stiffened. 



The Yellow-winged Sparrow, C. passerimts, Bonap., of 

 North America east of the Central Plains, is about five 

 inches long, the wing two and two fifths inches ; the feath- 

 ers of the upper parts brownish rufous, margined narrowly 

 with ash ; the crown blackish with a central and super- 

 ciliary stripe of yellowish tinged with brown, the bend of 

 the wing bright yellow, the quill and tail-feathers edged 

 with whitish. The lower parts are brownish yellow, 

 nearly white on the middle of the belly ; the feathers of 

 the upper part of the breast and sides of the body with 

 darker centres. Its nest is upon the ground, made of 

 grass, and lined with fibrous roots and hair ; eggs dingy 

 white sprinkled with brown spots. 



Henslow's Bunting, C. Hcnsloivi, Bonap., of the Eastern 

 United States as far north as Washington, and westward, 

 is five and a quarter inches long, the wing less than two 



