326 BIRDS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



is peculiar and likely to attract attention, not so much from its 

 sweetness, as its canary-like trill. Its nest is built on the 

 ground, after the fashion of most other sparrows, and made of 

 hay, with a lining of fine grass or horse-hair. The eggs are so 

 thickly sprinkled with rusty brown as to appear almost wholly 

 of that color. It usually raises two broods in a season. 



The Swamp Sparrow, Fringilla palustris, is rather com- 

 mon, after the middle of April, in the swamps and marshes, 

 from which it takes its name. Wilson speaks of it as destitute 

 of song. This is a mistake ; its strain, though not equal to 

 that of some others of the tribe, is lively and pleasant. It is 

 distinguished by its passion for the vicinity of water, where it 

 continually forces through brush and thickets, till its tail is 

 worn almost away. 



The nest of the swamp sparrow is made on the ground in 

 swamps, with the coarse grass which grows there. The eggs 

 are four or five, of a dull white, spotted with reddish brown. 

 The old birds express great anxiety for their young, but appa- 

 rently without much reason, for they have a wonderful alacrity 

 at hiding in the grassy places where they dwell. 



The Sharp-tailed Finch, Fringilla caudacuta, is added, at 

 the suggestion of Dr. Brewer, on the authority of Nuttall. 



The Seaside Finch, Fringilla mariiima, is found along 

 the borders of the ocean, and in the sea islands ; it visits the 

 interior only when driven by easterly storms. It runs in 

 search of marine insects and small shell-fish, like a sandpiper, 

 on the edge of the strand. Like the swamp sparrow, it has 

 feet and legs of great strength, and suited to its way of life. 

 These finches build on those parts of the marshes which are 

 above the flow of the tides. The nest is of grass ; the eggs 

 are dusky white, speckled with brown. 



The American Goldfinch, Fringilla tristis, well known by 

 its beautiful yellow plumage and jet black wings, can hardly 



