482 



GRANIVOROUS BIRDS. 



quest of worms and other insects, and are at this time 

 often very unsuspicious, allowing a near approach with- 

 out betraying any alarm ; but when in large flocks, they 

 move about in timorous haste as soon as approached. 

 About the 15th of April, they leave the Middle States, 

 and probably retire to the high northern latitudes to 

 breed, having been seen in Newfoundland in summer ; 

 but of their nest and eggs we are ignorant. At the pe- 

 riod of breeding, the male is probably musical, as already 

 in the early spring, before their departure to the North, 

 on fine mornings, they are heard to whisper forth a few 

 sweet and clear notes, as in a reverie of the approaching 

 happiness of their more lively and interesting condition. 



The length of this species is about 7 inches ; the alar dimensions 

 9 to 9^. A stripe of white or whitish passes from the base of the 

 upper mandible to tJie hind-head, which is bordered on either side 

 by a stripe of brownish-black ; another pale line passes over the eye, 

 becoming yellow between that and the nostril ; this line is again 

 bordered by a narrow stripe of brownish-black proceeding from the 

 lower angle of the eye. Tail somewhat wedge-shaped. Legs pale 

 flefh-color. Bill bluish horn-color, pale beneath. Iris hazel. 



BAY-WINGED or GRASS FINCH. 



{Fringilla graminea, Gmel. Audubon, pi. 94. Orn. Biog. i. p. 473. 

 Emberiza graminea, Wilson, iv. p. 51. pi. 31. fig. 5.) 



Sp. Charact. — Breast and flanks spotted with brown; lesser wing- 

 coverts bay ; the 2 outer tail-feathers partly white ; above brown- 

 ish-grey, varied with dusky. 



This plain-looking Finch chiefly frequents dry pas- 

 tures and meadows, and is often seen perched on the 

 fences and in the orchard trees ; it also frequently ap- 

 proaches the public roads and gathers its subsistence 

 tamely from various sources. It is abundant in the Mid- 

 dle States, where many pass the whole year, yet great 

 numbers also winter in the southern parts of the Union, 



