484 GRANIVOROUS BIRDS. 



lates lameness with remarkable dexterity so as very 

 readily to draw off the attention of her enemies or in- 

 truders. The young are easily raised from the nest, and 

 become very tame, clean, and domestic, but readily quar- 

 rel with each other. 



The length of the Grass Finch is about 6 or 6| inches, and 10^ in 

 alar dimensions. Primaries edged with whitish. Tail partly wedg- 

 ed, the outer feather almost wholly white, except towards the base 

 of the inner web } the next feather white on the outer vane, and 

 (sometimes) also with a spot of the same color. Breast and flanks 

 white, tinged with very pale brown, and spotted with dark pointed 

 spots along the shafts of the feathers ; belly and vent white ; 2d and 

 3d primaries longest. Bill above dusky, notched near the tip: be- 

 neath paler. Legs and feet pale flesh-color. Tarsus | of an inch. — 

 Female hardly distinguishable from the male ; the spots of the breast 

 somewhat fewer and smaller. 



AMBIGUOUS SPARROW. 



{Fringilla *ambigua, Nobis.) 



Observ. — Dusky brownish-grey, varied with edgings of brownish- 

 white ; below yellowish- white, faintly spotted with dull grey j 

 rump grey ; chin without spots ; tail immaculate, cuneiform ; 

 3d primary much longer than the 5th ; legs and feet very ro- 

 bust. A young bird. Adult .? 



Of this very distinct, and plain, mouse-colored Spar- 

 row, I, at present, know scarcely any thing, excepting 

 that it was shot in this vicinity (Cambridge) in the early 

 part of the summer of 1830. The specimen is in fresh 

 plumage ; and in its general color, both above and below, 

 with the very unusual length and pointedness of the 

 wings, and the distinct graduation of the feathers, it 

 might, without looking at the bill, be at once taken almost 

 for the common Pevvee. The only American species, 

 to which it bears any affinity, is the Cinereous Finch of 

 Aoonalashka, and the Dusky Grosbeak of Pennant, but 

 it is still sufficiently different. 



