FKJNGU.LIU.K THE I-'INCIIES. 5(31 



were in low bushes, about a i'nol I'miu tlie urouinl. They were tho nnly hiiid- 

 birds found on these islands. 



Eev. C. M. Jones informs me tliat at Madison, Conn., tm tlie coast, the 

 Seaside and the Sharp-tailed Finches occur in about equal numbers in the 

 salt marshes. He was not able to observe any specific difleronce in their 

 mode of nesting, except that the maritimns seemed to lie more common in 

 that part of the niar.sh nearest the shore, while the nuuhinitiis was more 

 abundant farther back towards the higlilands, though this was not the inva- 

 riable rule. He sometimes found the nests suspended in tiie .salt grass, the 

 latter being interwoven with the other materials. In all such cases the en- 

 trance was on the side of tiie nest, in the manner of the Marsh Wren. At 

 other times he found the nest placed under a quantity of lodged grass, but 

 resting on a portion still lower. In such cases it is generally open at the top. 

 He has also found them on the ground, and, when thus placed, always much 

 more bulky than when built as above, a considerable quantity of dead grass 

 being laid down to keep the nest above the wet, though not always with 

 success. On Cobb's Island, Va., Mr. Jones only found the maritimus, the 

 nests of which were in Imshes, from one foot to eighteen inches from the 

 ground. 



The call-note of this species is said to be a monotonous chirj), and its song 

 hardly to deserve that name. The notes of which it is composed are few, 

 and liave neither variety, emphasis, nor attractiveness. 



Dr. Coues states that this Finch begins to sing wlien mating, and is after- 

 wards, during the incubating, particularly earnest and perse^■ering about it. 

 Each pair usually claims some particular copse, and the male usually has his 

 favorite singing-post, to which it continually resorts. He adds that its 

 simple song is something like that of the Yellow-shouldered Sparrow, begin- 

 ning with a few slow notes, then a rapid trill, finally slurred, till it sounds 

 like the noise made by some of the grasshoppers. 



These Ijirds are at all times shy and difficult to be approached. When 

 their nest is visited, the parents leave it and secrete themselves, and cannot 

 be traced without great difficulty. AVhen thus hidden, they will almost 

 suffer themselves to be trodden ujion before they will fly up. 



Mr. Audubon thinks they have two broods, their first being hatched out 

 early in June. Their nests, he states, are usually placed next to the ground, 

 but not sunk in it. Their food consists of marine insects, small crabs, and 

 snails, as well as small .sand-beetles and seeds. Their flesh has a rank, un- 

 savory flavor, so much so that, having had some made into a pie, he could 

 not eat it. He states also that they are resident in the Southern States, and 

 are found along the Gulf coast as far as Texas. 



The nest is strongly but coarsely woven of dry sedges, stems, and grasses, 

 and is lined with similar but finer materials. The eggs are five in number, 

 ha\-e a grayish-white ground, and are spotted and lilotched with reddish- 

 brown. The blotches are distriliuted over the entire egg, and are much 

 71 



