214 LAND-BIRDS. 



B. LiNCOLNii. Lincoln^s Finch. Lincoln's Sparrow, 

 Of great rarity in Massachusetts, occurring as a summer resi- 

 dent.* 



a, 64 inches long. Below, white ; dusky-streaked, except 

 on the belly. Breast hand (and side-shading), hy^oitmish 

 yellow. Above, grayish brown ; crown and back, streaked 

 with blackish, brownish, and paler; tail, scarcely marked. 

 Wings, with some bay and white. [Abridged from Coues.] 



h. The nests hitherto found have all been placed upon the 

 ground. An egg in my collection measures about .75 X .55 

 of an inch, and is light green, finely blotched all over with 

 a medivmi brown, which is purple - tinged. Dr. Brewer de- 

 scribes others, having " a pale greenish white ground," " thickly 

 marked with dots and small blotches of a ferruginous brown," 

 etc. 



c. The Lincoln's Finches are very rare in Massachusetts, a 

 few specimens only having been hitherto obtained in this State. 

 Their summer habitat is an extensive one, — "the United 

 States from Atlantic to Pacific," — including the north, for 

 they were "first met with by Mr. Audubon in Labrador." 

 As I have seen them but once, my brief description of their 

 habits is gathered from Dr. Brewer's account of them.^ 

 The Lincoln's Finch is allied in habits to the Song Sparrow, 

 singing " for whole hours at a time " from the top of some 

 shrub, often diving into thickets, and, when frightened, flying 

 " low and rapidly to a considerable distance " (as the Song 

 Sparrow does not) " jerking its tail as it proceeds, and throw- 

 ing itself into the thickest bush it meets." Audubon found 

 the Lincoln's Sparrows chiefly near streams ; and apparently 

 these birds are often gregarious, at least during the migra- 

 tions. 



* Lincoln's Sparrow is now known bridg-e, and in the course of a single 



to occur very regularly during the morning I have started a dozen or more 



spring and autumn migrations at many birds from a single field at Lake Um- 



localities in both northern and south- bagog. It has not as yet been found 



ern New England. It is, while with breeding in New England, but its nest 



us, a silent, retiring bird, easily over- has been taken in the Adirondacks. 



looked, and hence by many collectors it — W. B. 



is considered a prize of considerable ^^ My biography of this species was 



rarity. But at the proper seasons it written before I had access to the works 



is often not uncommon about Cam- of Audubon. 



