368 



SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSEEES — OSCINES. 



240. 



streaks on breast and sides ; maxillary stripes of tlie same ; wings and tail plain dusky, with 

 slight olivaceous edgings ; wiug-coverts and inner quills somewhat margined with brown ; 

 edge of wing bright yellow ; a bright yellow sjwt on lore, and often some vague brownish and 

 dusky markings on side of head ; bill plumbeous, or dark hora-blue ; feet dark. Length 5.75- 

 6.25; extent 8.50; wing 2.25-2.50; tail about 2.00. Recognizable on sight by the bright 

 ydlow edge of wing and loral spot, with little varied olive-gray upper parts. Salt marshes of 

 the Atlantic and Gulf coast; abundant. North to Massachusetts; breeds throughout its range, 

 and resident in the south, but 'screened from casual observation by the nature of its haunts and 

 habits. Nest in a tussock of grass just out of water; eggs 0.75 X 0.55, grayish-white, thickly 

 and jirctty eveuly marked. 



A. m. nigres'cens. (Lat. nigrescens, growing black.) Florida Sea-side Finch. Like 

 A. maritimns; rather smaller bodied, though members not shorter, and conspicuously different 

 in color, being almost entirely black and 

 wliite. Upper parts sooty-black, slightly 

 variegated with slate-colored edgings of the 

 feathers, and some pale gray edgings of the in- 

 terscapulars. Below white, heavOy streaked 

 with blackish everywhere excepting on the 

 throat and middle of belly. A bright yellow 

 loral spot, and bend of the wing bright yel- 

 low (both very conspicuous in the black 

 plumage). Wing-quills blackish, the inner 

 secondaries quite black ; all narrowly edged 

 with b^o^vnish. Tail black, with gray edg- 

 ings of the feathers, — these edgings tending 

 to form scallops with the black central field. 

 Bill and feet as in A. maritimus. A curi- 

 ous local race, resident in Florida. 

 A. caudacu'tus. (Lat. cauda, tail; acutus, 

 sharp. Fig. 23L) SnARP-TArLED Finch. 

 Olive-gray, sharply streaked on the back 

 with blackish and whitish, less so on the rump with blackish alone. Crown darker than nape, 

 with brownish-black streaks, tending to form lateral stripes and obscure olive-gray median line ; 

 no yellow loral spot, but long line over eye and sides of head rich buff or orange-brown, enclos- 

 ing olive-gray auriculars and a dark speck behind them, or dark post-ocular stripe over them. 

 Olive-gray of cervix extending around on sides of neck. Below, white ; the fore parts and 

 sides tinged with yellowish-brown or buff of variable intensity, the breast and sides sharply 

 streaked with dusky. Greater coverts and inner secondaries with blackish field toward their 

 ends, broadly margined with rusty brown and whitish. Tail-feathers brown, with dusky shaft- 

 stripes and tendency to ''water" with cross vtdse wavy bars. Bill blackish above, pale or 

 not below, feet brown. Coloration in spring and summer clearer and paler, in fall and in 

 young birds more brightly and extensively buff. Rather smaller than A. maritimus; bill still 

 slenderer, and tail-feathers still narrower and more acute. Length 5.10-5.50; extent 7.50 ; 

 ^ving 2.25 ; tail 2.00; bill 0.45-0.50; tarsus, or middle toe and claw, 0.75. Salt marshes of 

 the Atlantic and Gulf States, N. abundantly to Maine ; range similar to that of A. maritimtis, 

 but on the whole more northerly, especially in the breeding season ; nest and eggs similar and 

 scarcely distinguishable. 



A. c. nel'soni. (To E. W. Nelson, of IlUnois.) Similar to the last, but smaller, with 

 bill slenderer and longer; colors brighter and markings more sharply defined. Fresh marshes 

 of Illinois and other portions of the Mississippi Valley at large ; N. probably to Canada. 



Sea-side Finch, reduced. (Sheppard del. 



