560 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Ammodromus maritimus, Swainson. 



SEASIDE BUNTING. 



Fringilla maritima, Wilson, Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 68, pi. x.xxiv, f. 2. — Aud. Oni. 

 Biog. I, 1831, pi. xciii. Ammodromus maritimus, Sw. Zool. Jour. Ill, 1827, 328. 

 — BoNAP. List, 1838. — Ib. Consp. 1850, 482. — Aun. Synopsis, 1839, 110. — Ib. 

 Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 103, pi. clxxii. — Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 454. — Samuels, 

 308. Fringilla {Ammodromus) maritima, Nxitt. Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 592. Frin- 

 gilla macgillivrayi, Ann. Orn. Biog. II, 1834, 285 ; IV, 1838, 394 ; V, 1839, 499, pi. 

 ccclv. Ammodromus macgillivrayi, BoN. List, 1838. — Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 482. — 

 Aud. Syn. 1839. — Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 106, pi. clxxiii. Fringilla {Ammodro- 

 mus) macgillivrayi, Nuttall, Man. I, (2d ed.,) 1840, 593. 



Sp. Char. Above olivaceous ashy-brown ; nearly uniform, but with the centres of in- 

 terscapular feathers darker and edged faintly with paler ; very obsoletely, almost inap- 

 preciably streaked elsewhere, especially on the head, which has a faintly defined median 

 stripe of purer ashy. Beneath white ; the breast and sides and under tail-coverts with 

 rather indistinct streaks of dark ashy-brown, tending to form a large spot in centre of 

 breast; an ashy mandibular stripe continued into the a.shy sides of neck, and cutting off 

 and enclosing a white stripe above it. A spot of yellow anterior to eye, continued over 

 it as an almost inappreciable grayish stripe. Edge of wing sulphur-yellow. Bill lead- 

 color ; feet dusky. Length about 6 inches ; wing, 2.50. In autumn the breast and sides 

 tinged with fulvous; the back with rufous. 



Young birds (^A. macgillivrayi?) have markings much more distinct, and closely resem- 

 ble A. caudacuta, though larger. They will be most readily distinguished by the absence 

 of the fulvous superciliary stripe. 



Hab. Atlantic sea-coast of United States, northward to Long Island Sound. 



The same seasonal differences in coloration are observable in this species 

 as in A. caudacutus. 



Habits. The Seaside Finch has very nearty the same distribution, hab- 

 its, and manners of life, as the Sharp-tailed species, and the description of 

 these in one would answer almost equally well for the other. There are, 

 however, certain shades of difference in several respects to be observed. . 



This bird is, if anything, more southern in its distribution than the other, 

 and does not extend its visits in summer so far north. While the Sharp- 

 tailed Finch is not an uncommon bird on the shores of the New England 

 States, as far to the north as Ipswich, the Seaside Finch is comparatively 

 rare, much more so now than it was formerly. Mr. Maynard states that he 

 lias searched carefully for it from the Merrimack to the extreme southern 

 shores of Massachusetts without finding any specimens, nor could he find 

 any on the island of Nantucket, a very natural and congenial locality. Dr. 

 Coues states that it is abundant on tlie New Hampshire coast, but recent 

 endeavors have failed to detect it. In 1836 and 1837 a few isolated pairs 

 built in the marshes of Stony Brook, near Boston, above tide- water, nesting 

 not on the ground, but in low bushes. They were identified by Mr. Audubon. 



In the summer of 1852 I found this species very abundant on the low 

 sandy islands of Cape Charles, Va. There, in every instance, their nests 



