Song Birds and Water Fowl 
all of them nesting very unpretentiously in a 
tussock of grass near the water’s edge. This 
sharp-tailed finch is easily recognized by a 
long and prominent bright-buff line over the 
eye, and large, dark spots on a light breast. 
Nothing complimentary can be said of any of 
these water sparrows, in a musical way, as they 
rank among the lowest, even of this humble 
class. 
Scientific names are often as meaningless or 
misleading as they are unpronounceable; but 
this is not so with the sea-side and sharp-tailed 
finches. ‘Their generic name, ammodramus— 
running on the sands—aptly expresses their pre- 
vailing habit, as their flight on the wing is in- 
frequent, short, and low; and their specific 
names, maritimus and caudacutus—which define 
themselves to the rustiest Latin scholar—are 
equally appropriate. 
Whoever roams over sands and salt marshes is 
familiar with the ‘¢ fiddler crab,’’ of which I 
found an immense colony near the finch—two or 
three inches long, their shells prettily marked 
with gray, brown, and a bluish purple centre. 
They numbered thousands and tens of thou- 
sands, and the entire army beat a hasty retreat, 
as fast as their eight legs could carry them, at 
180 
