190 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
(c). The Lark Finches, since but one specimen has been 
taken in this State, namely, at Gloucester, in 1845, have no 
more claim to be considered or treated as birds of Massachu- 
setts, than a Turk who passes a day and night at Paris to be 
called a Frenchman; but, in conformity to the strict but not 
unreasonable demands of modern science, I shall give a brief 
account of its habits, formed from the observations of other 
naturalists. The Lark Finches feed principally upon seeds 
which they obtain upon the ground. They are most abundant 
in prairies and other open lands, though they also visit trees, 
or resort to their immediate neighborhood. In general habits, 
they resemble the White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichiw, next 
to whom they should properly stand). Mr. Ridgway considered 
their delightful song, which is usually delivered from a perch, 
as the finest belonging to the finches. 
IX. AMMODROMUS 
(A) maritimus. Sea-side Finch. 
(Almost wholly absent from Massachusetts, though said by 
Dr. Coues to be, or to have been, abundant in New Hamp- 
shire.) 
(a). About six inches long. Tail-feathers narrow and 
pointed, as also in cawdacutus. Superciliary line from bill to 
eye, and edge of the wing, yellow. Upper parts, and side- 
shading below, brown or gray, olive-tinted, the former more or 
less streaked. Under parts, white; breast tinted with brown, 
and faintly or obsoletcly streaked. Wings and tail, plain, 
scarcely marked. Side-markings on the head, vague. 
(b). ‘*The nest is usually placed in a tussock of grass, in 
the fresh water marshes, or on the sea-shore beyond the reach 
of high-tide.” The eggs measure about ‘80 X °57 of an inch, 
and are white, gray-tinged, thickly, finely, and most often 
evenly marked with brown, which is sometimes confluent or 
predominant at the crown. 
(c). Lregret that I know nothing-of the habits of the Sea- 
side Finches, and that I cannot add to what has appeared in the 
various meagre accounts of these birds already published. 
