OF NEW ENGLAND. 207 
(B) urcotnt. Lincoln’s Finch. Lincoln’s Sparrow. 
(Of great rarity in Massachusetts, occurring as a summer- 
resident. ) 
(a). 5+ inches long. Below, white; dusky-streaked, except 
on the belly. Breast band (and side-shading), brownish-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.) 
(b). 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 medium 
brown, which is purple-tinged. Dr. Brewer describes 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 throwing 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 migrations. 
(d). Their song is said to be a fine one, and is described 
‘¢as composed of the notes of a Canary and a Woodlark of 
Europe.” They have also a ‘‘ chuck.” 
66 My biography of this species was written before I had access to the works of 
Audubon. 
