WniTE-THROATED SFARROVl.—ZoHotrwhia albmUis. 



ash, the breast is ash, and the chin and the under portions of the body are pnre white. 

 The head is striped with black and white, and anotlier white streali whicli passes over the 

 eye warms into orange-yellow between the eye and the nostril. The female is easily 

 distinguished by the lighter breast, the drab wash upon the white, and the smaller size of 

 the orange line on the head. The legs are flesh-coloured, and the \nll has a bluish tinge. 

 The total length of the Wliite-throated Sparrow is about six and a half inches. 



The Shaep-tailed Finch derives its popular and appropriate title from the peculiar 

 shape of its tail, which can be readily understood by reference to the illustration. 



It is an interesting little bird, remarkably swift of foot, and a very excellent climber 

 of reeds and rushes, two accomplishments which are very seldom combined in the same 

 species. The sea- shore is the favourite haiuit of this bu-d, which seems to depend wholly 

 upon the waves for its subsistence. While feeding, it courses along the edge of the water 

 with wonderful celerity, pecking here and there at the little fish and crustaceans which 

 have been flung ashore by the water, and would make good their escape were not they 

 interrupted by the ready beak of their destroyer. As it trips over the sands it has all the 

 appearance of the sandpipers and other shore-living birds, although its legs are shorter and 

 its dimensions smaller. 



The low coral-covered i.slands that edge the Atlantic coast of America are tlie favoured 

 resorts of the Sharp-tailed Finch, which seldom quits these places of safety, unless driven 

 by continuous and wild easterly gales, which drive the sea over the islands and render 

 them untenable for the time. The bird then flies over to the main land, but still remains 

 close to the sea, preferring to roost on the ground and run alwut after dark. On 

 examining the stomach of several of these birds, Wilson found that they contained 

 fragments of shrimps, very small molluscs, and broken limbs of small crabs, no other 

 substances ever being found in their interior. Owing to this diet, the flesh of this species 

 is not at all fitted for the table, being rank and fishy. 



The crown of the head is olive-brown divided laterally with a streak of slaty blue or 

 light ash. The head and sides of the face are marked with several streaks of whit(>, one 

 of which becomes orange-yellow near the beak. The whole of tJie upper parts are brownish 



