Chap. 3. 



BIRDS OF VERMONT. 



89 



SWAMP SPARROW. 



YELLOW BIRD. — PINE LINNET. 



LESSER. RED-POLL. 



throat and breast pale brownish drab ; bel- 

 ly and vent white ; tail dusky, forked and 

 edged with whitisli ; bill and legs reddish 

 cinnamon color; hind nail as long as the 

 toe ; the 3d primary longest, the 1st short- 

 er than the 6th. Length 5^ in. — A^iUt. 



History. — This species very much re- 

 sembles the Chipping Sparrow, but the 

 bay above is brighter, and the tail propor- 

 tionably longer. It builds its nest of dried 

 grass, upon the ground, in the shelter of 

 a low bush or grassy tuft. The eggs are 

 so thickly sprinkled with ferruginous as 

 to appear almost wliolly of that color, 



THE SWAMP SPARROW. 

 FringUla palustris. — Wils. 



Description. — Blackish brown above, 

 belly white ; crown bright bay, undivi- 

 ded, bordered with blackish ; line over 

 the eye, sides of the neck, and breast ash 

 color; wings and tail dusky, the prima- 

 ries edged with brownish white, the sec- 

 ondaries with bay ; bill dusky ; iris hazel ; 

 legs stout and lonnr, and with the feet pale 

 brownish horn color. Young spotted with 

 black and olive brown. Length 6; spread 

 8.—J\\iUall. 



History. — This species is aquatic in its 

 habits, and resides principally in low wet 

 lands and swamps, and hence its name. 

 Swamp Sparrow. It arrives from the 

 south in April, and builds its nest in a 

 tuft of rank grass in the midst ofa marsh. 

 The eggs are 4 or 5, of a dirty white 

 color, spotted with reddish brown. 



YELLOW BIRD, OR AMERICAN GOLD 



FINCH. 



FringUla tristis. — Linn^us. 



Description. — General color of the 

 male, in summer, rich gamboge yellow, 

 fading into white towards the tail ; crown 

 and frontlet black ; wings and tail black, 

 varied with white ; smaller wing feathers 

 and coverts tipped and edged with white ; 

 tail sharply forked, witli the featliers 

 acutely pointed, and shaded off into white 

 on their inner webs towards the tips ; bill 

 conical, acute, brownish yellow, and the 

 gap straight; legs, feet and claws slen- 

 der, and ofa yellowish brown color. Fe- 

 male, young, and malc^'nx autumn, brown- 

 ish olive above, yellowish vi'hite beneath. 

 Length 5 in. ; spread 8. Four first pri- 

 maries nearly equal. 



History. — The Yellow Bird, or Amer- 

 ican Gold Finch, is common in summer 

 from tropical America to the •^)(Jth paral- 

 lel of north latitude. It arrives in Ver- 

 mont later tlian several of the other spar- 

 rows, and is later in rearing its young. It 

 Ft I. 12 



seldom builds its nest till some time in 

 July, and is less disposed to build in the 

 immediate vicinitv of our dwellings than 

 several others of the family. The nest is 

 usually placed in the top ofa young for- 

 est tree, from 1") to 30 feet from the 

 ground, and is composed of the dry bark 

 of herbaceous plants, thickly bedded with 

 cotton-like down of the Canada thistle. 

 The eggs, 4 or 5, are white and without 

 spots. This bird seems to be extremely 

 fond of the seeds of the thistle, and of oth- 

 er compound flowers; and it often visits 

 our gardens for the purpose of feeding up- 

 on lettuce and flower seeds. They soon 

 become reconciled to the cage, and their 

 song is nearly as sonorous and animated 

 as that of the Canary Bird. 



THE FINE LINNET. 

 Fringilia jjinus. — W i lson . 



Description. — Color dark flaxen, spot- 

 ted with blackish ; wings black, with two 

 yellowish white bars; quill shafts and lat- 

 eral tail feathers on tiie lower half yellow; 

 rump, breast and sides spotted and streak- 

 ed witli blackish brown ; bill dull horn 

 color; legs purplish brown; iris hazel. 

 Length 4^ ; spread 8.^. 



History. -The Pine Linnet passes most 

 of the year to the northward of the United 

 States ; but, in the depth of winter, often 

 makes its appearance here and in states 

 still further south. Of its history we 

 know very little. 



THE LESSER RED-POLL. 



Fringilia linaria. — Linnaeus. 



Description. — General color of the 

 upper plumage yellowish gray, darkly 

 streaked with blackish brown ; win(rsand 

 tail featliers blackish, slightly edoed vvith 

 white, with two narrow yellowish white 

 bars on each wing ; crown briglit deep 

 crimson, with a crimson tinge on the 

 rump and sides of the throat; a brownish 

 black band around the base of the hill, and 

 reaching down upon the throat ; belly 

 bluish white, spotted and stripeil with 

 brown upon the sides and beneath the 

 tail ; feathers on the thighs j'ellowish 

 brown. Bill slender, straight, acutely 

 pointed, yellowish on the sides, and brown 

 above and below towards the tip ; wino-s 

 long, the three first quills longest, and 

 nearly equal ; tail sharply forked ; ierrs, 

 feet and claws black ; claws slender, cur- 

 ved, acute, the hind one much the long- 

 est. Length of the specimen before me 

 5^ inches ; tail 2;} ; folded wing 3. 



History. — This elegant species is sel- 

 dom seen among us, excepting in the 



