558 NORTH AMHUICAN lUKDS. 



sjiiiii;^'; the sides of the emwii, as well as tlie <laik luarkiiij^'S on the hwk, 

 more inteiisitieil, ami in •,'reater roiitni.st witli the li<4htei' jisliy ami (►live 

 tints. 



IfAl'.lTS. Tlie Sliarp-tailed Fineh is one of the most strikinL,' ami well- 

 characterized of huid-hirds, and as |)tn'iiliar to the sea- shore as the Triinjo . 

 in habits it very closclv resembles tlie whole ft irilv of Waders in many 

 striking' respects. Like them it feeds upon small crustaceans and minute 

 marine insects, keeping about the water's ed^'e, walking u|>on the floating 

 weeds and other sub.stances rai.sed by the tide, preferring this mode of lile 

 to a more inhmd residence, and (»nly resorting to the ui)lands to feed upon 

 the seeds of grasses and sedges when their food fails them at the watei's 

 edge. 



Dr. Cones is of the o]>inion that this bird does not breed in the neighbor- 

 hood of IJeaufort, X. ('., and that it leaves for the North in May, having 

 a more northern habitat than A. mnrituna. He does not coincide with those 

 who (h'tect a resemblance lietween the actions of the Atnmoilnnni and of 

 tlie Sandj»ipers. He thinks the manner in which they climb the reeds, slide 

 up and down, and hang from them in various attitudes, is more like that 

 of Xuthatches and Titmice. On the ground they seem to him unmistakably 

 sparrow- like. 



This Shari)-tailed Finch is abundant along the coasts of Connecticut and 

 Uhode Island, and is also found in Massachusetts, thoug)' sparingly, and only 

 in a few congenial localities. In the marshes of Charles IJivei", near Boston, 

 this species is occasionally common in the breeding-season. In the summer 

 of 18H9, Mr. H. \V. Henshaw found quite a number of their nests. Mr. 

 Maynard has also taken it among the marshes of Ipswich, which is ])robably 

 about its extreme northern limit. It has not, so far as I am aware, been 

 traced to Maine. In these localities it probably raises two broods in a sea- 

 .son, as it appears there in May, and remains until into October. They are 

 eminently terrestrial, run on the ground like mice, are difficult to Hush, and 

 can onlv be shot while on the winij. They lie close to the gi'ound, and con- 

 ceal themselves in the grass. 



They are also very numerous in the marshes in the neighborhood of Xew 

 York, and especially so in Xew Jersey, breeding along that coast to Cape 

 ^Iay^ How much farther south than this they are found I cannot state, but 

 I did not meet with any at Cape Charles, where the maritimus was very 

 abundant. 



In the winter this species is found in large flocks along the shores of South 

 Carolina and Georgia. ^Ir. Audubon, however, did not find any in Florida. 

 In the marshes near Charleston they are found in inmiense flocks, so nuich 

 so that Audubon has known of forty being killed at a single shot. They 

 search in the sedgy marshes for their food when the tide is out, and, on the 

 approach of the returning w^aters, retreat to the higher shores and to the 

 rice embankments. : = <- . 



