THE SHARP-TAILED FINCH. 307 



AMMODROMUS, SWAINSON. 



Ammodromus, SWAINSON, Zool. Jour., III. 1827. (Type Oriolus caudacutus, 

 Gmelin.) 



Bill very long, slender, and attenuated, considerably curved towards the tip above ; 

 the gonys straight; the legs and toes are very long, and reach considerably beyond 

 the tip of the short tail ; the tarsus is about equal to the elongated middle toe ; the 

 lateral toes equal, their claws falling considerably short of the base of the middle 

 one ; the hind claw equal to the lateral one ; wings short, reaching only to the base 

 of the tail ; much rounded ; the secondaries and tertials equal, and not much shorter 

 than the primaries; the tail is short, and graduated laterally, each feather stiffened, 

 lanceolate, and acute. 



Color. Streaked above and across the breast; very faintly on the sides. 



AMMODROMUS CAUDACUTUS. Swainson. 

 The Sharp-tailed Finch. 



Oriolus caudacutus. Gm., I. (1788) 394. 



Fringilla caudacuta, Wilson. Am. Orn., IV. (1811) 70. Aud. Orn. Biog., II. 

 (1834) 281; V. 499. 



Ammodromus caudacutus, Swainson. Birds, II. (1837) 289. 

 Fringilla littoralis, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 504 (2d ed., 1840, 590). 



DESCRIPTION. 



Upper parts brownish-olivaceous; head brownish, streaked with black on the 

 sides, and a broad central stripe of ashy; back blotched with darker; a broad 

 superciliary and maxillary stripe, and a band across the upper breast buff-yellow; 

 the sides of the throat with a brown stripe ; the upper part of the breast and the 

 sides of the body streaked with black ; rest of under parts white ; edge of wing 

 yellowish-Avhite. 



The young is of a more yellowish tinge above and below; the streaks on the 

 back more conspicuous; the scapular feathers without the whitish edging. 



Length, five inches ; wing, two and thirty one-hundredths inches. 



Hob. Atlantic Coast of the United States. 



Massachusetts seems to be the northern limit of this spe- 

 cies. In this State and those south, it is not uncommon ; 

 but it is confined to the districts in the neighborhood of the 

 coast, and is never found more than a mile or two from 

 those localities in the breeding season. About the last 

 week in May, the nest is built : this is placed in a tussock 

 of grass above the tide-marks, and is constructed of coarse 

 grasses, which are woven into a strong fabric, and lined with 

 finer grasses and seaweed. The eggs are generally five in 



