l-HINCIM-in.K -TFIK KINcriKS. ;]1 



Melospiza lincolni, 1>aiiu). 



UHCOLirS FINCH. 



Friifjilla linrohii, Ai'D. Om. Uio;,'. II, 1,h:j4, :Mt, pi. rxriii. - Xrrr. Mmi. I, (-J.l cl,,) l.sto, 

 ;)»>U. LiiHtn'n liiirohii, llu H. List. 1^37. I'lLSfurniliis linm/ni, Uonai". Li.st, lf*:iN. 

 /'eiica-H liuriUni, AuD. Synojwis, IMjy, 113. — Id. liinls Am. Ill, 1^41, llt$, pi. ilxxvii. 

 — HoXAi". Consp. 1850, 481. In. I'oinptos HcjkIus, XXVI I, 18:»4, l»2(). Mr/nspr.it 

 lincolni, Haii:i>, Hir Is N. Am l8.'i.s, 482. — I)all& Hannistku, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, l>tili, 

 285 (Alaska). — t'nni'i:i:, Oru. C'lil. I, 21*J. J'liHserculus zutuiriiu'<, (IW.) i?)iLxn:n, Vr. 

 Z(Mtl. S(H-. 185H, 305. 



.^p. ('iiAi{. (JtiuTai asjtect above tli)»t of M, melodid^ Imt paler and less nMldisli. ('if)\vii 

 iliill clii>tiiut, with a median ami lateral or supereiliaiy ash-rtiloied stiipe; ea«h feather 

 ahove streaked eentrally with black. liack with narrow streaks of Maek. IJeneath 

 white, with a maxillary stripe eiirvin*; round behind the ear-coverts; a well-delined l»atid 

 across the breast, extendinj,' down the sides, and the under tail-eoverts, of brownish-yellow. 

 The niaxillaiy stripe margined alcove and l»elow w ith lines of black sjxtts and a dusky 

 lino behind eye. The throat, upper part of brujist, and sides of the body, with streaks of 

 black, smallest in th** middle of the former. The pectoral bands are «ometimi'S paler, 

 liill above dusky ; base of lower jaw and le<rs yellowish.- Length, 5.00 ; wing, -.'JO. 



IIah. I'nited States from Atlantic to Pacific, north to the Yukon River and the 

 Ma<keny.i<>. and soutli through Mexico to Panama. Oaxaca (S«'L. IH.'jS, :{0;I) ; Xalapa 

 (ScL. 18.jU, 305) ; Guatemala (Scl. Il»is, I, 18) ; Vera Cruz, winter (Sim. M. B. S. I, hi't^i). 



There is little or no difference in .specimens of this bird from tlie whole 

 of its rankle, except that one from near Aspinwall is consi^lerahly smaller than 

 usual, the streaks on the back narrower, and the color ah;»ve more reddish. 

 A young bird from Fort Simpson, on the Mackenzie, is much like the adult. 



Habit-s. Lincoln's Finch was first met witli l>v' Mr. Audtibon in Labrador, 

 and named in honor c»f one of his companions, Mr. Thomas Lincoln, now 

 residing at Dennysville, Elaine, by whom the first specimen was i>rocured. 

 His attention was attracted to it by the sweet notes of its song, which, he 

 states, surpass in vigor those of any of our American Sparrows with which 

 he was acquainted. He descril)es this song as a compound of the notes 

 of a Canary and a Woodlark of Europe. The bird was unusually wild, and 

 was procured with great difficulty. )ther specimens, afterwards obtained, 

 did not exhibit the same degree of ^'ildness, and they became more com- 

 mon as the imrty ])roceeded farther north. He did not meet with its nest. 



He descri]>es the habits of this species as resembling, in some respects, 

 those of the Song Sparrow, It mounts, like that l)ird, on the topmost twig of 

 some tall shrub to chant for whole hours at a time, or dives into the thickets 

 and hops from branch to branch until it reaches the ground in search of those 

 insects or berries on which it feeds. It moves swiftly away when it discovers 

 an enemy, and, if forced to take to flight, flies low and rapidly to a consider- 

 able distance, jerking its tail as it proceeds, and throwing itself into the thick- 

 est bush it meets. Mr. Audubon found it mostly near streams, and always 

 in the small valleys guarded from the prevalent cold winds of that countiy. 



