AMMODliOMUS MARIT1MUS. 121 



AMMODROMUS MABITIMTJS. 



Gray Shore Pinch. 

 Ammodromvi maritimus Sw., Zuol. Jour., Ill, 1827, 328. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cn. Form, rather robust. Size, medium. Tongue, long, thin, and horny, provided with a terminal tuft of hair- 

 like fibers. Sternum, rather stout, with the keel a little higher than that of the preceding species and with the coracoids 

 somewhat shorter. 



COLOR. A'lull. Above, grcenisli-gray, broadly streaked with dusky. Wings and tail, dark-brown, with the outer 

 we! i- i .!_;. -d with ri'(l(lish-bri>wn. Beneath, ashy-white, purest on the throat but very much darker on the sides an<} flanks. 

 Si lc - i:f head and streaking* below, dusky. There is a decided maxillary line of dusky below one of white, and a slightly 

 Bed median line of ashy extends from the bill to the occiput. Line from base of upper mandible to point over the eye, 

 nnd edge of wing, yellow, and there is a greenish suffusion back of the eye. Bill, black, bluish at base of lower mandible. 

 1 ' t, brown. 



Youny. Similar, but browner above, with the median line better denned. The greenish gloss back of the eye is not 

 very pcTeeptibl.:, and there are traces of yellowLsh-rufjus across the breast. 



Youni/ of Ike yuar. Are very brown above, where the dark streakings are nearly obscured. They are also very much 

 whiter liel.iw, where there are but few streakings. The median ashy line Is considerably broader and much more clearly 

 defined. S,-xes, similar in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



There is a general uniformity of coloration in specimens of the same age. The streakings below are never well defined, 

 but oeeasionally encroach upon the throat which is usually immaculate. Readily distinguished from mclano/cucus by the 

 unif.inn grayish tint throughout which is so conspicuous, even in the young, that this species need not be confounded with 

 jiuy other. A constant resident along the coast from the Carolinas to Middle Florida and on the Northern portion of the 

 Gulf of Mexico. Found as far north as Connecticut in summer but does not occur in the interior. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of twenty specimens. Length, 5 - 50; stretch, 8'25; wing, 2'50; tail, 2' 10; bill, '60; tarsus, -80. 

 Longest specimen, 5'75; greatest extent of wing, 8'40; longest wing, 2-f>0; tail, 2-25; bill, '65; tarsus, '95. Shortest speci- 

 men, 5'25; smallest extent of wing, 8' 15; shortest wing, 2 - 40; tail, 2'00; bill, '55; tarsus, '75. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed on the ground, or near it. They are either gourd-shaped, with a contracted entrance on top, partly cov- 

 ered, having the entrance on the side, or open. They are composed of coarse grass lined with finer and occasionally with 

 rootl.'ts. Dimensions; external diameter, 4'00, internal, 2'50. External depth, 4'75, internal, 1'75. 



Eyys, four, five, or even six in number, rather elliptical in frm, dull-white in color, spotted and dotted quite finely with 

 reddish-brown and sepia. Dimensions from '80 x '58 to '82 x '62. 



HABITS. 



The coast of South Carolina and Georgia is peculiar being made up of various islands. 

 These are separated by deep sounds which form the mouths of the numerous rivers that 

 flow through this section of the country. The islands are not much elevated but are above 

 high water mark, while the land back of them is very low being, in fact, overflowed by the 

 tide. These salt marshes are quite wide extending for some hundreds of miles along the 

 shore, ;ind are intersected by numerous creeks some of which are very deep. As those 

 that empty into one sound connect with those lhat have outlets in sounds on either hand, 

 there is a continuous chain of canals which admit the passage of vessels of considerable 

 size. In my last trip south on the yacht Nina I availed myself of this circumstance, and 

 after leaving Bull Bay in South Carolina, kept inside as far as Jacksonville, Florida. As 

 we were frequently obliged to remain in one spot for some time, I had a fine opportunity 

 of observing the birds which inhabited the vast marshes through we were sailing, and the 

 Gray Shore Finches were among those which claimed my constant attention. 



IIIKUS ttr t-MiKIDA. 16 



