558 NORTH AMKKICAM lilliDS. 



s|iriiij,'; tlio sides of tlir crown, n.s well us tlic dark luiirkiiij^'S on tlio l)a('k, 

 nioro iiitensilird, and in ^'router contriist with llio lif,ditor iLsliy and olive 

 tint.s. 



IlAItlTS. Thu Sliarji-tailed Fincii is one ol llie most Htrikinj^ ami well- 

 characterized of laud-liirds, and as pecidiar to the seashore as tlie '/'riiii/ir. 

 In habits it very chtsely resemhles the wiioh; family of Waders in many 

 striking respects. Like thorn it feeds upon small crustaceans and minute 

 marine insects, keeping ahont the water's edge, walking uimju the lloating 

 weeds and other substances raised by th(! tide, pn'l'eri'ing this mode of life 

 to a more inland residence, and only resorting to the uplands to feed upon 

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

 edge. 



Dr. Coue.s is of the o])iniou tliat this l)ird does not breed in the neighbor- 

 hood of IJeaufort, N. ("., and that it leaves for the Xorth in iMay, having 

 a more northeiii habitat than A. miiri/itiin. He does not coincide with those 

 who detect a resemblance between tiie actions of the Aiiitnodrinui and of 

 the Sandpipers. He thinks the manner in which they climb the reeds, slide 

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

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

 spari'ow-like. 



This Sharp-tailed Fincli is abundant along the coasts of Connecticut and 

 J{hode Island, and is also found in Massachusetts, though s])aringly, and only 

 in a few congenial localities. In the marslies of Charles lUver, near Boston, 

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

 of 18(19, Mr. II. W. Ilenshaw found quite a number of their nests. Mr. 

 Alaynard has also taken it among the niarshes of Ipswich, which is probably 

 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 only be shot while on the wing. 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 New 

 York, and especiall}'^ so in New Jersey, breeding along that coast to Cape 

 May. How much farther south than this they are found 1 cannot state, but 

 I did not meet with any at Cape Charles, when; tlie maritimus was very 

 abundant. 



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

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

 In the marshes near Charleston they are found in immense flocks, so nnich 

 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 waters, retreat to the higher shores and to the 

 rice embankments. 



