Kin.NfiiLLiD.i'; -Till'; I'Mncfiics. 32 



Melospiza lincolni, liAiiti). 



LINCOLN'S FINCH. 



FriiiijUla lim-nhii, Ai'i). Oni. 'tin;;. II, 1834, SHil, pi. rxi'iii. — Nl'TT. Mini. I, (-Jil cd.,) is id, 

 riilU. LiiHin'a 'iiu-nhii, Ulcii. l.Lst. 1S37. I'dnsiiviitii-i linen/iii, Umnai'. l-i>t, 1.h;)k. 

 J'tucitti liiiniini, Aiii). Synopsi.s, 1,h;!!>, \Vi. — In. lliid.s Am. Ill, ISU, llii, pi. clxxvii. 

 — lloNAI'. (oiisii. iHi'id, 181. III. CoiDiitivs Hcli'liis, XXVII, IS'it, lt2(). Mi/n.sj,i:,i. 

 lincolni, B.viiin, liinl.s N. Am. I8,'i8, 48'2. — D.M.i. & ItA.N.MsiKU, Tr. t'li. Ac. I, Ksii'.i, 

 285 (Alaska). — Cooi-kh, Orii. t'al. I, :!1(5. J'lisnerculun zoiinritui, (Mr.) Sulateii, I'r. 

 ZiHil. Sor. 18,'i«, 305. 



.^1'. CiiAK. <icii('nil iis|)0(;t, aliovo tlial of M. mrladiit, Init jiatcr ami li'S.s rcilili.sli. (^rowii 

 (lull i;licsliiut, with a iiii'dian and laturnl or .-iiipi'n;iliaiy asli-coloii'd sliipi!; rai/li Icallicr 

 iiliovu .stivaki-'J uL-ntrnlly with hluck. Hack with luirrow streaks of liluok. Huncath 

 wliit(>, with a iiia.xillary stript! (Mirvin); round lichlnd the i-nr-covorts ; a wcll-dulincd liaiid 

 acM-o.ssthclMca.st, (■xli'iidiii},'ilowii tlic .sides, and tlio under tail-covcrt.s, of l)rownish-ycl!()W. 

 Tin; nia.xiilary stripe inargiiied aljovc and la'low with lines ol' hlaek sputs and a dusky 

 lino liehind eye. Tlie throat, upper part of ljrea.st, and sides of the body, with streaks (d" 

 blaek, snialltvst in the middle of the former. The pectoral l)and.t are sometimes paler. 

 ]!ill above dusky; l)ase of lower jaw and kys yellowish.- Lenjrtli, 5.00; wirifj, 2.')0. 



Hah. I'nited Stales from Atlantic to ]'a<Mlic, north to the Yukon Uive d tluj 

 Mackenzie, and .south throu<i;h Mexico to ranama. Oaxi a (Si-i,. 18.')8, .'(().'{) ; Xalapa 

 (Sci.. ISolJ, 305) ; Guatemala (Scl. Ibis, I, 18) ; Vera Cniz, winter (.Sr.v. M. B. S. I, .Wi;. 



Tliero is little or no tliffovence in .specimens of tliis liinl IVoin the whole 

 of its miijif, except tliat one Ironi near AspinwiiU is consi(lei'iil)ly smaller tlian 

 usual, the streaks on the back narrower, and tlie color alwive more reildish. 

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



Hadits. Lincoln's Finch wtis first met witli by Mr. Audubon in Labriidor, 

 and named in honor of one of his companions, Mr. Thoniiis Lincoln, now 

 residing at Dennysville, Maine, by wliom tlie first specimen was procured. 

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

 states, suipass in vigor those of any of our Amcirican Si)arrows with which 

 he was acquainted. He describes this song as a comiiound of the notes 

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

 was procured with great difficulty. Other specimens, afterwards obtained, 

 did not (ixhibit the same degree of wildness, and they became more com- 

 mon as the jiarty ]iroceeded farther north. He did not meet with its nest. 



He descrilies tlie habits of this species as resembling, in some respects, 

 those of tiie Song Sparrow. It mounts, like that bird, on the topmost twig of 

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

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

 insects or borries 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 country. 



