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THE GRASS FINCH, OR BAY-WINGED BUNTING. 



Fringilla graminea, Gmel. 



PLATE XCIV. Male. 



I HAVE never seen the Bay- winged Bunting in any portion of Loui- 

 siana, Missouri, Kentucky, or Ohio, and am therefore inclined to look 

 upon it as a resident of the country lying to the eastward of the range of 

 the Alleghanies. It there occurs from Georgia to Massachusets, both 

 along the shores and inland, as far as the base of the mountains, and here 

 and there on the mountains themselves, but seldom in places to which 

 cultivation has not extended. I have thought it prepossessed in favour 

 of sandy ground, and dry barren soils. It sings sweetly, and at times 

 for half-an-hour, without changing its place, either from the tops of the 

 Sassafras or Sumach bushes which grow along the fences, or from the 

 upper bar or stake of a fence itself. During this little serenade, it is 

 easily approached, but when on the grovnid, where it runs nimbly and 

 with grace, it is rather shy. It is fond of scratching in the warm and 

 dry sand, and of wallowing in it, to cleanse its body. Its flight, which 

 is easy, consists of a succession of gentle undulations, and, when it is 

 chased, sometimes extends over the whole of a field. It is a solitary bird, 

 and is rather pugnacious, for when two males or two females happen to 

 meet, little skirmishes frequently ensue. The nest, which is placed among 

 the grass, and partly sunk in the ground, little attention being paid to 

 its concealment, is prettily constructed. It is formed externally of leaves 

 and fine grass, and is well lined with horse hair, so as to look neat and 

 comfortable. The female lays from four to six eggs, about the middle 

 of April, in favourable seasons, and generally rears two broods each year. 

 I have shot these birds during winter, in the neighbourhood of Lancaster 

 in Pennsylvania, where but few are seen. At the same period of the year 

 they were found numerous along the sea-coast of Virginia and Carolina. 

 Their food consists principally of the seeds of grasses and other plants, 

 although they sometimes run after insects and eat them also. Their flesh 

 is juicy, tender and savoury. 



Having drawn the figure which you will see on referring to the 

 plate, near the sea-shores of New Jersey, where the bird which it repre- 



