BACHAIAN'S FINCH. 367 



which I am acquainted. Its notes are very loud, considering the size of 

 the bird, and can be heard ... considerable distance in the pine woods, 

 where it is found, and where it is the only songster at that season. 



" In the beginning of November, this bird usually disappears, and I 

 think it probably migrates farther south. Still it is likely that it does not 

 go beyond the limits of the United States, and that som-^ few remain in 

 Carolina during the whole winter, as, on the 6th of February, the coldest 

 time of the year, I found one of these birds in some long grass, a few 

 miles from Charleston." 



Since then, kind reader, I have had the pleasure, in the company of 

 its amiable discoverer, to hear the melodious notes of this southern spe- 

 cies. Our endeavours, however, to find its nest have been unsuccessful. 



On my return from the Floridas to New York, in June 1832, I tra- 

 velled through both the Carolinas, and observed many of these Finches on 

 the sides of the roads cut through the pine woods of South Carolina. At 

 this time, they filled the air with their melodies. I traced them as far as 

 the boundary between that State and North Carolina, in which none were 

 seen or heard. They were particularly abundant near the Great Santee 

 River. 



The food of this species consists of the seeds of grasses, coleopterous 

 insects, and a variety of the small berries so abundant in that part of the 

 country. Its flight is swift and direct, now and then protracted, so that 

 the bird is out of sight before it alights. 



I observed no diff'erence in the size or colour of the sexes, and have 

 represented a Male in full summer dress, which was presented to me, while 

 yet quite fresh, by my friend Bachman. 



The beautiful plant on which it is placed, was drawn by my friend's 

 sister, who has kindly rendered me similar services, which will be pointed 

 out on the proper occasions ; and here let me again express my gratitude 

 toward that amiable lady, and her esteemed brother. 



Fringilla Bach man II. 



Adult Male. Plate LXV. Fig. 1. 



Bill short, conical, acute ; upper mandible almost straight in its dorsal 

 outline, rounded on the sides ; lower mandible slightly convex beneath, 

 the sides rounded ; edges of both sharp and inflected ; gap-line deflected 

 at the base. Nostrils basal, roundish, partially concealed by the feathers. 



