368 BACHMAN'S FINCH. 



Head rather large, neck short, body rather full. Feet of moderate length, 

 slender ; tarsus covered anteriorly with a few longish scuteUa ; toes free, 

 scutellate above, the lateral ones nearly equal, hind-toe proportionally 

 large ; claws slender, compressed, acute, slightly arched, that of the 

 hind-toe longer. 



Plumage soft, blended, rather compact on the back, slightly glossed. 

 Wings shortish, curved, third and fourth quills longest, fifth and second 

 nearly equal ; the secondaries long and rounded. Tail long, graduated, 

 and deeply emarginate, of twelve straight, narrow feathers, tapering to a 

 rounded point. 



Bill dark brown above, light blue beneath. Iris hazel. Feet very 

 light flesh-coloured. The general colour of the upper parts is reddish- 

 brown, the central parts of the feathers on the back black, their margins 

 bluish-grey. Secondary coverts duU yellowish-brown on the outer edge ; 

 quills dark brown, the first seven or eight slightly edged with pale ochre, 

 the rest edged with light brown ; flexure of the wing bright yellow ; small 

 coverts varied with brown and yellowish-grey. Tail-feathers brown, 

 lighter on the outer edges. A streak from the upper mandible over the 

 eye, as well as the margin of the eye, ochre-yellow. Throat pale yellow- 

 ish-grey, with a short streak of blackish on each side, from the base of the 

 mandible ; fore part of the breast and sides tinged with brown ; the rest 

 of the lower parts yellowish-grey. 



Length 6 inches, extent of wings 71 ; bill along the ridge J, along the 

 sides f ; tarsus |. 



The Female is slightly smaller, but does not differ in colouring. 



This species belongs to the same group as the Yellow-winged Spar- 

 row, the Savannah Finch, the Lincoln Finch, and the Henslow Finch. 

 At the same time, the form of the bill and tail indicates an affinity to the 

 Sharp-tailed Finch, the Sea^side Finch, and MacGillivray's Finch, which 

 are maritime birds, while the former do not betake themselves to the 

 salt marshes. Both groups, however, have the tail-feathers more or less 

 sharp. 



