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SAVANNAH FINCH.- 

 Fringilla Savannj, Wils. 



PLATE CIX. Vol. II. p. 63. 



The Savannah Finch was found by Dr Townsend on the Rocky 

 Mountains and about the Columbia River, where it was common. It 

 extends along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to within the Texas. As 

 it is plentiful in Labrador, it might have been expected to move still 

 farther northward in summer, but no mention is made of it by Dr Rich- 

 ardson. The situation and size of the nests, as well as the colour of 

 the eggs of this bird, found by myself or the members of my party, dif- 

 fered from those examined in Maine, or in any other part of the United 

 States. The nests were deeply sunk in the moss, always placed under 

 the cover of creeping branches of low firs, and much more bulky than 

 usual, although composed of the same materials. The eggs in most in- 

 stances were of an extremely pale-greenish hue, slightly spotted and 

 splashed with light umber. They measured 6| eighths of an inch in 

 length, and rather more than four and a half eighths in breadth. I am 

 inclined to think that my friend Mr Nuttall mistook the notes of ano- 

 ther species for those of the Savannah Finch, and, as he says, they were 

 heard in Georgia in the month of March, I suspect they must have been 

 those of Fringilla Bachmanii, some of which are indeed " as fine and 

 lively as those of the Canary, loud, echoing, and cheerful." The notes 

 of the present species, as he afterwards more aptly says, are " almost 

 exactly similar to the chirpings of a cricket, so that it might easily be 

 mistaken for that insect." I feel the more confident of the correctness 

 of this suggestion, first, because Mr Ndttall has in that paragraph 

 described the habits of F. Bachmanii perfectly, in saying that " on being 

 suddenly surprised they flew off" at a little distance, and then, if fol- 

 lowed, descended to the ground, and ran and hid closely in the tufts 

 of grass ;" and secondly, because the Savannah Finch never sings whilst 

 in Georgia or Carolina. It breeds abundantly among the high grass 

 at Chelsea Beach, near Boston. 



