Song Birds and Water Fowl 



all of them nesting very unpretentiously in a 

 tussock of grass near the water's edge. This 

 sharp-tailed finch is easily recognized by a 

 long and prominent bright-buff hne over the 

 eye, and large, dark spots on a light breast. 

 Nothing complimentary can be said of any of 

 these water sparrows, in a musical way, as they 

 rank among the lowest, even of this humble 

 class. 



Scientific names are often as meaningless or 

 misleading as they are unpronounceable; but 

 this is not so with the sea-side and sharp-tailed 

 finches. Their generic name, ammodramus — 

 running on the sands — aptly expresses their pre- 

 vailing habit, as their flight on the wing is in- 

 frequent, short, and low; and their specific 

 names, maritimus and caudacutus — which define 

 themselves to the rustiest Latin scholar — are 

 equally appropriate. 



Whoever roams over sands and salt marshes is 

 familiar with the "fiddler crab," of which I 

 found an immense colony near the finch — two or 

 three inches long, their shells prettily marked 

 with gray, brown, and a bluish purple centre. 

 They numbered thousands and tens of thou- 

 sands, and the entire army beat a hasty retreat, 

 as fast as their eight legs could carry them, at 

 1 80 



