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MACGILLIVRAY'S SHORE-FINCH. 



^ Ammodramus Macgillivrayi, Jiud. 

 PLATE CLXXIII— Male and Female. 



Whilst Bachman's Finch resides in the pine forests of the Carolinas and 

 other Southern States, preferring dry and sandy lands covered with grasses; 

 and whilst Henslow's Bunting or Finch, and the Yellow-winged Bunting, 

 are fond of open prairies and ploughed fields, in which they nestle; the 

 species, on which I have bestowed the name of my friend Macgillivray, 

 chooses for its residence the salt marshes of our Southern Atlantic shores, in 

 which also are found the Sharp-tailed and Sea-side Finches of Wilson and 

 other authors. The three former spend the greater part of the winter in 

 the forests, perch occasionally on trees, and feed principally on seeds; 

 whereas the latter three are never found elsewhere than in the salt marshes, 

 and feed chiefly on minute shells and aquatic insects. 



Macgillivray's Finch is as yet very rare within the United States, and 

 has not been observed farther eastward than Sullivan Island, about six miles 

 from Charleston in South Carolina; but it is very abundant in the Texas, 

 occurring on all the low islands that are much intersected by salt-water 

 ba}^ous, and interspersed with ponds of brackish water, seldom leaving these 

 localities unless whilst travelling, or passing from one island to another, 

 which they do by flying at the height of only a few feet above the surface. 

 They run among the rankest weeds with uncommon celerity, and do not 

 seem to mind being followed by a dog, which they very easily elude amongst 

 the thick grass. Whilst breeding they often start from a little distance, and 

 pursue a singularly irregular or zigzag flight, much resembling that of the 

 Jack Snipe of Europe, and yet performed with apparently slow beats of the 

 wings. They fall as it were among the grass as suddenly as they rise from 

 it, and by these manoeuvres save their nests from the searching eye of the 

 keenest student of nature. They very seldom alight on the stems of grasses, 

 although when they do they climb with facility, occasionally using their tail 

 as a support, in the same manner as the Rice-bird. Their strong tarsi and 

 toes enable them to walk on the ground with great vigour. When they 

 take wing deliberately, their flight resembles that of a young partridge, and, 

 if over the land, is seldom extended beyond forty or fifty yards at a time. 

 The males appear very jealous of each other, and frequently one pursues 



