114 BACHMAN'S PINE WOOD-FINCH. 



and can be heard at a 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 some 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 species. 

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



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

 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 difference 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. 



Georgia and South Carolina. Rather rare. Migratory. 



Bach.man's Finch. Fringilla Bachmanii. Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. ii. p. 366. 



Adult Male. 



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

 line, 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. Head 

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

 tarsus covered anteriorly with a few longish scutella; 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 



