150 THE SONG-FINCH. 



Fringilla melodia, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. ii. p. 125. 



Fringilla melodia, Bonap. Syn., p. 108. 



Common Song Sparrow, Fringilla melodia, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 486. 



Song Sparrow, Fringilla melodia, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 126; vol. v. p. 507. 



Adult Male. 



Bill short, robust, conical, a little bulging, straight, acute; upper mandible 

 broader, slightly declinate at the tip; gap-line a little declinate at the base. 

 Nostrils basal, roundish, concealed by the frontal feathers. Feet of mode- 

 rate length; tarsus longer than the middle toe; toes free, the lateral ones 

 nearly equal; claws compressed, arched, acute. 



Plumage rather compact above, soft and blended beneath. Wings short, 

 rounded, the third and fourth quills longest. Tail longish, even, the feathers 

 narrow and acute. 



Bill deep brown above, bluish beneath. Iris hazel. Feet and claws pale 

 brown. Upper part of the head reddish-brown, mottled with dark brown, 

 with a broad line of bluish-grey down the middle. Back grey, streaked 

 with reddish-brown and dusky. Lower back bluish-grey; tail-coverts tinged 

 with light brown. Sides of the head bluish-grey; a broad line of brown 

 from the eye backwards, and another from the commissure of the mouth. 

 Under parts white, tinged on the sides with grey, and posteriorly with 

 reddish-brown, the neck and breast spotted with dark brown, and the lateral 

 under tail-coverts streaked with the same. Wings dark brown, the quills 

 margined externally with reddish-brown, the coverts margined and tipped 

 with whitish. Tail-feathers uniformly dull brown. 



Length 6 inches, extent of wings S 1 ; bill along the ridge \, along the gap 

 \; tarsus 1, middle toe f , hind toe §. 



The female hardly differs in colour from the male. 



The Huckleberry or Blue-tangles. 



Vaccimdm prondosdm, Wittd., Sp. PL, vol. ii. p. 352. Pursch, Flor. Amer., vol. i. p. 285. 

 — Decandria Monogynia, Linn— Ericm, Juss. 



Leaves deciduous, ovato-oblong or lanceolate, entire, smooth, glaucous 

 beneath, resinous; racemes lax, bracteate; pedicles long, filiform, bracteolate; 

 corollas ovato-campanulate, with acute laciniae and included anthers. The 

 flower is white, the calyx green, the berry globular and of a bluish-black 

 colour. It varies greatly in the form of the leaves, as well as in stature, 

 sometimes attaining a height of six or seven feet. 



Huckleberries form a portion of the food of many birds, as well as of 



