THE WHITE-THROATED FINCH. 155 



lands as with us are called of second quality, although it occasionally makes 

 its appearance in the richest alluvial deposits. Its height seldom exceeds 

 twenty feet, or its diameter ten inches. It is scarcely ever straight to any 

 extent, but the wood, being extremely hard and compact, is useful for turn- 

 ing, when well dried and free of wind-shakes, to which it is rather liable. 

 Its berries are eaten by various species of birds, and especially by our different 

 kinds of squirrels, all of which shew great partiality to them. Its flowers, 

 although so interesting in early spring, are destitute of odour, and of short 

 duration. The bark is used by the inhabitants in decoction as a remedy for 

 intermittent fevers, and the berries are employed by the housewife for dye- 

 ing black. 



Male, 61, 9. Female, 6£, 8j. 



Winter resident from Louisiana to Maryland, and inland as far as Ken- 

 tucky. Breeds from Maine to the Fur Countries. Abundant. 



White-throated Sparrow, Fringilla albicollis, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. iii. p. 51. 



Fringilla Pennsylvania, Bonap. Syn., p. 108. 



Fringilla (Zonotrichia) Pennsylvanica, White-throated Finch, Swains. & Rich. F. 



Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 256. 

 White-throated Sparrow, Fringilla Pennsylvanica, Nutt. Man., vol. i. p. 481. 

 White-throated Sparrow, Fringilla Pennsylvanica, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. i. p. 42; 



vol. v. p. 497. 



Adult Male. 



Bill short, robust, conical, acute; upper mandible broader than the lower, 

 scarcely declinate at the tip, almost straight in its dorsal outline, as is the 

 lower, both being rounded on the sides, and the lower with inflected, acute 

 edges; the gap-line nearly straight, a little deflected at the base, and not 

 extending to beneath the eye. Nostrils basal, roundish, open, partially con- 

 cealed by the feathers. Head rather large. Neck shortish. Body robust. 

 Legs of moderate length, slender; tarsus longer than the middle toe, covered 

 anteriorly with a few longish scutella; toes scutellate above, free, the lateral 

 ones nearly equal; claws slender, arched, compressed, acute, that of the hind 

 toe rather large. 



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

 curved, rounded, the third and fourth quills longest, the first much shorter, 

 the secondaries long. Tail longish, forked, the lateral feathers curved out- 

 wards towards the tip. 



Upper mandible dark brown, its edges and the lower mandible light blue. 

 Iris hazel. Feet flesh-coloured, claws light brown. Upper part of the head 

 black, with a narrow white stripe from the forehead to the upper part of the 

 neck. A broader white stripe, anteriorly passing into bright orange, over 



