368 
SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — PASSE BE S — OSCINES 
streaks on breast and sides ; maxillary stripes of the same ; wrings and tail plain dusky, with 
slight olivaceous edgings ; wing-coverts and inner quills somewhat margined with brown ; 
edge of wing bright yellow ; a bright yelloiv spot on lore, and often some vague brownish and 
dusky markings on side of head ; bill plumbeous, or dark horn-blue ; feet dark. Length 5.75- 
6.25; extent 8.50; wing 2.25-2.50; tail about 2.00. Recognizable on sight by the bright 
yellow edge of wing and loral spot, with little varied olive-gray upper parts. Salt marshes of 
the Atlantic and Gulf coast ; abundant. North to Massachusetts ; breeds throughout its range, 
and resident in the south, but screened from casual obser^'-ation by the nature of its haunts and 
habits. Nest in a tussock of grass just out of water; eggs 0.75 X 0.55, grayish-white, thickly 
and pretty evenly marked. 
239. A. HI. nigres'cens. (Lat. nigrescens, growing black.) Florida Sea-side Finch. Like 
A. maritimus; rather smaller bodied, though members not shorter, and conspicuously different 
in color, being almost entirely black and 
white. Upper parts sooty-black, slightly 
variegated "with slate-colored edgings of the 
feathers, and some pale gray edgings of the in- 
terscapulars. Below white, heavily streaked 
with blackish everywhere excepting on the 
throat and middle of belly. A bright yellow 
loral spot, and bend of the wing bright yel- 
low (both very conspicuous in the black 
plumage). Wing-quills blackish, the inner 
secondaries quite black ; all narrowly edged 
with brownish. Tail black, with gray edg- 
ings of the feathers, — these edgings tending 
to form scallops with the black central field. 
Bill and feet as in A. maritimus. A curi- 
ous local race, resident in Florida. 
240. A. caudacu'tus. (Lat. Cauda, tail ; aeutiis, 
sharp. Fig. 231.) Sharp-tailed Finch. 
Olive-gray, sharply streaked on the back Nichols sc.) 
with blackish and whitish, less so on the rump with blackish alone. Crown darker than nape, 
with brownish-black streaks, tending to form lateral stripes and obscure olive-gray median linej 
no yellow loral spot, but long line over eye and sides of head rich buff or orange-brown, enclos- 
ing olive-gray auriculars and a dark speck behind them, or dark post-ocular stripe over them. 
Olive-gray of cervix extending around on sides of neck. Below, white ; the fore parts and 
sides tinged with yellowish-brown or buff of variable intensity, the breast and sides sharply 
streaked with dusky. Greater coverts and inner secondaries with blackish field toward their 
ends, broadly margined with rusty brown and whitish. Tail-feathers brown, with dusky shaft- 
stripes and tendency to water" with crosswise wavy bars. Bill blackish above, pale or 
not below, feet brown. Coloration in spring and summer clearer and paler, in fall and in 
young birds. more brightly and extensively buff. Rather smaller than A. maritimus; bill still 
slenderer, and tail-feathers still narrower and more acute. Length 5.10-5.50; extent 7.50; 
M^ng 2.25 ; tail 2.00; bill 0.45-0.50; tarsus, or middle toe and claw, 0.75. Salt marshes of 
the Atlantic and Gulf States, N. abundantly to Maine ; range similar to that of A. maritimus, 
but on the M^hole more northerly, especially in the breeding season ; nest and eggs similar and 
scarcely distinguishable. 
241. A. c. nersoni. (To E. W. Nelson, of Illinois.) Similar to the last, but smaller, with 
biU slenderer and longer; colors brighter and markings more sharply defined. Fresh marshes 
of Illinois and other portions of the Mississippi VaUey at large ; N. probably to Canada. 
Fig. 231. — Sea-side Finch, reduced. (Sheppard deL 
