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BACHMAN’S PINEWOOD-FINCH. 
Peuoea Bachmanii, And . 
PLATE CLXXYI.— Male. 
In honouring so humble an object as this Finch with the name of Bach- 
man, my aim is to testify the high regard in which I hold that learned and 
most estimable individual, to whose friendship I owe more than I can 
express on this occasion. 
“ In the month of April, 1832,” says my worthy friend, the gentleman 
just named, “ I discovered near Parker’s Ferry, on the Edisto river, in this 
State, a Fringilla which I had not seen before, and which, on investigation, 
I found had never been described. On searching for the same bird in the 
neighbourhood of Charleston, I discovered it breeding in small numbers 
on the Pine Barrens, about six miles north of this city, where I obtained 
many specimens of it. 
“ This bird appears to be rarer in Carolina than it really is. It is in fact 
oftener heard than seen. When I first heard its notes, they so nearly re- 
semble those of the Towee Bunting, that I took it to be that bird : a some- 
what greater softness, and a slight variation in the notes, alone induced me 
to suspect that it was another, and caused me to go in pursuit of it. Since 
then I have heard as many as five or six in the course of a morning’s ride, 
but found it almost impossible to get even a sight of the bird. This was 
owing, not to its being particularly wild, but to the habits it possesses of 
darting from the tall pine-trees, where it usually sits to warble out its melo- 
dious notes, and concealing itself in the tall broom-grass which is almost 
invariably found in those places which it frequents. As soon as alighted, it 
keeps running off in the grass, like a mouse, and it is extremely difficult to 
put them up, or see them afterwards. 
“ It breeds in Carolina, to all appearance on the ground, where it is usually 
found when not singing. I never saw its nest ; but in the month of June 
last (1833), I observed two pair of these birds, each having four young 
ones, that were pretty well fledged, and following their parents along the 
low scrub oaks of the pine lands. 
“ This is decidedly the finest songster of the Sparrow Family with which 
I am acquainted. Its notes are very loud, considering the size of the bird, 
Vol. III. 19 
