482 
GRANIVOROUS BIRDS. 
quest of worms and other insects, and are at this time 
often very unsuspicious, allowing a near approach with- 
out betraying any alarm ; but when in large flocks, they 
move about in timorous haste as soon as approached. 
About the 15th of April, they leave the Middle States, 
and probably retire to the high northern latitudes to 
breed, having been seen in Newfoundland in summer ; 
but of their nest and eggs we are ignorant. At the pe- 
riod of breeding, the male is probably musical, as already 
in the early spring, before their departure to the North, 
on fine mornings, they are heard to whisper forth a few 
sweet and clear notes, as in a reverie of the approaching 
happiness of their more lively and interesting condition. 
The length of this species is about 7 inches ; the alar dimensions 
9 to 9^. A stripe of white or whitish passes from the base of the 
upper mandible to the hind-head, which is bordered on either side 
by a stripe of brownish-black ; another pale line passes over the eye, 
becoming yellow between that and the nostril ; this line is again 
bordered by a narrow stripe of brownish-black proceeding from the 
lower angle of the eye. Tail somewhat wedge-shaped. Legs pale 
flesh-color. Bill bluish horn-color, pale beneath. Iris hazel. 
BAY-WINGED or GRASS FINCH. 
(Fringilla graminea, Gmel. Audubon, pi. 94. Orn. Biog. i. p. 473. 
Emberiza graminea, Wilson, iv. p. 51. pi. 31. fig. 5.) 
Sp. Charact. — Breast and flanks spotted with brown; lesser wing- 
coverts bay ; the 2 outer tail-feathers partly white ; above brown- 
ish-grey, varied with dusky. 
This plain-looking Finch chiefly frequents dry pas- 
tures and meadows, and is often seen perched on the 
fences and in the orchard trees ; it also frequently ap- 
proaches the public roads and gathers its subsistence 
tamely from various sources. It is abundant in the Mid- 
dle States, where many pass the whole year, yet great 
numbers also winter in the southern parts of the Union, 
