484 
GRANIVOROUS BIRDS. 
lates lameness with remarkable dexterity so as very 
readily to draw off the attention of her enemies or in- 
truders. The young are easily raised from the nest, and 
become very tame, clean, and domestic, but readily quar- 
rel with each other. 
The length of the Grass Finch is about 6 or 6^ inches, and 10J in 
alar dimensions. Primaries edged with whitish. Tail partly wedg- 
ed, the outer feather almost wholly white, except towards the base 
of the inner web ; the next feather white on the outer vane, and 
(sometimes) also with a spot of the same color. Breast and flanks 
white, tinged with very pale brown, and spotted with dark pointed 
spots along the shafts of the feathers ; belly and vent white ; 2d and 
3d primaries longest. Bill above dusky, notched near the tip ; be- 
neath paler. Legs and feet pale flesh-color. Tarsus § of an inch. — 
Female hardly distinguishable from the male ; the spots of the breast 
somewhat fewer and smaller. 
4 * 
AMBIGUOUS SPARROW. 
( Fringilla *ambigua , Nobis.) 
Observ. — Dusky brownish-grey, varied with edgings of brownish- 
white ; below yellowish-white, faintly spotted with dull grey ; 
rump grey; chin without spots; tail immaculate, cuneiform; 
3d primary much longer than the 5th ; legs and feet very ro- 
bust. A young bird. Adult ? 
Of this very distinct, and plain, mouse-colored Spar- 
row, I, at present, know scarcely any thing, excepting 
that it was shot in this vicinity (Cambridge) in the early 
part of the summer of 1830. The specimen is in fresh 
plumage; and in its general color, both above and below, 
with the very unusual length and pointedness of the 
wings, and the distinct graduation of the feathers, it 
might, without looking at the bill, be at once taken almost 
for the common Pewee. The only American species, 
to which it bears any affinity, is the Cinereous Finch of 
Aoonalashka, and the Dusky Grosbeak of Pennant, but 
it is still sufficiently different. 
