260 
FRINGILLA CAUDACUTA. 
I have no doubt that it winters there, with many others 
of its tribe. It is the scarcest of all our summer 
sparrows. Its food consists principally of grass seeds, 
and the larvse of insects, which it is almost continually 
in search of among the loose soil and on the surface, 
consequently it is more useful to the farmer than other- 
wise. 
The length of this species is five inches, extent eight 
inches ; upper part of the head, blackish, divided by a 
slight line of white ; hind head and neck above, marked 
with short lateral touches of black and white ; a line 
of yellow extends from above the eye to the nostril ; 
cheeks, plain brownish white ; back, streaked with 
black, brown, and pale ash ; shoulders of the wings, 
above and below, and lesser coverts, olive yellow; 
greater wing-coverts, black, edged with pale ash ; 
primaries, light drab ; tail, the same, the feathers rather 
pointed at the ends, the outer ones white ; breast, plain 
yellowish white, or pale ochre, which distinguishes 
it from the Savannah sparrow; belly and vent, white; 
three or four slight touches of dusky at the sides of the 
breast ; legs, flesh colour; bill, dusky above, pale bluish 
white below. The male and female are nearly alike 
in colour. 
173. FRINGILLA CAUDACUTA , WILSON. 
SHARP-TAILED SPARROW. 
WILSON, PLATE XXXIV. FIG. III. 
A bird of this denomination is described by Turton, 
Syst . p. 562 ; but which by no means agrees with the 
present. This, however, may be the fault of the des- 
cribee, as it is said to be a bird of Georgia ; unwilling, 
therefore, to multiply names unnecessarily, I have 
adopted this appellation. 
This new (as I apprehend it) and beautiful species is 
an associate of the sea-side finch, inhabits the same places, 
lives on the same food, and resembles it so much in 
manners, that, but for their dissimilarity in some 
