PINE FINCH.

[Plate XVII.-Fig. 1.]

PEALE'S Museum, No. 6577.

THIS little northern stranger visits us in the month of November, and seeks the seeds of the black alder, on the borders of swamps, creeks and rivulets. As the weather becomes more severe, and the seeds of the Pinus canadensis are fully ripe, these birds collect in larger flocks and take up their residence, almost exclusively, among these trees. In the gardens of Bushhill, in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, a flock of two or three hundred of these birds have regularly wintered many years; where a noble avenue of pine trees, and walks covered with fine white gravel, furnish them with abundance through the winter. Early in March they disappear, either to the north, or to the pine woods that cover many lesser ranges of the Alleghany. While here they are often so tame as to allow you to walk within a few yards of the spot where a whole flock of them are sitting. They flutter among the branches, frequently hanging by the cones, and uttering a note almost exactly like that of the Goldfinch (F. tristis). I have not a doubt but this bird appears in a richer dress in summer in those places where he breeds, as he has so very great a resemblance to the bird above mentioned, with whose changes we are well acquainted.

The length of this species is four inches, breadth eight inches; upper part of the head, the neck and back, a dark flaxen colour, streaked with black; wings black, marked with two rows of dull white or cream colour; whole wing quills, under the coverts, rich yellow, appearing even when the wings are shut; rump and tail coverts yellowish, streaked with dark brown; tail H h

VOL. II.

feathers rich yellow from the roots half way to the tips, except the two middle ones, which are blackish brown, slightly edged with yellow; sides under the wings of a cream colour, with long streaks of black; breast a light flaxen colour, with small streaks or pointed spots of black; legs purplish brown; bill a dull horn colour; eyes hazel. The female was scarcely distinguishable by its plumage from the male. The New York Siskin of Pennant* appears to be only the Yellow-bird (Fringilla tristis) in his winter dress.

This bird has a still greater resemblance to the Siskin of Europe (F. spinus), and may perhaps be the species described by Turton, as the Black Mexican Siskin, which he says is varied above with black and yellowish, and is white beneath, and which is also said to sing finely. This change from flaxen to yellow is observable in the Goldfinch; and no other two birds of our country resemble each other more than these do in their winter dresses. Should these surmises be found correct, a figure of this bird in his summer dress shall appear in some future part of our work.

Arct. Zool. p. 372. No. 243.

† Turton, vol. 1, p. 560.

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.

[Plate XXII.—Fig. 2.]

Fringilla fusca, BARTRAM, p. 291.—LATH. II, 272.-EDWARDS, S04. Arct. Zool. p. 373, No. 248.--PEALE'S Museum, No. 6486.

THIS is the largest as well as handsomest of all our Sparrows. It winters with the preceding species and several others in most of the states south of New England. From Connecticut to Savannah I found these birds numerous, particularly in the neighbourhood of the Roanoke river, and among the rice plantations. In summer they retire to the higher inland parts of the country, and also farther north to breed. According to Pennant they are also found at that season in Newfoundland. During their residence here in winter, they collect together in flocks, always preferring the borders of swampy thickets, creeks, and millponds, skirted with alder bushes and long rank weeds, the seeds of which form their principal food. Early in spring, a little before they leave us, they have a few remarkably sweet and clear notes, generally in the morning a little after sun rise. About the twentieth of April they disappear, and we see no more of them till the beginning or second week of October, when they again return; part to pass the winter with us; and part on their route farther south.

The length of the White-throated Sparrow is six inches and a half, breadth nine inches; the upper part of the back and the lesser wing coverts are beautifully variegated with black, bay, ash and light brown; a stripe of white passes from the base of the upper mandible to the hind head; this is bordered on each

* Fringilla pennsylvanica, LATH. Ind. Orn. 1, p. 445.—Passer pennsylvanicus, BRISS. app. p. 77.—Id. 8vo. 1, p. 367.

side with a stripe of black; below this again is another of white passing over each eye, and deepening into orange yellow between that and the nostril; this is again bordered by a stripe of black proceeding from the hind part of the eye; breast ash; chin, belly, and vent white; tail somewhat wedged; legs flesh coloured; bill a bluish horn colour; eye hazel. In the female the white stripe on the crown is a light drab; the breast not so dark; the chin less pure; and the line of yellow before the eye scarce half as long as in the male. All the parts that are white in the male are in the female of a light drab colour.

SWAMP SPARROW.

[Plate XXII.-Fig. 1.]

Passer palustris, BARTRAM, p. 291.-PEALE's Museum, No. 6569.

THE history of this obscure and humble species is short and uninteresting. Unknown or overlooked by the naturalists of Europe it is now for the first time introduced to the notice of the world. It is one of our summer visitants, arriving in Pennsylvania early in April, frequenting low grounds, and river courses; rearing two, and sometimes three broods in a season; and returning to the south as the cold weather commences. The immense cypress swamps and extensive grassy flats of the southern states, that border their numerous rivers, and the rich rice plantations abounding with their favourite seeds and sustenance, appear to be the general winter resort, and grand annual rendezvous, of this and all other species of Sparrow that remain with us during summer. From the river Trent in North Carolina, to that of Savannah, and still farther south, I found this species very numerous; not flying in flocks, but skulking among the canes, reeds, and grass, seeming shy and timorous, and more attached to the water than any other of their tribe. In the month of April numbers pass through Pennsylvania to the northward, which I conjecture from the circumstance of finding them at that season in particular parts of the woods, where during the rest of the year they are not to be seen. The few that remain frequent the swamps, and reedy borders of our creeks and rivers. They form their nest in the ground, sometimes in a tussock of rank grass, surrounded by water, and lay four eggs of a dirty white, spotted with rufous. So late as the fifteenth of August, I have seen them feeding their young that were scarce