The male is bright olive green above, passing into yellow; the quills blackish gray, with outer webs bright gamboge yellow; the tail, except the two middle feathers, which are gray with light yellow margins, are yellow like the wings, with the external edges grayish brown; below greenish, passing into sulphur yellow; the bill is white, with a pink tinge; the legs brown; the young are marked with oblong dashes of brown on the lower surface and the upper part of the back. This is an indigenous, non-rnigratory, hardy bird, living in flocks, familiar and docile; it is often kept in confinement for its facility in imitating the notes of other birds; its own song consists of three or four short mellow notes, which are very pleasing during the breeding season; it is not particular in its choice of food, eating the usual grains and seeds given to caged birds. The eggs are four or five in number, pale bluish white, speckled at the larger end with reddish brown.-The pine finch (F. pinus, Wils.; chrysomitris, Boie), distributed over North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is 4 3/4 in. long, with an extent of wings of 8 1/2- in.

The plumage is soft, but with little gloss; the short, conical, acute bill is light yellowish brown, with a dusky tip; the iris brown; general color above yellowish gray, with dark brown streaks; the wings and tail dusky, with grayish white edges; the base of the secondaries, the tips of their coverts, and the margins of the rump feathers are cream-colored; grayish white below, with streaks of dull brown, and a brown tinge on the fore neck; the female very closely resembles the male. This species, though seen in the southern states, prefers the northern regions of the country and the Canadas, wherever pine trees abound; it is most common in the north during winter, where it is seen in small flocks with the redpoll and the crossbill; the favorite food is found amid the branches of the highest fir trees, where they hang head downward like the titmouse; the seeds of the thistle and of the sweetgum are also much eaten by them. Though he could find no nests, Audubon met with great numbers of these birds accompanied by their young on the coast of Labrador toward the end of July; and they doubtless breed there.

The mode of flight and notes resemble those of the goldfinch; like the latter, it sweeps through the air in long graceful curves, uttering its sweet and clear song as it takes a fresh start.-The genus passer (Briss.) includes the sparrows of the old world, which are rarely called finches. The American sparrows are contained in the genus zonotricliia (Swains.); many of these are popularly called finches; the bill is perfectly conical, the wings moderate, the tail long, broad, and nearly even at the end. The grass finch (Z. graminea, Gmel.; genus poocaites, Baird) is 5 3/4 in. long, with an extent of wing of 10 in.; the general color above is a light brown, streaked and mottled with darker; a narrow circle of white around the eye; throat and breast yellowish white, the latter streaked with dark brown; the larger coverts and the quills deep brown, the former edged with paler, and the first of the latter with white external margin; lesser coverts bay; tail deep brown, marked and margined with white; sides and abdomen pale yellowish brown, the former streaked with darker; under tail coverts white.

It is distributed far to the north and over the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and there is a variety, or perhaps a species, to the west of the Alleghanies; it seems to prefer sandy and barren soils in cultivated districts; its song is sweet and protracted; it is shy and solitary, and runs nimbly through the grass, in which the nest is built; the eggs, four to six in number, are laid about the middle of April at the south, where two broods are generally raised each year; they are seven eighths of an inch long, bluish white, with reddish brown blotches; the food consists of various kinds of seeds and insects, and the flesh is tender and of good flavor. This bird employs a great variety of artifices to deceive any one who approaches her nest, imitating lameness, and attempting to draw attention to another locality. Lincoln's finch (Z. Lincolnii, Aud.; melospiza, Baird) is yellowish brown above, with streaks of brownish black; head chestnut, streaked with brownish black, with a grayish blue band in the centre and two at the sides; quills and larger coverts deep brown with lighter margins, and the latter tipped with whitish; tail yellowish brown; throat white, with dusky streaks and spots; below grayish white.

It is found as far north as Labrador, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and south through Mexico to Guatemala. The song is very sweet and loud; the flight is rapid and low; the food is insects and berries; the males, as in most finches, are pugnacious.-The genus ammodromus (Swains.) has the wings short, the tail lengthened, the lateral feathers graduated, with the end of each acuminated; the species generally remain within the limits of tide water, and run along the shores among the weeds, like sandpipers, climb along the rushes, or swiftly dart among the tufts of grass; they eat shrimps, small mollusks and crustaceans, and other minute marine animals. The sharp-tailed finch (A. caudacutus, Gmel.) is found along the whole Atlantic coast of the United States, being most abundant among the salt marshes of South Carolina. The crown of the head is bluish gray in the middle, and deep brown at the sides, with a band of yellowish red from the bill over the eye; hind neck dull gray, tinged with brown; fore neck pale yellowish red with dusky streaks, the throat paler and unspotted; back brown, tinged with gray; primaries and tail wood brown; secondaries and smaller coverts reddish brown; sides yellowish red, with dusky streaks; breast and abdomen grayish white.

They come down to the marshes when the tide is out, returning to the shores and rice fields at high tide; the note is a single "tweet;" the nest is placed on the ground, near the water, in a slight hollow; the eggs, four to six, are laid sometimes twice in a season; the color is dull white, with light brown dots, most numerous at the larger end; from the quickness with which they move on the ground, they are most easily shot on the wing. The seaside finch (A. maritimus, Wils.), with similar habits to the preceding, and found in the same localities as far north as Long Island, has the crown of the head deep brown, surrounded by a line of grayish blue; upper part of the back, wings, and tail, olive brown mixed with pale blue; lesser wing coverts reddish brown; a yellow streak from the bill over the eye; throat and fore neck grayish white; breast and sides grayish blue, the abdomen paler. The eggs are grayish white, with brown freckles all over: many nests are found in company. The food consists of marine insects, snails, crabs, sand beetles, and seeds.-Bachman's finch, placed in the genus ammodromus by Gray, belongs to the genus peucoea (Aud.); this (P. aestivalis, Licht.) is reddish brown above, with the centre of the feathers black and their margins bluish gray; the quills dark brown with lighter edges; tail feathers brown, lighter on the outer edges; ochre-yellow streak over the eye; throat pale yellowish gray; fore part of the breast and sides tinged with brown, lower parts yellowish gray.