DESCRIPTION AND TECHNICAL OBSERVATIONS.

Genus Vireosylvia. Bonaparte, Geog. and Comp. List of the Birds of Europe and North America, p. 26. (1838.)

Size small, but with the general form compact and stout; bill straight, rather long, wide at base; upper mandible slightly notched near the point; gonys slightly ascending; wing long, second quill usually longest; tail rather short, even; legs and toes moderate in length, slender. A genus containing five or six species, all of which are American. Colors in all known species olive green, narrowly shaded and tinged with yellow.

Vireosylvia altiloqua. (Vieillot.) Muscicapa altiloqua. Vieill., Ois. d’Am., Sept. 1, p. 67, pl. 38. (1807.) Vireo longirostris. Swains., Fau. Bor. Am., II. p. 237. (1831.) Phyllomanes mysticalis. Cabanis, Erichson’s Archiv., 1837, p. 348? Turdus hispaniolensis. Gm., Syst. Nat., I. p. 822?

Form. Bill long, strong, wide at base, with a few pairs of short, weak bristles; wing long; second quill longest; tail moderate, truncate; legs rather long, slender.

Dimensions. Total length of skin, 5½ inches; wing, 3½; tail, 2¼ inches.

Colors. A narrow line of black running downward on each side of the neck, from the base of the lower mandible; head above ashy-olive; other upper parts olive-green, tinged with yellowish; quills and tail olive-brown, edged outwardly with greenish-yellow; a line of yellowish-white running from the nostril over the eye; between the eye and the bill dark olive; under parts white, nearly pure on the throat, and on the other parts tinged with ashy and greenish-yellow, especially on the sides; bill light corneous; irides red.

Hab. Florida, West Indies, and South America. Spec. in Mus. Acad., Philada.

Obs. We consider it quite probable that this species is the Turdus hispaniolensis of Gmelin, as above, which is the Hispaniola Thrush of Latham. The figure in Buffon, Pl. Enl. 273, fig. 1, may represent the same.

This bird may readily be distinguished from all other species by the dark lines on the neck, which seem to be present at all ages.

AMMODROMUS ROSTRATUS.—(Cassin.)
The Long-billed Swamp Sparrow.
PLATE XXXVIII. Adult Male.

Of this bird we can give but a very imperfect history. It is one of a group of Sparrows, of which other species inhabit North America, characterized in some measure like the present, by the length and large size of their bills, and their partiality for the vicinity of salt water. Two species, the Sea-side Finch, and the Sharp-tailed Finch (Ammodromus maritimus and caudacutus), are of frequent occurrence on the shores of the Atlantic, almost throughout the extent of the coast of the temperate regions of North America,—and in New Jersey may be met with in the summer season in considerable numbers, wherever there are salt marshes, or that description of vegetation peculiar to the shores of the ocean, or within reach of its tides. In those localities, frequently of difficult access, these birds rear their young in comparative safety, subsisting on seeds and insects, and seldom attracting attention. They may occasionally be seen, too, on the bare sands of the beach, searching for small marine animals thrown up by the waves.

The present bird is a representative of this group on the shores of the Pacific, and from the notice by its discoverer, which we shall give directly, it appears to be very similar in its habits. It was first observed by Dr. Heermann, near San Diego, California, during his first visit to that country, and has since that time been again noticed only by him. Specimens in excellent plumage and preservation, from his collections, are in the National Museum, Washington city, and in the collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.

This bird was first described in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy, VI. p. 184 (Oct., 1852). For our present article, Dr. Heermann has kindly permitted us to make the following extract from his Journals, kept during his former and recent visits to California:—

“In 1851, I procured this bird on the shores of the Bay of San Diego, where, in company with other species, it appeared to be engaged in searching for grass-seeds. During the late Pacific Railroad survey by the party under command of Lieut. Williamson, I again saw it in considerable numbers at Santa Barbara and San Pedro. At the latter places, as at San Diego, it frequents the low, sandy beach, and the heavy sedge-grass which abounds on the shores, feeding on marine insects and seeds thrown up by the tides on the former, and in the latter, finding quick and easy concealment when alarmed or pursued. It appears to be a quiet, unsuspicious bird, and I heard it utter only a short, sharp chirp during the limited time that I had to observe it.”

Plate 38
The Long-billed Marsh Sparrow
Ammodromus rostratus (Cassin)

At present, nothing further is known of this species. The figure in our plate is that of an adult male, and is of the size of life.