SAND DUNES AND SALT MARSHES 



ally wears away and reveals liis charms. Not 

 only is the black shield revealed in the Eng- 

 lish sparrow by this process of wear, but the 

 black and chestnut markings on the back and 

 neck become more distinct, while the white 

 of the sides of the throat and abdomen be- 

 comes whiter. How few there are who have 

 any idea of these changes in the common Eng- 

 lish sparrow, yet they are constantly going 

 on before our eyes! 



The call notes of the longspur are very sim- 

 ilar to those of the snow bunting, except that 

 they are slightly sibilant, and that a hoarse 

 rattle or chirr replaces the pleasing trill of the 

 bunting. 



The last and most interesting of this group 

 of winter birds is the Ipswich sparrow, a bird 

 rarely found outside of sand dune regions. 

 Breeding on Sable Island off Nova Scotia, it 

 spreads along the coast in winter from Nova 

 Scotia to Georgia, wherever sand dunes are 

 found. Its relationship to the Savannah spar- 

 row is interesting and is discussed in the last 

 chapter of this book. 



On December 4, 1868, Mr. C. J. Maynard 

 shot at Ipswich one of these birds. It was 

 at first thought by Professor Baird to be the 



106 



