502 GRANIVOROUS BIRDS. 



SWAMP SPARROW. 



{Fringilla georgiana, Lath. i. p. 460. No. 86. F. palustris, Wil- 

 son, iii. p. 49. pi. 22. fig. 1. [male]. Audubon, pi. 64. Orn, i. 

 p. 331. Phil. Museum, No. 65C9.) 



Sp. Charact. — The 1st primary shorter than the Gth ; front black- 

 ish ; crown bay, undivided ; line over the eye, sides of the neck, 

 and breast, ash-color; bill robust, dusky, the lower mandible yel- 

 lowish towai'ds the base ; legs and feet very stout, the hind nail 

 longer than the toe ; tarsus ^ of an inch. 



The aquatic habits of this common though little known 

 species is one of its most remarkable peculiarities. In 

 New England they arrive from the Southern States, 

 where they winter, about the middle of April, and take 

 up their summer residence in the swamps and marshy 

 meadows, through which, often, without flying, they 

 thread their devious way with the same alacrity as the 

 Rail, with whom they are indeed often associated in 

 neighbourhood. In consequence of this perpetual brush- 

 ing through sedge and bushes, their feathers are fre- 

 quently so worn that their tails appear almost like those 

 of rats, and are very often flirted in the manner of the 

 Wagtail. Occasionally, however, they mount to the tops 

 of low bushes or willow trees and chant forth a few trill- 

 ing, rather monotonous minor notes, resembling, in some 

 measure, the songof the preceding species, and appearing 

 like ttoe tw' iw' tio' tio' tw twe, and tivV tw^l 'tiv tw' twe, 

 uttered in a pleasant and somewhat varied warble. These 

 notes are uttered with considerable effort, and sometimes 

 with a spreading of the tail. In the spring, on their first 

 arrival, this song is delivered with much spirit, and 

 echoes through the marshes like the trill of the Canary. 

 The sound now resembles the syllables 'tiu 'ho ho 'hoee 

 Hwee 'tw 'twe Hwe, or 'tshp 'tshp 'tshe 'tsh 'tsh 'tsh 'tshj 

 beginning loud, sweet, and somewhat plaintive, and the 



