326 BIRDS OF ONTARIO. 



becomes very common, haunting the thickets and brush heaps by the 

 brooks, and behaving very much Hke the Song Sparrow. During the 

 breeding season, it is most al)undant among the bushes near and 

 above timber line, nesting as high as it can finfl the shelter of willows 

 and junipers. Reappearing in the valleys in Octol)er, it lingers by 

 the streams for a few weeks and then disappears.." 



It is also said to be abundant in spring and fall in Iowa, and 

 Mr. Ridgwaj' reports it as wintering in great numbers in Southern 

 Illinois. 



It has l)een found breeding at Fort Yukon in Alaska, and also 

 throughout the northern portions of British America to the Arctic 

 Ocean. 



MELOSPIZA GEORGIANA (Lath.). 

 2.36. Swamp Sparrow. (•')84) 



Crown, bright bay or chestnut, blackening on tlie forehead, often witli an 

 obscure median ashy line and usually streaked with l)lack ; cervix, sid,es of 

 head and neck and the breast, strongly ashy, with vague dark auricular and 

 maxillary markings, the latter bounding the whitish chin, tiie ashy of the 

 breast obsoletely streaky ; belly, whitish ; sides, flanks and crissxun, strongly 

 shaded with brown and faintly sti-eaked ; back and rump, lirown, rather 

 darker than the sides, boldly streaked with black and pale l)rown or grayish ; 

 wings so strongly edged with bright Imy as to appear almost uniformly of this 

 color when viewed closed, but inner secondaries showing Ijlack with whitish 

 edging ; tail, likewise stronglj' edge<l with l)ay and usually showing black shaft 

 lines. Further distinguished from its allies by the emphasis of the black, bay 

 and ash. Length, .5^-6 ; wing and tail, 2|-2|^. 



Hab. — Eastern North America to the Plains, accidentally to Utah, north to 

 the British Provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador. Breeds from 

 the Northern States nortliward, and winters in the Middle States and south- 

 ward. 



Nest, on the ground in a moist place, sometimes in a tussock of grass or 

 low bush, composed of weeds, grass an<l rootlets, lined with tine fibrous 

 substances. 



Eggs, four to six, grayish-white, sjx'ckled with ieddislil)r<)\vn. 



This is, perhaps, the least known of any of our conunon Sparrows, 

 for it .seldom comes witliin reach of the ordinary observer, and even 

 by the collector it is apt to be overlooked, unless he knows its haunts 

 and goes on purpose to seek it. It is very common by the shores of 

 Hamilton Bay, where it may be seen skulking along the line; where 

 land and water meet, and if disturbed at once hides itself among the 



