446 HISTORY OF TUB 



lacks in musical power it makes up in zeal (like that of its 

 neighbor, Dickcissel). The singer, perched upon a weed or 

 coarse stalk of grass, swells out its little throat, and no doubt 

 charms the lady bird with its simple lay. They generally rear 

 two broods in a season, the males assisting in hatching and 

 rearing the young. 



Their nests are placed on the ground, usually in a depression, 

 and concealed in or under a tuft of grass. They are made of 

 old grasses and sometimes lined with hairs. Eggs four to six 

 (usually four), .73x. 58. They vary in size. A set of four eggs, 

 collected at Saybrook, Conn., only measure: .65x, 53, 68x. 53, 

 .69x. 56, .70x. 57; pure white, with purplish shell markings and 

 thinly spotted with various shades of reddish brown, aggregated 

 thickly around the larger end; in form, rounded oval. 



Ammodramus henslowii (Aud.). 



HENSLOW'S SPARROW. 



Summer resident; rare. Arrive in April; begin laying about 

 the first of May; leave in October. 



B. 339. K. 199. C. 236. G. 99, 219. U. 547. 



Habitat. Eastern United States; north to Ontario and south- 

 ern New England; west to the plains; winters in the Gulf States, 

 and probably southward. 



Sp. Char. Tail graduated; the lateral feathers much shorter thau the middle 

 pair, (difference between their tips much greater than length of bill from nostril,) 

 the middle pair longest; tail not longer than wing, its graduation decidedly less 

 than length of exposed culmen; bill stout; its depth at base nearly or quite equal 

 to length from nostril; a blackish rictal aud (usually) submalar streak. Adult: 

 Head and neck buffy olive, the crown heavily streaked, except along middle 

 line, with black, the hind neck much more narrowly streaked; back and scapu- 

 lars chestnut, feathers streaked with black and narrowly edged or bordered with 

 whitish; wings mainly chestnut; a blackish streak behind eye, another from 

 corner of mouth, and another along each side of chin and upper throat ( last 

 sometimes indistinct); chin and throat pale buff or buffy whitish; chest, sides 

 and flanks deeper buffy streaked with blackish; belly whitish. Young: Above, 

 dull brownish buffy, streaked and spotted with black; beneath light buff, the 

 sides (but not chest) streaked with black; a distinct black streak from corner 

 of mouth, but none on side of chin or throat. {Ridgway.) 



stretch of 

 Length. wing. Wing. Tail. Tarsus. Bill. 



Male 5.25 7.12 2.18 2.10 .70 .46 



Female... 5.00 6.95 2.12 1.95 .68 .45 



