474 HISTORY OF THE 



respectively. One of the nests was placed in a mossy bank, 

 among small swamp bushes, and composed entirely of grasses; 

 the other was built at the base of an aspen tree. The eggs of ^ 

 one set, three in number, are light greenish white, heavily 

 marked (principally at the larger end) witli chestnut and lav- 

 ender gray; sizes: .81x.58, .Six. 59, .82x.60. The nest taken* 

 June 22d is of four eggs; these are light pea green, thickly 

 marked with chestnut, and measure: .79x. 58, .TOx.ST, .81x. 58, : 

 .79X.57." 



Melospiza georgiana (Lath.)- 



SWAMP SPARROW. 

 PLATE XXIX. 



A winter sojourner in the southeastern part of the State; rare; 

 common during migration; but rare in western Kansas. Begin 

 to leave in March, but many remain until late in April; return 

 in October. 



B. 369. E. 233. C. 243. G. 115, 237. U. 584. 



Habitat. Eastern North America; west to the Great Plains, 

 accidentally to Utah; north to Newfoundland, Labrador and 

 the Great Slave Lake region. Breeds from Massachusetts, 

 northern Illinois, etc., northward; and winters from the soutli- 

 ern portion of the Middle States southward. 



Sp. Chak. •'Middle of the crown uniform chestnut; forehead black; super- 

 ciliary streak, sides of head, and back and sides of neck, ash. A brown stripe 

 behind the eye. Back with broad streaks of black, which are edged with rusty 

 yellow. Beneath whitish, tinged with ashy anteriorly, especially across the 

 breast, and washed with yellowish brown on the sides. A few obsolete streaks 

 across the breast, which become distinct on its sides. Wings and tail strongly 

 tinged with rufous; the tertials black, the rufous edgings changing abruptly to 

 white towards the end. Female: With the crown scarcely reddish, streaked 

 with black, and divided by a light line. Young: Conspicuously streaked be- 

 neath the head; above nearly uniform blackish. 



"In autumn, the male of this species has the feathers of the crown each with 

 a black streak, and the center of the crown with an indistinct light stripe, mate- 

 rially changing its appearance. 



" The forehead is usually more or less streaked with black." 



