MELOSPIZA PALUSTEIS, SWAMP SPARROW. 137 



never heard its song. In the fall it has only a weak chirp, but in the 

 breeding- season it is said to be a " sweet songster.-' 



The only United States record ot* breeding I have, is the above men- 

 tion of its nesting in the Rocky Mountains. As attested by our numer- 

 ous and extensive collections from British America and Alaska, it pushes 

 very far north in the spring, breeding in abundance in these high lati- 

 tudes. Audubon found the young flying in Labrador July J:th, but did 

 not discover the nest or eggs. The eggs, of which an immense series from 

 Great Slave Lake and the Yukon, are in the Smithsonian, are of the 

 same general pattern as those of the Song Sparrow, and present the 

 endless variation in coloration shown in the latter. The various shades 

 of reddish and other brown blotching is generally heavy and uniformly 

 distributed, but in some specimens wreathes around the larger end. The 

 egg averages smaller than a Song Sparrow's — about 0.80 by 0.60. 



MELOSPIZA PALUSTRIS, (Wils.) Bd. 

 Swami) Sparrow. 



(?1) F)-mgilla georgiana, Lath., Ind. Orn. i, 1790, 460. 



FringiUa georgiana, Nutt., Man. i, lSo'2, 502. 



FringiUa {Ammodromus) georgiana, Nutt., Mau. i, 2d ed. 1840, 588. 



FringiUa jmlustris, Wils., Am. Oru. iii, 1811, 49, pi. 22, tig. 1.— Bp., Syn. 1828, 110.— 

 AuD., Orn. Biog. i, 1831, 331, v. 508, pi. 64. 



FringiUa {Spiza) palustris, Bp., Obs. Wils. 1825, No. 105. 



Passcrculus palustris, Bp., List, 1838, 33 — Bp., Consp. Av. i, 1850, 481. 



Ammodromus palusiris, AuD , Syu. 1839, 111. — Aud., B. Am. iii, 1841, 110, pi. 175.^^ 

 GiR., B. L. I. 1844, 114.— PuTN., Pr. Ess. Inst. 1856, 218 (Massachnsetts, sum- 

 mer).— Trippe, Pr. Ess. Inst, vi, 1871, 116 (Minnesota, "common"). 



Melospiza palustris, Bd., B. N. A. 1858, 483.— Wheat., Ohio Agric. Rep. I860.— Scl., Cat. 

 1862, 114.— COUES «& Prext., Smiths. Rep. 1861 (1862), 413 (Washington, D. C, 

 migratory. — Verr., Pr. Ess. Inst, iii, 151 (Maine, breeding). — Boahdm., Pr. 

 Bost. Soc. is, 1862 (Maine, breeding). — Hayd., Rep. 1862, 167 (Lower Missouri, 

 rare) — McIlwr., Pr. Ess. Inst, v, 1866, 89 (Hamilton, C. W., common in sum- 

 mer). — CouES, Pr. Ess. Inst, v, 1868, 283 (New England). — Coues, Pr. Bost, 

 Soc. 1868, 116 (South Carolina, winter).— Laavr., Ann. Lye. N. Y. 1868, 286.— 

 Allen, Mem. Bost. Soc. i, 1868, 505 (Illinois, October, abundant). — Turnb., B. 

 E. Pa. 1859. 23.— Allex, Bull. M. C. Z. ii, 1871, 279 (Florida, winter, common).— 

 Coues, Phila. Acad. 1871, 22 (North Carolina, common).— Mayk., Pr. Bost. Soc. 

 xiv, 1871 (north to Quebec, Cotiper). — Tkippb, ibid, xv, 1872, 238 (Iowa). — 

 Allen, Bull. M. C. Z. iii, 1872, 177 (Eastern Kansas, May).— Coues, Key, 1872, 

 138.— Snow, B. Kans. 1873, 7.— B. B. & R., N. A. B. ii, 1874, 34, pi. 28, f. 1, 2. 



Helospiza palustris, Bo. — Allen, Pr. Ess. Inst, iv, 1864, 73 (Massachusetts). 



Hah. — Eastern and part of Middle Province of North America. West to Utah {Dr. 

 H. C. Yan-ow). North to Newfoundland and Labrador (Auditboii); ordinarily to New 

 England and Canada. Winters in the Southern States, Carolinas to Texas. (No extra- 

 limital record.) 



Lieutenant Wan-en^s Expedition. — 4806, Vermilion River. 



Not obtained by Captain Raynolds' Expedition. 



The Swamp Sparrow is chiefly a bird of the Eastern Province, the 

 specimen just recorded being the westernmost I liave seen, and p(Mhai)S 

 representing the normal limit of distribution in that direction. But I 

 am recently advised by Dr. Yarrow of its occurrence in Southern Utah. 

 I have found it myself in Northern Dakota, as tar north as the licad- 

 waters of INIouse Biver, where it is rather common in the shrubbery 

 along the streams during the migrations. lb)\v far it may penetrate in 

 the interior of British America I do not know ; but, although unnoticed 

 by Swainson and Ivi(!hards()n, it i)r()bably reaches a higli hititude in 

 summer, since it was found by Audubon to be plentiful in Labrador. 

 It is generally distribute*! t]in)uglu)ut New lOnghmd in summer, breed- 

 ing in suitable places. According to my observations, it is only a bird 



