IPSWICH SPARROW 671 



until four or five could be heard from various directions. The 

 muffled hoof beats of wild horses as under darkness they approached 

 the dwellings, the continual distant roar of heavy surf along the 

 south shore, and the rhythmatic musical and hylalike piping of arctic 

 terns in a nearby colony, all served as a subdued chorus which made 

 singing Ipswich sparrows the principal performers and this the only 

 place on earth where such a combination could be heard." 



The next morning, August 1, singing began in mid-morning bright 

 sunshine and followed Dwight's May-June pattern of starting and 

 stopping, even though it was late in the season. Singing perches 

 ranged from invisible ones low in the contour-hugging growth to the 

 tops of poles and to some 20 feet up on the wireless stays. To my 

 ears the song sounded slightly louder and more musical than that of 

 the Savannah. One repeated and completely different song by a 

 bird perched on a radio strut consisted of two trills, as if it had left 

 off the first three opening notes, tsxmieee, tswaaah. The last trill was 

 buzzy like the first, and quite dissimilar to the usual musical Ipswich 

 ending. Kichard H. Pough (1946) writes that the Ipswich sparrow's 

 song ends "with a sound hke a common tern's tee-arr." This is 

 the ending which Dwight says usually "swings out with a vim," and 

 I noted it in some but not aU of the birds singing in July and August 

 1948. Occasionally a song ends softly, and less emphatically, re- 

 sembling the Savannah's. 



Besides the musical tsip heard in winter, adults use a thicker 

 tsick or tsuck repeatedly on the nesting grounds. Young call for 

 food after leaving the nest with a similar chirp. I have heard this 

 coarser note twice on Long Island in November, but the more musical 

 tsip is the usual note on the mainland. I know of only three records 

 of off-island singing — all heard in April — two on Long Island and 

 one in Massachusetts. 



Field marks. — The similarly sized, grayish vesper sparrow is some- 

 times found with Ipswich sparrows in early spring migration in 

 grassy strips along ocean boulevards, such as at Jones Beach. The 

 vesper sparrow lacks the Ipswich's facial streaking and its yellow over 

 the eye, and has a plainer back and darkish ear patch. In flight the 

 vesper's distinctive white outer tail feathers prevent confusion between 

 the two. 



Savannah sparrows are smaller, darker, and browner compared to 

 the large, pale male Ipswich sparrows, which appear almost ghostly 

 when out of the dunes. Female Ipswich sparrows often resemble the 

 males but, according to Dwight, are sometimes slightly browner 

 and smaller, approaching male Savannah sparrows in size. Generally 

 the Savannah sparrow has a darker crown bordering the median line 

 and shows considerably more black streakign on the back. Some 



Mft-737— 68— pt. 2 6 



