IPSWICH SPARROW 669 



overly abundant in 1948, it no doubt got more than its share of the 

 food the inhabitants put out for the bh'ds. 



Behavior. — In its actions the Ipswich sparrow resembes the Savan- 

 nah sparrow in many ways. One April morning I watched one of each 

 standing a foot apart on the grassy strip at Gilgo, Long Island. They 

 stretched their necks to the utmost to watch my approach, then re- 

 laxed and assumed identical crouching postures as they crept along 

 feeding in the short grass. Again they reared, on the alert, standing 

 high, necks upstretched, bills pointed upward. The Ipswich sparrow 

 stood well above the Savannah sparrow and appeared much more 

 robust. While stretching its head it still maintained its well-rounded 

 proportions, while the Savannah's head and neck, normally thinner in 

 profile, looked quite pointed in comparison. 



Both species run rather loose-legged through the short grass, and, 

 although the Savannah sparrow is likely to hop more than the Ipswich 

 in winter, on the grass strip both species show essentially the same 

 slow crouching or creeping advance and occasional scratch before pick- 

 ing up seeds in the short grass. The hopping tree sparrows that ap- 

 pear along the grassy strips with them in spring stand fairly high 

 on their legs and are generally separable by shape alone from Savannah 

 and Ipswich sparrows. 



Edward H. Forbush (1929) cites Charles W. Townsend's description 

 of the flight of the Ipswich sparrow as flickering and undulating like 

 that of the Savannah sparrow. He notes that both drop abruptly 

 into the gi'ass with the tail down and that, like the Savannah, Ipswich 

 sparrows frequently chase one another and associate with various 

 other species, but are often by theniselves. Townsend (1912b) writes: 

 "Pipits, Horned Larks and Ipswich Sparrows have so completely de- 

 parted from arboreal habits, that they run easily and walk with grace. 

 Walking appears to be acquired later than running. It is a very 

 interesting fact that the Savannah Sparrow, frequenter of meadows 

 and marshy pastures, generally hops even when on smooth ground, 

 although it is also a good runner, while its near relation the Ipswich 

 Sparrow, frequenter of sandy wastes, almost never hops and is a good 

 walker." Townsend also remarks that the Ipswich sparrow walks 

 with a dovelike back-and-forth nodding of its head. 



While I am in full agreement with Townsend's remarks for 

 winter and early spring, the Ipswich spaiTOws on Sable Island in mid- 

 summer hop perhaps as much as any of our sparrows. To quote from 

 my field notes for 1948: "One bird flew out on the clean white sand, 

 hopped several feet, picked at scattered seeds and to my surprise 

 continued to hop through a patch of short sedges where it fed and then 

 flew oft" into the crowbcrry. A moment later it retm'ned and hopped 

 around for 20 feet, once breaking into a run of several feet and then 



