]VL\cGILLIVRAY'S SEASIDE SPARROW 833 



May IG, 1924, and in less than an hour found five nests. We notified 

 Wayne at once, and he came out and had no difficulty finding more 

 nests a mile or so east of where we found ours. 



The sparrows nested in a loose colony here in 1925, 1926, and 1927. 

 In 1925 the birds were in the area as early as April 10, but we found 

 no nests until April 29, when they contained fresh eggs. The nests 

 here were all rather deep cups made of dried grasses and attached to 

 the upright stems of the needle-pointed bulrushes. They were from 

 4 to 6 inches from the ground and, as a rule, toward the outside of 

 the clump. On May 24, 1927, a small colony was found breeding in 

 completely fresh water surroundings near Goose Creek Reservoir, 

 Charleston Countj^, some 12 miles north of the city. Four nests were 

 found, all practically on the ground in short green grass {Paspalum 

 sp.) much like Bermuda grass. 



Incubation consumes about 12 days. In the Charleston area ap- 

 parently only one brood is raised, though we found young out of the 

 nest and able to fly about 25 feet as early as May 22, 1924. Tomkins 

 (1941) comments about the Savannah area: "The nesting season here 

 is very long. Incomplete sets of eggs have been found in late April, 

 and young birds partly fledged have been seen in late August. The 

 greatest number of nests have been found in June and nearly as many 

 in May, but not so many visits have been made in July and August. 

 The natural supposition w^ould be that two or more broods are raised 

 each year." 



Eggs. — The measurements of 27 eggs average 21.1 by 15.3 milli- 

 meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measm*e 23.J-f by 164, ^^-^ 

 by 15.5, and 21.0 by l^.S millimeters. 



Food. — ^Living as it does so extensively in salt marsh, macgillivraii's 

 food appears to be predominantly animal matter, a departure from 

 usual sparrow custom. Small marine life such as various worms, tiny 

 shrimp, and crabs, together with grasshoppers, moths, flies, and 

 spiders compose the bulk of its food. I have watched these birds 

 catch the little moths that flit about the stems and tips of the marsh 

 grass, as well as foraging about on the mud in and out among the 

 stems of the grass. Seeds of the cordgrass and glasswort make up 

 part of the vegetable content. 



Behavior. — The way of life pursued by macgillivraii is in most 

 respects typical of that of the species. It spends much time on the 

 muddy floor of the marshes searching amid the thickly growing stems 

 for its food and usuaUy keeping well out of sight. Its characteristic 

 call note helps to locate it at times. This bird responds to the 

 "squeak" readily, and in a manner surprising to one unfamiliar with 

 this technique. I have often looked over a stretch of marsh apparently 

 void of avian life of any sort. Then, after a few moments of making 



