WESTERN HENSLOWS SPARROW 787 



Stoddard (1931) found remains of a Henslow's sparrow in a marsh 

 hawk from a winter roost in Leon County, Fla., and Sutton (1928b) 

 reports one from the stomach of a sharp-shinned hawk in Pennsylvania. 

 Skunks, minks, weasels, raccoons, and foxes are all potential predators, 

 and opossums and ground squirrels probably devour eggs when they 

 find them, though no examples are recorded in the literature. 



Hyde (1939) reports one ncstful of young destroyed by cattle 

 trampling. Mowing of hayfields must also result in some losses. 



Ectoparasites reported by Hyde include red mites or chiggers 

 {Tromhicula bisignata) found on the skin, particularly about the ears 

 and anus, and mallophaga (unidentified). He notes the species "seems 

 to be relatively free from lice." He also notes one nest of three young 

 destroyed by "cool weather and a heavy infestation of nest mites." 



Fall. — Hyde (1939) comments: "In August * * * there seems to 

 be a tendency for the birds, at least the immature ones, to venture 

 into new territory. * * * From late August on, the birds have a 

 tendency to make longer flights when disturbed. If flushed several 

 times in succession they frequently fly to the edge of a thicket or into 

 a low tree. Such behavior presages the reactions of the birds during 

 the migrating period. Nearly all of the definitely migrating bkds 

 seen by me in Kansas, Illinois, and New Jersey were along hedgerows 

 or at the edges of similar shrubby places." 



The migratory exodus beghis in September and by late October or 

 November the birds have left the breeding grounds. 



Winter. — Henslow's sparrow winters in the southeastern United 

 States from South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida westward to south- 

 eastern Texas. In South Carolina, Alexander Sprunt, Jr., and 

 E. Burnham Chamberlain (1949) consider it a "Fairly common winter 

 resident, October 21 to March 28, probably throughout most of the 

 State" and notes that "The western race of the Henslow's Sparrow 

 seems to be, so far as it is possible to determine from specimens exam- 

 ined, about as numerous in South Carohna as the eastern race." 

 Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says the bird varies greatly in abundance in 

 South Carolina from year to year. 



In Georgia, however, Thomas Burleigh (1958) considers the western 

 Henslow's sparrow "A scarce and local resident in the southern part 

 of the state." He lists less than a dozen specimen records assignable 

 to it, and considers the eastern subspecies the predominant form there. 



In Florida, Sprunt (1954) again considers "the eastern and western 

 forms about equal in distribution." The specimen record, however, 

 shows the western subspecies predominant in the "Panhandle" and 

 southward along the west coast to the Tampa region. Though 

 Sprunt (1954) states it frequents "old fields, roadsides, and thick, 

 rather wet growth," its principal habitat in Florida is the open 



