EASTERN SHARP-TAILED SPARROW 801 



high and one in lower growth near the edge of a tidal channel where 

 Spartina alternijlora was beginning to appear. They were raised 2 

 or 3 inches above the ground, which was very moist, and each was 

 sheltered overhead by a tuft of dead brown grass which was not 

 woven together in any way. These nests were very clean, no excre- 

 naent in or around them and no parasites found; they contained 

 respectively newly hatched young, a fresh set of eggs, and well 

 fledged young. The adult birds flushed directly from the nest 

 without a sound, there being no runway through the grass as has 

 been described by other observers. Some observers have noted that 

 nests may be placed in depressions in the ground apparently ex- 

 cavated for the purpose. 



According to H. O. Greene (1935), the nests are more or less 

 spherical and measure Z% to 4 inches high by 3% to 4^ inches in 

 diameter externally, the cavity being 2 to 2^ inches wide and IK to 

 2 inches deep. They are made of coarse diy grasses and seaweed 

 inexpertly woven together with many loose ends protruding tangen- 

 tially in all directions and are lined with finer similar material. The 

 nest is considered more bulky than that of the seaside sparrow. My 

 observations agree with this description and measurements, the 

 material used being exclusively Spartina patens, however. The fe- 

 male alone builds the nest and, as Woolfenden (1956) surmised, the 

 males probably "do not even know where nests are." 



Eggs. — The usual set of the species is three to five, occasionally 

 sLx and rarely seven eggs. They are ovate and have a slight gloss. 

 The ground is greenish-white profusely specked and spotted with 

 "snuff brown," "russet," "Brussels brown," or "auburn." The 

 underl^-ing spots are "pale purpHsh gray." Usually the markings 

 are well scattered over the entire surface. On some the speckles 

 are so thick they are confluent, obscuring the ground and giving the 

 egg a "deep brownish drab" appearance; on others the spots are 

 sharp and distinct. In series the eggs are noticeably smaller than 

 those of the seaside sparrow and the markings tend to be much finer. 

 The measurements of 105 eggs of the species average 19.4 by 14.6 milli- 

 meters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 21.1 by 14.9, 

 17.8 by 15.2, 20.0 by 15.9, and 20.8 by 13.S millimeters. The measure- 

 ments of 50 eggs of A. c. caudata average 19.3 by 14.5 miUiraeters; 

 those showing the four extremes measure 21.0 by 14.5, 17.S by 15.2, 

 and 20.8 by 13.2 milHmeters. 



Four or five eggs form the usual set in New England (Brewster, 

 MS.), and three are more usual in New Jersey (Woolfenden, 1956). 

 Reportedly the species usually rears two broods each summer in New 

 Jersey but only one in New England. Yet the late hatchings I 



