EASTERN SHARP-TAILED SPARROW 809 



Eastern equine encephalitis vii'us has not yet been reported from this 

 species. 



Friedmann (1963) reports no instance of parasitism by the cowbird 

 on this race of the sharp-tailed sparrow. Indeed, he (1929) specifi- 

 cally excludes it because it is "ecologically distinct in [its] breeding 

 grounds from the Cowbird." This distinction apparently applies to 

 all races except nelsoni (see under that subspecies). 



Unusual storm tides take a toll of sharp-tail nests, built as they 

 are just at the upper Umit of normal high tides. O. S. Pettingill 

 (1936) described such destruction in Jime 1935 on Grand Manan 

 Island, referable of course to subvirgata. H. F. Lewis (1920), also 

 referring to subvirgata in Nova Scotia, noted an apparent correlation 

 between the height of spring tides and the time of nesting, and he 

 questioned whether the bu"d may take the expected height of the 

 tide into account in building its nest. 



More important are the changes in the habitat produced by man. 

 Wniiam Brewster (1906) said of these birds in Cambridge, Mass., 

 "Formerly a common summer resident of one locality which has 

 long since been totally abandoned." At that time, this was a tidal 

 marsh ; at present, no vestige remains, the marsh having been filled and 

 densely built up with industry. Witmer Stone (1937) noted a restric- 

 tion in range in New Jersey caused by drainage. My records show 

 that the marshes of Scusset Creek at Sagamore, Mass., were once satis- 

 factory for sharp-tails and supported a number of pairs, but widening 

 and deepening the Cape Cod Canal partially fiUed these marshes 

 in and changed the drainage pattern so that they were no longer 

 subject to periodic salt water flooding. As the salt leached out of 

 the soil after four or five years, the Spariina disappeared and with 

 it the sharp-tailed sparrows. Now these former marshes are mostly 

 brush-covered and in places growing up to pitch pine and scrub oak. 



Fall. — Fall migration begins in mid-September and consists of a 

 general withdrawal southward. The largest concentrations of the 

 year are usually seen at this time. Early fall arrivals have been 

 collected in South Carolina and coastal Alabama on September 21, 

 but some birds are seen regularly in Massachusetts and New York, 

 excluding wintering stragglers, to late November. Most observers 

 agree that the sharp-tails are less shy on migration than when nesting, 

 and show themselves more readily, often clinging to tall reeds rather 

 than flying away. In my experience this trait is more marked in the 

 fall than in spring, and probably results from the larger number of 

 individuals present and to the high proportion of inexperienced 

 immature birds. 



Winter. — The principal wintering grounds of the entire species are 

 along the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia, northern Florida, and 



