DUSKY SEASIDE SPARROW 855 



with young as early as May 2, aud with fresh eggs as late as August 

 20. 



From the dates the eggs are apparently laid in two peaks, the first 

 in late April and early May, the second in late June and early July, 

 and the species appears to be two-brooded. 



Incubation. — One egg is usually laid per day until the clutch is 

 complete, but the hour of laying is not known. Incubation starts 

 when the last egg is laid and takes between 12 and 13 days. As the 

 male has never been seen sitting on the nest, the female apparently 

 does all the incubating and brooding of the young alone. When she 

 leaves the nest her mate often chases her to the edge of the territory 

 where he stops and sings, though he sometimes accompanies her when 

 she goes to feed in the tidal area outside the dike. When she returns 

 he usually follows her back to the nest and he sometimes chases her 

 to it. 



Young. — At hatching the nestlings are pink and show only sparse 

 patches of gray natal down. The egg tooth is shed the second or 

 third day. On the third day the skin has darkened to almost a 

 bluish-gray, but the feather tracts are not obvious until the fourth 

 day. By the sixth day the eyes are open, and on the seventh the 

 feather shafts start to slough off. 



The male helps his mate feed the young, which remain in the nest 

 quietly and are not heard crying for food. They normally remain in 

 the nest about nine days, but by the eighth day are apt to bounce 

 from it at the least distm'bance. Upon leaving they can fly only a 

 few feet, but they scramble actively about in the vegetation and are 

 very difficult to find. The high-pitched cheeps they utter probably 

 help the old birds find them for feeding. They usually remain on the 

 territory about 20 more days, following their parents and begging for 

 food. 



Toward the end of this period the male starts to ignore them, and 

 when a begging juvenile approaches he flies to another perch and 

 continues singing. There is some indication that the male may drive 

 the juveniles out of the territory when renesting begins. During this 

 second nesting period fewer young are seen in the vicinity. On July 

 30 I coHected one bird in juvenal plumage some three miles from the 

 nearest known breeding colony. 



Plumage. — The juvenal plumage of the dusky seaside is much like 

 that of the other seasides, but the head and back are considerably 

 darker. The lores and bend of wing are buffy, the throat white, the 

 breast and belly an oft'-white or buff, and a band of tan streaks ex- 

 tends across the breast. The wings, back, and tail are greyish brown. 

 The post-juvenal molt starts in late August, and by November the 



