CAPE SABLE SPARKOW 863 



upper parts of the young bird lack theii' distinctive greenish-gray 

 cast. The back feathers have hea\aer bhickish-brovvn centers edged 

 with buffy-white. The yellow of the lores and the wing edging is 

 also replaced wth bufr3"-white. The entire underparts are suffused 

 with pale yellow; the breast streaks are smaller, more brownish, and 

 less continuous than in the adult plumage. We cannot see any 

 'j)inkish yellow' as you report [in Sprunt, 1954], nor would we call 

 the bird any 'lighter'; if anything it is browner." The pinldsh tinge 

 I thought I saw in the field could well have been caused by early 

 morning light effects, which only emphasizes the value of a specimen. 



Food. — The only information on the food of this species is that of 

 Howell (1932) : "Stomachs of 15 specimens of this species have been 

 examined in the Biological Survey; the food consisted almost wholly 

 of insects and spiders, with a few small amphipods and mollusks, and 

 about 3 percent of vegetable debris. Beetles of many species com- 

 posed the largest single item, and spiders were next in importance. 

 Other insects taken were dragon-fly nymphs, moths and their larvae, 

 bugs, parasitic wasps, flies, crickets, and locusts." 



Behavior. — In my experience and from what little has been written 

 about it, the general behavior of the Cape Sable sparrow differs very 

 little if at all from that of its close relatives. Howell (1932) remarks: 

 "Like the other species of Seaside Sparrows, they are very shy and 

 secretive, spending most of their time on or near the ground, concealed 

 in the vegetation. * * * Dm-ing the breeding season, late in March 

 and AprU, the birds flush rather easily from the tall grass, flying with 

 a steady flight for a distance of 100 to 200 yards before di"opping into 

 the grass again. They usually run as soon as they aUght and are hard 

 to flush a second time." Sometimes they fly considerably farther; 

 one bird I flushed from its singing perch flew in a large half circle for 

 almost half a mile before dropping into the grass. 



During the summer I And that the adults, and particularly the 

 young, may be called out of cover by "squeaking." The birds are 

 most easily observed when the males are singing, which may be any 

 time from January to August. J. C. Howell, Jr., in a letter to A. H. 

 HoweU, heard "some singing December 26, 1933, 5 miles west of 

 Flamingo." S. A. Grimes wrote me Nov. 20, 1953, saying: "Wlien 

 Roy HaUman, Wayland Shannon and I were at Cape Sable in January, 

 1932, we found the Cape Sable sparrow quite common and in full 

 song." I have heard the birds singing in the Ochopee marshes as 

 early as March 15 and as late as August 4. 



To me the birds seem quite temperamental and sensitive to weather 

 conditions. Although I have heard them sing at all times of the day, 

 they sing more frequently early in tlie morning and late in the after- 

 noon. When I discovered the Ochopee colony on Apr. 3, 1953, the 



64G-737— 68— pt. 2 18 



