Song Sparrow SONG-BIRDS. 



away to fragrant smoke in November, they veil his song a 

 little, but it still continues. 



December daunts him, — so long to spring, he thinks, but 

 even then a warm sunbeam draws out a note or two ; and 

 when January's iron hand numbs him, he whispers, "so 

 long since summer," and breathes a note in undertone for 

 memory's sake; so is completed this Sparrow's year of 

 song. 



Swamp Song Sparrow : Melospiza georgiana. 



Length: 4.50-4.80 inches. 



Male and Female : Crown bright bay, gray stripe over eye and gray 



wash over brown around neck. Back striped with various 



browns. Tail reddish brown. Much bay on wings. Mottled 



gray below. 

 Song : A liquid though monotonous trill. 

 Season : Migrant ; March and April, October and November. Breeds 



here sparingly. 

 Breeds : From Northern States northward. 

 Nest and Eggs : In tussock or bush in swamp, otherwise like Song 



Sparrow's ; eggs also similar. 

 Bange : Eastern North America to the Plains, accidentally to Utah, 



north to the British Provinces, including Newfoundland and 



Labrador. Winters in the Middle States and southward. 



The distinctive marks of the Swamp Song Sparrow are 

 its bright hay crown, hay wing-edges, and absence of any yel- 

 low washes, or white tail feathers. The Chipping Sparrow 

 has the bay crown, but lacks the bay on the wings ; the 

 Vesper Sparrow has the bay wings, but lacks the crown, 

 but the Swamp Sparrow has both. 



This Sparrow has neither the vocal powers or the sociabil- 

 ity of the Song Sparrow. It is a shy bird that loves deep, 

 cool thickets and haunts such impenetrable shrubberies as 

 border sphagnum bogs; and though it is common in such 

 places, when you look for it you will find it as elusive as 

 the Veery and Marsh Wrens. 



Its fresh trill can be heard from middle April until it 

 passes on in May ; where it breeds it sings almost continu- 



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