"4 Bird -Lore 



loral mark, with indistinct dusky streaks and a faint wash of buff on the breast 

 and sides. In worn plumage the buff disappears, but the back is still greenish 

 gray and unlike that of any of our other Sparrows. 



The nestling is wholly unlike the adult. Its breast and sides are a pronounced 

 buff, conspiciously streaked with blackish; the upper parts are grayish brown 

 streaked with black. As with the Sharp-tail; the bird wears this plumage from 

 the time it leaves the nest in late June until August or September, when, by 

 molt of all the feathers, except primaries and secondaries (and possibly in some 

 cases even them), the first winter plumage is acquired. 



The adult passes into winter plumage by a complete molt in August, after 

 which it is indistinguishable from the voung bird. This is the plumage figured 

 •(Fig. 5). 



Unlike the Sharp-tail, the Seaside has no spring molt. Its plumage, how- 

 ever, shows the effect of wear, and fading much less than does that of the Sharp- 

 tail. Long Island specimens taken as late as the middle of May are still in com- 

 paratively fresh plumage, but after that date the change to worn breeding plu- 

 mage comes quickly. 



The four southern races of our northern Seaside Sparrow are all of about 

 the same size, and are smaller than ovir bird. They are sometimes distinguished 

 with difficulty, but, since they are largely residents and are confined to our South 

 Atlantic and Gulf coasts, they do not come within the experience of many orni- 

 thologists. For our present purposes we may simply say that Macgillivray's Sea- 

 side inhabits the coast of South Carolina and Georgia, where its relationships 

 with Scott's Seaside are not clearly understood. The latter alone inhabits the 

 west coast of Florida, and doubtless extends west to Louisiana, when it is replaced 

 "by the darker Fisher's Seaside, w^hich is most nearly related to Macgillivray's 

 Seaside. On the south Texas coast we have Sennett's Seaside, which, although 

 most widely separated geographically, is still most like our northern bird. 



Black Seaside Finch (Fig. 4). I have seen only March specimens of this 

 little known bird, but it is not improbable that its plumage changes correspond 

 with those of the northern Seaside. It is confined to the marshes of northern 

 Indian River, chiefly on Merritt's Island, and has never been seen, I believe, 

 north of the Haulover Canal. I have seen no specimens of the northern forms 

 •south of Matanzas Inlet, and if as appears, the ranges of these two birds do not 

 come together, the Black Seaside is an isolated race, a fact which may in part 

 account for its strongly marked characters. 



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