JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



55 



pearance; beautiful as these have 

 been, richer still were a few well 

 within spruce woods, built in beds of 

 green moss, bejieath canopies of the 

 beautiful and fragrant crowberry 

 Empetrntn-nigruni^ Where it had Crept 

 across low spruce limbs. 



Two broods undoubtedly are pro- 

 duced in a season, as some pairs 

 frequently have finished laying dur- 

 ing the first week of May, while nests 

 with eggs are common in July, and 

 the young just out of the nest are 

 numerous in August. 



While ordinarily a ground nesting 

 species, instances which are probably 

 exceptions are on record. (New Eng. 

 Bird Life 1, p. 262. Davie, Nests and 

 eggs of N. A. Birds. 3d. p. 310). 



i\[elospiza cinerea melodia (Wils.) 



Song Sparrow. 



Common summer resident and 

 breeder throughout tlie state being 

 the commonest member of the 

 group. 



It is of rather rare occurrence in 

 winter, though it seems to be regular 

 coastwise. 



While our most abundant specie, 

 this bird was omitted from Dr. 

 Holme's list of 1861, first appearing in 

 Prof. Hitchcocks list in the Proceed- 

 ings of the Portland Society of Nat- 

 ural History in 1862, (Vol. I, pt. I.), 

 though Wilson had stated that he had 

 found it in every district of the LTnited 

 States from Canada southward. 



Melospiza liiicolni (Aud.). Lincoln's 

 Sparrow, "Tom's Finch." 



This sparrow has been found in 

 much less abundance in Maine than 

 our other two representatives of the 

 genus, with which it associates. 

 Though less rare than has been pre- 

 viously indicated it cannot be con- 

 sidered even as tolerably common, 

 according to our present information. 



It is a migrant occurring both in 

 spring and fall. Neither Holmes, 

 Hitchcock, Boardman, Verrill, nor 

 Maynard and Brewster, made men- 

 tion of it in their respective lists, 

 which fact seems to have led Dr. 

 Brewer in 1874 to specially comment 

 upon the fact that it had not been 

 found in Maine. (Hist. N. Am. Birds.) 



Mr. Everett Smith was the first to 

 include it in a list of Maine birds. He 

 treated it as a regular migrant ar- 

 riving in May and quickly passing to 

 the north and east. (Birds of Maine, 



Forest & Stream XIX, No. 25, Jan. 

 18, 1883, p. 484.) 



Mr. Knight rejecting the foregoing 

 statement reported it "Rare for 

 Washington county, in spring only," 

 according to the information of Mr. 

 Boardman, and also recorded the 

 capture of a female at Westbrook, 

 Sept. 20, 1896, by the writer, in whose 

 collection it still is. (Bds. of Me. p. 

 101.). Upon the information of Mr. 

 N. A. Eddy, the same author record- 

 ed the capture of a specimen near 

 Bangor, May 18, 1882. (Knight Me, 

 Sportsman, Vol. 6, No. 63, Nov., 1898, 

 p. 20). 



On September 25, 1897 a male was 

 taken at Westbrook by the writer: 

 this is now in the collection of H. L. 

 Spinney. 



In 1899, J. C. Mead recorded a 

 specimen now in the collection of 

 Bridgton Academy, which was taken 

 at North Bridgton during the fall of 

 1879. ( Journ. Me. Orn. Soc. I, p. 31). 



In 1898 two specimens were taken 

 on the lantern of Seguin Light station, 

 one on Sept. 'll and another on Sept. 

 24. On this last date others were 

 said to have occurred. 



In 1899 four were observed under 

 the same conditions at Seguin be- 

 tween the date of Oct. 6 and 13. The 

 full account of these occurrences 

 were given by Capt. H. L. Spinney in 

 the Journal of the Maine Ornitholog- 

 ical Society Volume II, pp. 19-20. 

 (Cf. also Vol. V, pp. 56, 57 and 58.). 



On May 12, 1900, a male was taken 

 at Westbrook, and is in the collection 

 of the writer. Hence we have two 

 definite spring records, one on the 

 date of May 12 and the other on May 

 18, while in the fall its occurrence has 

 been detected between the dates of 

 Sept. 11 and October 13. 



While now known in Maine only as 

 a migrant, the bird should be careful- 

 ly looked for breeding in the northern 

 parts of the state, especially upon the 

 Appalachian highlands. 



Melospiza georgiana (Lath.), Swamp 



Sparrow. 



A summer resident of general dis- 

 tribution, resorting to swamps and 

 lagoons for the purpose of breeding, 

 often in situations suitable to Red- 

 winged Blackbirds, but occasionally 

 it breeds in less boggy ground. 

 Hence its distribution during the 

 breeding season is necessarily local- 

 ized. In autumn it swarms in rush 



