536 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



Dr. Cones, in his visit to Labrador, in 1860, fonnd this Sparrow abundant 

 in that region in low moist meadows and marshy tracts near the sea-shore, 

 but never noticed it in any other situations. He frequently observed it there 

 feeding on the beds of dried eel-grass along the rocky shores, searching for 

 food in company with tlie Titlarks and small Sandpipers. 



During my visits to the islands of the Bay of Fnndy, in one of which I 

 remained a number of days, I had a good opportunity to notice these birds. 

 In many respects their habits undergo noticeable changes during the breed- 

 ing-season. As they pass north or south in their migrations, they are not 

 particularly shy or difificult to approach, but when they had nests they seemed 

 to become particularly cautious and mistrustful. The male and female sat 

 by turns upon tlieir eggs, but generally one remained within hailing distance, 

 and always gave promptly a signal of danger when the nest was approached, 

 at which the other would glide from the nest, running olf on the ground like 

 a mouse. I found it impossible to identify by shooting the parent on the 

 nest, and only accomplished its identification by means of snares. When 

 once lost in tlie tall grass, it was impossible to find it again, or if it reap- 

 peared it was impossible to tell which of the many chirping Sparrows, all of 

 them out of reach of shot, and keeping a sharp lookout on my movements, 

 had any connection with the nest. This manoeuvre was gone through with 

 in every nest I found, but I soon learned to distinguisli them without the 

 need of gun or snare. 



This Sparrow is eminently terrestrial, confining itself almost entirely to 

 the ground, and rarely alighting on anything even so high as a fence. 

 Tliough frequenting low moist grounds, its nest is always in a dry spot and 

 usually somewhat elevated. The nest is almost always sunk into the ground, 

 is made very simply and loosely of dry grasses, with a lining of softer mate- 

 rials of the same. I have never found any other material than this in the 

 many nests I have examined, although nests of var. alcmdinus, in the vicin- 

 ity of Fort Anderson, are frequently lined witli feathers or deers' hair, 

 according to MacFarlane. 



The eggs, five or six in number, vary considerably in their appearance. In 

 shape they are a rounded oval, one end being much more pointed than the 

 other. They measure .68 by .55 of an inch. In some the ground-color, 

 which is of a greenish-white, is plainly visible, being only partially covered 

 by blotches of brown, shaded with red and purple. These blotches are more 

 numerous about the larger end, becoming confluent and forming a corona. 

 In others, the ground-color is entirely concealed by confluent feiTuginous 

 fine dots, over which are darker markings of brown and purple and a still 

 darker rin"- of the same about the laro-er end. 



