506 IIENSLOW'S SPARROW. 



head, forming two broad lines, and some lines on back, black. Line back of eye, and broken maxilliary line, 

 also black. Back, including upper wing covets, dark brown, with the feathers edged with chestnut, which is 

 in turn edged with whitish. Wings and tail, brown edged with greenish. Beneath, buffy white, tinted across 

 breast and on sides with greenish buft', and these parts are streaked with black. Bend of wing, yellowish. 

 Bill, pale yellow, darker on the upper mandible. Feet, pale brown. In autumn, the lower parts are mucl> 

 more generally suffused with bufty, and the feathers above are more broadly whitish margined. Nestlings 

 are generally similar, but are pale buft' behind, .and singularly are without streakings.. Se.xes, similar in all 

 stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



This species may be at once distinguished from the two species of 



Yellow-winged Sparrows by the greenish buff head, absence of yellow 



over eye, and by the dark -brown, nearly black, streakings below. From 

 Leconte's Sparrow it may be distinguished by the absence of yellowish 

 buff on the sides and the top of head and by the yellowish bend of the 

 wing, which in Leconte's is white. 



NESTS AND EGGS. 

 Nests, placed on the ground composed of grass, etc. Eggs, four 

 in number, white in color, spotted and blotched with reddish brown and 



umber. Dimensions, 74 by .49 to .7.5 by .."iO. ~ ^ 



DIMENSIONS. 

 Length, 5.25; stretch, 7.11.': wing. 2.17; tail, 2.15; bill, .48; 

 tarsus, .70. Fig. 50. Head and terminal portion 



of tail feather of Henslow's Sparrow. 



HABITS. 



In Massachusetts Henslow's Sparrow is not generally common. Many years ago I 

 shot two in a marshy place on my place here in NeAvtonville. This was in June and my 

 attention was attracted to the bird by its singular song. This was like the syllables 

 " see-wick," the first being dAvelt upon, the second given quickly, and both are uttered in 

 a shrill, grasshopper-like tone. Some years after this, when in con]i)any with my friends, 

 E. A. and Outram Bangs, I found the species quite common at Tyngsboro, Mass., in 

 high, dry fields, and evidently breeding. This was in June and the males were in full song. 



Later still, and somewhat unexpectedly, 1 found Henslow's Sparrow common in old 

 dry fields, grown up to grass, aboiit Rosewood, in Western Florida. This was early in 

 November, 1881. In 1883 I also foimd them in the same place early in November. They 

 were common, but were confined to the high grass in old fields. Later in the month they 

 began to grow less common and during December became quite rare, insomuch so that 

 after the 25tli of that month, at which time I shot a single female, not one was to be 

 found. From the 20th of the month the weather was unusually cold and stormy and this 

 change of temperature might have accounted for their disappearance. 



Wlien in Florida, Henslow's Sparrow does not sing, but has a single sharp note of 

 alarm. When disturbed they ran rapidly through the tall grass, but when forced to take 

 wing by my dog, they rose reluctantly, and moving with an eccentric flight a few yards, 

 dropped into the grass again, or if too hard pressed would occasionally take refuge in 

 bushes, but would soon drop again into the grass. I noticed that they appeared to rather 



