FAMILY Fringillide. 
\ 
melodic value of the songs above recorded and say to the 
one still unconvinced ‘‘ Match these if you can!” 
Swamp In appearance the Swamp Sparrow re- 
Sparrow sembles the Chippy, but he is a trifle 
fais tesa larger, and his coloring is not quite the 
georgiana 
L. 5.85 inches S@Me. Crown chestnut or Venetian red, 
April1oth, or forehead black; a gray stripe over the eye 
all the year and asepia line back of it; neck below the 
crown ashen gray slightly striped with sepia; back 
ruddy brown with black and ochre or buff streaks; 
throat dull white toned to light gray on the breast; sides 
gray brown; under parts dull white; wing coverts ruddy 
brown; tail gray-brown. Female similarly marked. 
Nest built on the ground, and similar to that of the Song 
Sparrow. Egg also similar to that of the Song Sparrow, 
but more heavily marked. This bird is common on wet 
meadows, in the thickets of marshes, and on the margins 
of streams bordered with cat-tails or reeds. It is dis- 
tributed throughout eastern North America. Not in- 
frequentiy it winters in Massachusetts, or the States 
farther south. 
This Sparrow is rarely seen beyond his chosen retreat; 
he is a persistent skulker among the thickets of the 
swamp or the borders of the wet meadow, and, as a con- 
sequence, his song is scarcely as common as the mon- 
otonous one of the Chippy which it resembles. But 
there is a distinct difference between the voice of this 
bird and that of the Chippy; as a monotone it may be 
considered a trifle more musical, and nearer related to 
the voice of the Field Sparrow; but it certainly lacks the 
sweetness of tone which characterizes the music of the 
latter bird, and it is equally certain it is pitched lower 
than the stridulous effort of the Chippy. The song 
scarcely deserves a record, yet it could be adequately 
rendered thus: 
Three times 8va.... Aecelerando. 
Weet-weet-weet-weet-t-t-€-t ete. 
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