Wayne: Birds of South Carolina. 121 



8, 1884, at Mount Pleasant and recorded by Mr. William Brew- 

 ster in the Auk.^ It generally arrives about September 30, my 

 earliest record being the 25th of that month, and it remains until 

 June 1 in some backward seasons. This sparrow frequents only 

 the salt marshes while it sojourns here, and is found in company 

 with the Sharp-tailed, Acadian Sharp-tailed, Seaside, and Mac- 

 gillivray's Sparrows. It migrates late in the spring, and 1 have 

 noticed that birds which breed far north generally migrate much 

 later than those which breed at points much farther south, and 

 this is the case with all birds that are late breeders. 



The breeding range of Nelson's Sparrow is the Mississippi 

 Valley, from northern IlUnois, Minnesota, and Dakota to Mani- 

 toba. 



208. Passerherbulus nelsoni subvirgatus (Dwight) . Acadian 



Sharp-tailed Sparrow. 



This form of the Sharp-tailed Sparrow was described by Dr. 

 Jonathan Dwight, Jr., in Juh^, 1887, from specimens taken in 

 New Brunswick. Audubon was, however, well acquainted with 

 this subspecies. In his Birds of America- he says: 



Some shot on the 11th of December, in the neighbourhood of Charleston in 

 South Carolina, wei'e so pale as almost to tempt one to pronounce them of a dif- 

 ferent species. 



A subspecies was unknown in those days! 



The Acadian Sparrow inhabits the salt marshes, and is only 

 absent on the coast from June 5 until October 10. It is a common 

 bird, and in relative abundance ranks next to the Sharp-tailed 

 Sparrow. 



This subspecies breeds from New Brunswick to southern Maine. 



209. Passerherbulus maritimus (Wils.). Seaside Sparrow. 



Although I have found this species on the coast from Septem- 

 ber until late in June, I have never found it breeding, and am 

 of the opinion that the birds which remain through May and June 

 are barren. 



As its name implies, the Seaside Sparrow frequents only the 

 the saltwater marshes, and, being strictly a tide bird, is found 

 on the shores only when the tide is high. It is impossible to 

 form even an estimate of the number of birds of this species that 

 occur herein autumn, winter, and spring, for every marsh literally 



»ll, 1885, 216. 2 III, 109. 



