286 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



like a mouse, from one cluster of bushes to the next and, when cornered or 

 closely pressed, doubling back past its pursuer under cover of some fallen tree- 

 top or tangle of rank herbage. In the uncertain light of the places which it usu- 

 ally frequents it may be easily mistaken for a Song or a Swamp Sparrow. It is, 

 moreover, an exceptionally silent bird, although it sometimes utters a Junco-like 

 chup and in May we occasionally hear its low and curiously varied song. 



These facts no doubt explain why some of our local ornithologists have 

 seldom or never met with Lincoln's Sparrow, although it is known to be a per- 

 fectly regular and not uncommon migratory visitor to the entire Cambridge 

 Region. It has been found in Watertown, Waverley, Belmont, Arlington, Lex- 

 ington, Waltham and Cambridge ; — sometimes in fringes of bushes along stone 

 walls which border roadsides or upland grassy fields ; often among young pines 

 or red cedars in rocky pastures ; most frequently of all in dense, tangled thickets 

 in the Fresh Pond Swamps and near the outlet of the Lower Mystic Pond. 

 Whenever I pass the month of May in Cambridge, I am nearly sure to see one 

 or two birds in our garden. Here they find such safe and congenial shelter in 

 a large cluster of lilacs that they often remain for several successive days. 

 After becoming accustomed to their surroundings they sometimes venture forth, 

 especially in the early morning or at evening, to feed on the gravelled walks 

 among the flower-beds, and on spaces of close-shaven turf ; but they quickly 

 retire into the nearest cover whenever anyone enters the garden. 



171. Melospiza georgiana (Lath.). 

 Swamp Sparrow. 



Permanent resident ; locally abundant in summer ; common in two localities in winter. 



SEASONAL OCCURRENCE. 



April 12 ^November 10. (Winter.) 



NESTING DATES. 



May 13 — 31. 



Throughout the region treated in this Memoir the Swamp Sparrow breeds 

 abundantly wherever the local conditions suit its somewhat peculiar habits. 

 It arrives in April and usually departs with its young before the middle of 

 November. Its favorite haunts are bushy swamps, half-submerged thickets 



