BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 26 I 



enough at the late date of April 14th. 1 This was in 1903. They are found com- 

 monly during the winter at Long Island, and on the New Jersey and Virginia 

 coasts, and always on or near sandy regions, and with two exceptions within 

 sight and sound of the sea. Mr. William Brewster 2 has a bird in his collection, 

 shot in the Fresh Pond marshes at Cambridge. Arthur T. Wayne 3 shot a 

 female on March 4th, 1902, from the top of a bush on the edge of an oat-field, 

 near a sandy spot, seven miles from the ocean in South Carolina. From the 

 observations of Dr. W. E. Hughes 4 it would appear that the bulk of the Ipswich 

 Sparrows passed farther south than New Jersey during midwinter. He found 

 them most common in November and December, least common in January and 

 February, while in March and April they became more common again, but not as 

 numerous as in the autumn. His observations for this region therefore corre- 

 spond very closely to mine for Ipswich. 



The Ipswich Sparrow occurs along the coast of Essex County where there 

 are sand beaches backed by dunes. It is even found at Swampscott and Lynn 

 where the amount of sand back of the beaches is but small. I have also seen 

 the bird in the salt marsh back of the Ipswich dunes and once in a field at 

 Ipswich about two miles from the sea but near the salt marsh. 



Ipswich Sparrows, like many other birds, disappear with marvelous facility 

 when closely pursued, especially if the pursuer uses a gun. Another trite 

 aphorism, especially applicable to this bird, is the statement that it is much 

 easier to see the familiar than the unfamiliar. Also it is much easier to find a 

 bird if one knows exactly where to go. There are parts of the Ipswich dunes 

 where I have never seen Ipswich Sparrows, and other parts where they can 

 almost invariably be found in the season. To illustrate these statements, the 

 following incident is instructive. An experienced ornithologist went to Ipswich 

 to see and obtain specimens of the Ipswich Sparrow, a bird previously unknown 

 in life to him. This was in November, after these Sparrows had been common 

 for some time. He tramped about the dunes for several hours, shooting where- 

 ever he caught a glimpse of a possible Ipswich Sparrow. He saw and secured 

 only two birds. The following day, knowing where to go and adopting different 

 methods, he was able to find bird after bird and that, too, at close range. He 

 saw that day at least twenty-five Ipswich Sparrows. 



In most of the accounts of the Ipswich Sparrow as found along our coast, 

 it is described as being very shy, rising from the ground and flying wildly to 

 some distance before it alights and at once conceals itself in the grass. This 



'A. H. Helme : Auk, vol. 21, p. 291, 1904. 



2 Wm. Brewster, ed : Minot's Land-birds and Game-birds of New England, p. 202, 3d ed., 1903. 



3 A. T. Wayne: Auk, vol. 19, p. 203, 1902. 



' W. E. Hughes : Abstract of the Proc. Delaware Valley Orn. Club, no. 3, p. 5, 1900. 



