178 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



feathers brownish gray, the others light buff, all barred with black ; below 

 white, washed with buff on breast and sides and both streaked with black. 

 Immattire plumage: back dusky with distinct buff margins to feathers; 

 streaks on breast less strong ; buff of upper parts deeper. Wing 6.45 to 7.00 ; 

 culmen 1.12; tarsus 1.98. 



Geog. Dist. — Eastern North America to the Rocky Mountains; breeding 

 north to Alaska and Nova Scotia and southward to Kansas and Virginia 

 locally; wintering south through South America to Brazil and Peru; 

 straggler to Europe. 



County Records. — Androscoggin ; fairly common summer resident, (John- 

 son). Cumberland; common summer resident, (Mead). Franklin ; common 

 summer resident, (Swain). Kennebec; rare, (Robbins). Knox; rare visit- 

 ant, (Norton). Oxford; common, breeds, (Nash). Penobscot; common 

 migrant, rare summer resident, (Knight). Piscataquis; common, breeds, 

 (Homer). Sagadahoc; a few in early fall, (Spinney). Somerset; quite 

 common summer resident, (Morrell). Waldo; seemingly not common, 

 (Knight). Washington; accidental, (Boardman). 



Though this species formerly occurred commonly during the 

 migrations and was not rare as a summer resident of various 

 portions of the State, it is now decidedly less common and the 

 number of breeding birds which occur in the State are very few. 

 Their favorite haunts are grassy fields and pastures, and here 

 they may be found during the migration and breeding seasons. 



The first arrivals appear about April 15 and the last lingerers 

 are gone by September 16. During the breeding season the 

 birds seem to prefer with us the grassy bush interspersed past- 

 ures, and here in late May the passer by may hear a peculiar long 

 drawn out "wh-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-o-o-o-o-o-o-o" uttered in a 

 clear whistling tone. Search reveals the utterer of this call 

 perched on a fence or running along the ground, usually the 

 former. 



Search may result in flushing the female from almost under 

 foot, and the slight grassy lined hollow at the foot of a small 

 bush or in the grass revealed with its four or five treasures, 

 usually four, placed all point inward. The color of the eggs 

 is pale clay with numerous spots and blotches of umber, reddish 

 brown, yellowish brown and black which are thickest toward 

 the larger end and where they often form confluent blotches. 



