408 THE BIRDS OF MAINE 



superciliary spot lacking ; below white, streaked or spotted strongly on the 

 throat and more faintly on the sides with olive brown. Wing 2.40 ; culmen 

 0.44; tarsus 0.75; tail 1.83. 



Geog. Dist. — Eastern North America, breeding from the Gulf States north 

 to Massachusetts and Minnesota, and rarely to southern Canada and Maine ; 

 wintering from North Carolina to Florida, Cuba, Porto Rico and coast of 

 Central America. 



County Records. — Cumberland ; one seen at Westbrook, June 27, 1901, 

 and heard singing, also seen June 28 and 29, (Norton, J. M. 0. S. 1904, p. 46). 

 Somerset ; a full plumaged male was taken at Pittsfield, June 8, 1901, and in 

 my collection, (Morrell). Washington ; rare or accidental at Calais, (Board- 

 man, P. B. S. N. H. 9, p. 126; May 24, while passing through a grassy swale 

 I ?ieard what sounded like the buzz of a giant fly, a sound new to me, and on 

 approaching within six feet of the spot up flew a Sparrow which had an 

 unfamiliar look. Having my glasses and Chapman with me I followed it up 

 closely nearly an hour, satisfying myself that it was a Grasshopper Sparrow. 

 For several days I went to the same spot, always finding it until May 22, 

 when it had disappeared, (Clark). 



Though a very rare bird in Maine, the species occurs under 

 conditions and at seasons which indicate that it very likely 

 nests in the State, though as yet no nest has actually been 

 found here. The species is very secretive, preferring to frequent 

 the old worn out fields, skulking through the grass and rarely 

 taking flight until almost stepped upon, going a short distance 

 in an erratic or zig-zag way and dropping to run again. Mr. 

 Chapman describes the notes of this bird as sounding like 

 "pit-tuck, zee-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e," and although he says under 

 favorable conditions the song can be heard two hundred and 

 fifty feet away, a mere casual observer would not notice it 

 when passing within ten feet of a singing bird. The song is 

 very much like the notes of a grasshopper or cricket. They 

 utter a "chirr" or "chick." 



The nest is placed on the ground in fields, usually in a place 

 hollowed out by the bird in a clump of grass or other plants. 

 The nest is composed of grasses, lined with finer material of 

 like kind, and three to six, generally four or five eggs are 

 laid. These are clear white, slightly glossy, spotted with reddish 

 brown and with rather obscure markings of lavender or lilac. 

 Some eggs are rather evenly spotted while in others the mark- 



