SPARROWS 411 



obscure, the lines dusky, suffused and narrow ; smaller bird ; otherwise in 

 various plumages similar to A. caudacutus. Wing 2.20 ; culmen 0.43 ; tarsus 

 0.82 ; tail 1.90. 



Geog. Dist. — Breeding in the interior marshes from Northern Illinois and 

 portions of Missouri to North Dakota and Manitoba ; in winter migrating 

 southward through the Mississippi Valley to Texas and in part along the 

 Atlantic seaboard, (exact route north or west of Maine yet unknown) from 

 Maine to South Carolina, wintering from South Carolina to Texas. 



County Records. — Cumberland ; two at Scarboro, October 16, 1894, (Nor- 

 ton, P. P. S. N. H. 1897, p. 99) ; a male at Scarboro, May 22, 1897, and June 5, 

 1897, some observed, the males were singing, also taken in fall between 

 October 9 and 16, (Norton, J. M. O. S. 1904, p. 46). 



There is no evidence that the species breeds in Maine. Mr. 

 Norton's exhaustive studies show that the species occurs in 

 spring in the Scarboro Marshes from May twenty-second to 

 June fifth, and in fall between October ninth and sixteenth, 

 indicating the species passes by at about these dates and in its 

 migration north and south. It seems very likely that some- 

 where northwards of Scarboro they either pass westward to their 

 interior northern breeding grounds or else pass along the coast 

 and thence up the St. Lawrence River, their exact route and 

 destination being as yet veiled in obscurity. The nests and 

 eggs in all probability do not vary greatly from those of the 

 Sharp-tailed Sparrow and the food is very likely similar. 



549.1a. Ammodramus nelsoni subvirgatus (Dwight). Acad- 

 ian Sharp-tailed Sparrow; Dwight's Finch. 



Plumage : lateral crown stripes paler and more greenish brown than in 

 Sharp-tailed Sparrow ; grays prevailing on nape and back ; outer edgings of 

 back feathers ashy or pearl gray and obscure ; throat, breast and sides 

 washed with cream buff and obscurely streaked with ashy ; otherwise similar 

 to Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Wing 2.24 ; culmen 0.46 ; tarsus 0.86 ; tail 1.90. 



Geog. Dist. — Breeding from Small Point, Maine, northward to the salt 

 marshes of southern New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. 



County Records. — Cumberland; have one in full plumage taken on 

 marshes near Brunswick, (L. A. Lee) ; first taken in the State at Scarboro in 

 October, 1897, (Dwight, Auk. 4, p. 237) ; taken at Scarboro, (Norton). 

 Sagadahoc; observed at Small Point, August 7, 1896, still engaged in 

 domestic duties, (Norton, P. P. S. N. H. 1897, p. 100). Washington; one 

 taken May 21, 1903, (Clark) ; one taken near Calais by Mr. Boardman which 

 was probably this subspecies, (Boardman). 



