90 THE SWAMP SPARROW. 
Northern States northward, and winters from Massachusetts south to the Gulf 
States. 
Range in Ohio.—Common migrant along streams and in low places. Breeds 
only casually. 
THE Swamp Sparrow is well named, but its designation must be un- 
derstood in the broadest sense. Not only is it to be found in the sedgy fast- 
nesses of the more pretentious swamps, but in the wayside bog, and along the 
tangled edges of woodland watercourses as well. In many respects it de- 
serves to be classed with the inhabitants of that under-world of muck and 
sedge where the Rails and Gallinules live and move and have their being. 
Shy and secretive to a degree, the Swamp Sparrow will often worm through 
the intricacies of a half-submerged brush-heap and splash its way afoot ta 
another rather than take wing. Again, if the observer is quiet, the bird will 
hop about carefully through the reeds and survey him from all sides with 
the curiosity of a Wren. Several times in spring I have seen them feeding 
along the shallows of the Olentangy River in company with Water Thrushes, 
wading about and dabbling in the water with almost the freedom of a Sand- 
piper, but upon the first hint of alarm the Sparrows would scuttle off to the 
shelter of the brush. 
One is slow to suspect such a demure bird of having a sprightly song. 
On several occasions, however, while wading about knee deep in some shaded 
pool, I have been startled by a sudden trill of unusual energy and distinct- 
ness, which undoubtedly proceeded from this bird. On some occasions the 
song 1s almost as peremptory as that of the Water Thrush, while at others 
it seems more like the vivacious ditty of the Palm Warbler rendered fortissimo. 
It has frequently been likened to that of the Field or Chipping Sparrows. 
but in my opinion, comparison with any other Sparrow song will not be 
found helpful. 
Only one instance is known as yet of the bird’s breeding within the 
state. Late in May, 1881, Dr. Howard Jones of Circleville secured a nest 
of five eggs, together with the parent bird. Dr. Jones had been walking 
slowly along a small ditch which drained a field of wet grassland, and was 
about to step across it when the mother bird flew from under his feet. After 
some search he found the nest hidden under a bunch of long grass. “It is 
made principally of coarse grasses and frayed weed-stems—a few rootlets 
are to be seen in the foundation, and the lining is composed of grasses. ‘The 
diameter of the cavity is two inches, its depth one and one-half inches. When 
in position, the rim of the nest was on a level with the surrounding sod, and 
a long tuft of grass concealed it from above and protected it from the weather.”’ 
Dr. Jones says further: “This is the only nest of the species I have found, 
altho I have frequently searched for it. The kind of country inhabited by 
