2 76 Dwight, The Sharp-tailed Sparrows. I Oct. 



A. c. subvirgatus is peculiar to the fresh and salt water marshes 

 of the Maritime Provinces of Canada, especially those bordering 

 on the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Strangely 

 enough it has never been taken in Nova Scotia, although it 

 undoubtedly occurs there, for I have observed it within two or 

 three miles of the boundary line when rambling over the mead- 

 ows of the Petitcodiac River in New Brunswick, not far from the 

 type locality. Since my discovery of the birds about ten years 

 ago I have found them breeding at Tignish, Prince Edward 

 Island, where they were recorded as caudacutus long before sub- 

 virgatus was separated (Brewster, Bull. N. O. C, II, 1877, 28), at 

 Bathurst, N. B., and at Riviere du Loup, Quebec, on the south 

 shore of the St. Lawrence. They have also been found a few 

 miles west of the last named place at Kamouraska (Dionne, 

 Oiseaux de Quebec, 1889, 82). West of this I have not found 

 them, neither at L'Islet nor on the marshes between the city of 

 Quebec and Ste. Anne de Beaupre. Consequently there appears 

 to be a wide gap between the headquarters of this form and 

 those of 7ie/soni, — over one thousand miles. In migration the 

 birds pass as far south as South Carolina (Brewster, Auk, VII, 

 1890, 212) mingling with the true caudacutus and nelsoni when 

 Massachusetts is reached. I have already spoken of three birds 

 of this race that apparently were stopping to breed in southern 

 New England. One was recorded as nelsoni (Henshaw, Auk. Ill, 

 1886, 486) and it might well be compared with some of the pale 

 nelsoni horn the west, but I can absolutely match it with occasional 

 specimens from the type locality of subvirgatus, which themselves 

 approach very close to exceptionally pale nelsoni. This is to be 

 expected in any large series of birds, especially those which are 

 split into races, but if it should be proved that subvirgatus regu- 

 larly breeds on the same ground as caudacutus y the question of 

 considering nelsoni as a separate species with subvirgatus as its 

 eastern race may be seriously discussed. 



Habits. 



A few words about the habits of these birds may not be amiss 

 although there is little to add to what has already been written 



