274 BIRDS OF THE NEW YORK CITY REGION 



where apparently typical habitats prevail. It has the 

 large-headed, short-tailed appearance of the Grasshopper 

 Sparrow, but the rufous brown of the back and wing-coverts 

 contrast sharply with the olivaceous of the head and nape, 

 and the underparts are finely and sharply streaked. 



Long Island. Locally common summer resident at Mastic, 

 and probably at Orient; a scant half-dozen records for the rest of 

 the island, September 11, 1921 at Bridgehampton (C. Johnston) 

 to November 20. 



ORIENT. Rare transient and probably rare summer resi- 

 dent, recorded in summer; July 25, 1905 to September 30, 

 1907. 



MASTIC. Fairly common summer resident, the earliest 

 arrival date April 14, 1922. 



New York State. Reported as a rare transient at Ossining, 

 October 5 to 10 (Fisher). 



BRONX REGION. Rare transient; April 4, 1915 (L. N. 

 Nichols); April 20, 1916 (L. N. Nichols). 



New Jersey. Locally common summer resident, and much 

 more widely distributed than formerly supposed. Breeds near 

 Morristown (Thurber), Boonton (Judd), north of Plainfield (Miller) 

 various points along the Passaic and Dead River valleys (Miller 

 and others), the Great Swamp (Miller), Ramapo River west of 

 Mahwah (Griscom) and occasional throughout Warren and 

 Sussex Counties (Griscom). Arrives the last week in April; no 

 reliable departure dates, but certainly lingering into early October. 

 Unreported as a transient. 



NELSON'S SHARP-TAIL (Passerherbulm nelsoni nelsoni) 

 Contrary to the opinions of an older generation of 

 ornithologists, it is perfectly possible to identify the three 

 Sharp-tailed Sparrows in life, provided one is thoroughly 

 familiar with Museum skins and can describe the differences 

 from memory. To distinguish nelsoni is undoubtedly the 

 most difficult, but I have collected it too many times after 

 identifying it with glasses not to know that it can be done. 

 The difficulty is not so much one of making out color mark- 

 ings, supposedly obscure, but rather a question of obtaining 



