ANNOTATED LIST OF THE BIRDS 275 



a satisfactory view at close range of a shy and secretive bird. 

 On such occasions, Nelson's Sparrow differs obviously from 

 the ordinary Sharp-tail in being burner below, of a deeper 

 shade, slightly and indistinctly streaked, instead of having 

 sharply defined and blackish streaks. While actually a little 

 darker above, this difference is scarcely noticeable in life. 

 It is known in our area as a rare transient, chiefly in the fall, 

 associating with the other Sharp-tails on the salt meadows, 

 and is generally wholly overlooked. What is needed is care- 

 ful observation backed ..by a little judicious collecting. 

 Indiscriminate or haphazard collecting will merely result in a 

 large series of ordinary Sharp-tails, and our knowledge of the 

 real status of the present species will not have advanced in 

 the slightest. It is curious that there are no recent records 

 for this bird in any of our inland marshes. 



Long Island. Perhaps a regular transient in the fall; to he 

 expected in spring. Specimens have been taken at Rockaway 

 Beach, October 5, 1907 and October 14, 1911. 



LONG BEACH. Mr. Bicknell has made a special study of 



these Sparrows and regards the present race as a fall transient. 



He has records from October 8, 1914, to November 11, 1920. 



New York State. Regarded by Fisher as a fairly common 



fall transient at Ossining from September 28 to October 17. His 



birds were obtained mostly in the marshes at the mouth of the 



Croton River. Dr. Chapin has collected this species on Staton 



Island; October 27, 1906, several birds October 19, 1907, and May 



30, 1908. This was not the result of indiscriminate collecting, 



but represents careful search beforehand. 



ACADIAN SHARP-TAIL (Passer herbulus nelsoni subvirgatus) 

 A fairly common transient on our salt marshes, often 

 abundant the latter half of October. Of all our small pas- 

 serine 1 birds it is undoubtedly the latest spring migrant, and 

 the scarcity of spring records is due to this fact. The last 

 week in May and the first few days of June represent the 

 height of its migration, and at this time most observers are 

 looking for Shore-birds and pay no attention to Sparrows. 



