256 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



548. Leconte Sparrow. Ammodramus lecontei. 



Range. Great Plains, breeding from northern United States to Assiniboia; 

 winters south to Texas and the Gulf States. 



A bird of more slender form than the preceding, and with a 

 long, graduated tail, the feathers of which are very narrow and 

 pointed. They nest on the ground in damp meadows, but the 

 eggs are difficult to find because the bird is flushed from the nest 

 with great difficulty. The eggs are white and are freely specked 

 with brown. Size .70 x .52. Data. Crescent Lake, N. W. Can- 

 ada, June 10, 1901. Nest built in a tuft of prairie grass 4 inches 



above the ground; made of grass, lined with finer and a few hairs. Collector, 



Walter Raine. 



[White.] 



L White. J 



549. Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Ammodramus caudacutus. 



Range. Breeds in marshes along the Atlantic coast from Maine to South 

 Carolina and winters farther south. 



These birds are very common in nearly all the salt marshes of ^&**^ 

 the coast, nesting in the marsh grass. I have nearly always 

 found their nests attached to the coarse marsh grass a few inches 

 above water at high tide, and generally under a piece of drifted 

 seaweed. The nests are made of grasses, and the four or five 

 eggs are whitish, thickly specked with reddish brown. Size 

 .75 x .55. The birds are hard to flush and then fly but a few feet 

 and quickly drop into the grass again. 



549.1. Nelson Sparrow. Ammodramus nelsoni. 



Range. Breeds in the fresh water marshes of the Mississippi valley from 

 Illinois to Manitoba. 



This species is similar to the Sharp-tailed Finch but more buffy on the breast 

 and generally without streaks. The nesting habits are the same and the eggs 

 indistinguishable. 



549. a. Acadian Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Ammodramus nelsoni subvirgatus. 



Range. Breeds in the marshes on the coast of New England and New Bruns- 

 wick; winters south to the South Atlantic States. 



This paler variety of Nelson Sparrow nests like the Sharp-tailed species and 

 the eggs are the same as those of that bird. 



550. Seaside Sparrow. Ammodramus maritimus. 



Range. Atlantic coast, breeding from southern New England to Carolina and 

 wintering farther south. 



This sharp-tailed Finch is uniform grayish above and light 

 streaked with dusky, below. They are very abundant in the 

 breeding range, where they nest in marshes in company with 

 caudacutus. Their nests are the same as those of that species 

 and the eggs similar but slightly larger. Size .80 x .60. Data. 

 Smith Island, Va., May 20, 1900. Nest situated in tall grass 

 near shore; made of dried grass and seaweed. Collector, 

 H. W. Bailey. 



All the members of this genus have a habit of fluttering out over the water, 

 and then gliding back to their perch on the grass, on set wings, meanwhile 

 uttering a strange rasping song. The nesting habits and eggs of all the sub- 

 species are precisely like those of this variety, and they all occasionally arch 

 their nests over, leaving an entrance on the side. 



[ White.l 



