SWAMP SPARROW. 343 



to that of the Chipping Sparrow, but far louder and more musi- 

 cal. In the intervals the Swamp Sparrow descends into the 

 grassy tussocks and low bushes in quest of his insect food, as 

 well as to repose out of sight ; and while here his movements 

 are as silent and secret as those of a mouse. The rice planta- 

 tions and river swamps are the favorite hibernal resorts of 

 these birds in Louisiana, Georgia, and the Carolinas ; here they 

 are very numerous, and skulk among the canes, reeds, and rank 

 grass, solicitous of concealment, and always exhibiting their 

 predilection for watery places. In the breeding season, before 

 the ripening of many seeds, they live much on the insects of 

 the marshes in which they are found, particularly the smaller 

 coleopterous kinds, Carabi and Ctirculiones. They extend 

 their northern migrations as far as the coasts of Labrador and 

 Newfoundland. 



They probably raise two or three broods in a season, being 

 equally prolific with our other Sparrows. They express extreme 

 solicitude for their young even after they are fully fledged and 

 able to provide for themselves ; the young also, in their turn, 

 possess uncommon cunning and agility, running and concealing 

 themselves in the sedge of the wet meadows. They are quite 

 as difficult to catch as field-mice, and seldom on these emer- 

 gencies attempt to take wing. We have observed one of these 

 sagacious birds dart from one tussock to another, and at last 

 dive into the grassy tuft in such a manner, or elude the grasp 

 so well, as seemingly to disappear or burrow into the earth. 

 Their robust legs and feet, as well as long claws, seem pur- 

 posely provided to accelerate this clinging and running on the 

 uneven ground. 



This species is a common summer resident throughout the settled 

 portions of eastern Canada, and abundant on the St. Clair Flats 

 and in Manitoba. It is common at that season in New England 

 also, and breeds south to Pennsylvania. A few spend each winter 

 in some marshes near Boston, and the flocks winter from that lati- 

 tude to the Gulf. 



Mr. Chapman tells us that in the South they frequently belie 

 their name and resort to dry fields. 



