FUI.VUILMD.K — TllK FIXCIIKS. 



37 



tliere in inarsliy situations. At Lake Koskonnnjj:, in Wisconsin, Mr. Kuni- 

 lieu has also met with these ]»ii(Is abundantly in suitaltle localities, and found 

 their nests and e^^^gs c^uite plentiful. 



Mr. llidgway has recently found this Sparrow to he a very ahundant win- 

 ter resident in Southern Illinois, where it inhabits swanii)y thickets, and 

 where it remains until Mav, but is not known to breed there. 



They always nest on the ground, usually in a depression sheltered by a 

 tuft of gi*ass. The nest is wt)ven of iine grass-stems, but is smaller than 

 the nest of M. mr/odia. 



The eggs of this s])ecies, usually five in number, have an average measure- 

 ment of .78 by .(JO of an inch. Tiieir ground-color is usually a liglit green, 

 occasionally of a light clay, marked and blotched with reddish and ]>urplish 

 brown spots, varyin^jf in size and number, occasionally forming a confluent 

 ring around the larger end. 



Genus 



Audubon. 



PcKccea, Arn. S}Tiopsis, 1839. (Tyix', Frinjilla astivolh.) Sclater & Salvin, 18G8, 

 322 (Synopsis.) 



Grx. Char. Bill moderate. Upper outline and commissure decidedly curved. Leg.s 

 and feet with the claws small ; the tarsus 

 about equal to the middle toe ; the lateral 

 toes equal, their claws Hilling' considerably 

 short of the middle one ; the hind toe 

 reaching about to the middle of the latter. 

 The outstretched feet reach rather beyond 

 the middle of the tail. The wing is very 

 short, reaching only to the base of the 

 tail ; the longest tertials do not exceed the 

 secondaries, while both are not much short 

 of the primL-ies; the outer three or four 

 quills are graduated. The tail is consider- 

 ably longer than the wings ; it is much 

 graduated laterally; the feathers, though long, are peculiarly narrow, linear, and ellipti- 

 eally rounded at the ends. 



Color 1)encath plain whitish or brownish, with a more or less distinct dusky line each 

 side of the chin. Above with broad obsolete brown streaks or blotches. Crown uniform, 

 or the feathers edged with lighter. 



Species and Varieties. 



CoMMOK CrrARACTERS. A light superciliary stripe, with a brownish one below 

 it from the eye along upper edge of ear-coverts (not one along lower edge of 

 ear-coverts, as \\\ Mehspiza). A nam blackish '-bridle " along side of throat 

 (sometimes indistinct). Crown without a distinct median stripe, and lower parts 

 without markings. Ground-color above ashy, sometimes of a brownish cast ; 

 dorsal region and nape with brown blotches, with or without dark centres. 

 Crown blackish-brown streaked with ashy or plain rufous. Beneath plain 

 brownish-white, lightest on the abdomen, darker across jugulum and along sides. 



Peiirtra (tstivalis. 



