SWAMP SPARROW. 139 



You can not go far afield without meeting this singer. 

 He is not only our commonest Sparrow, but one of our 

 commonest birds. Generally you will find him on or 

 near the ground at the border of some undergrowth, 

 and if there be water near by, preferably a meadow 

 brook, his presence is assured. When flushed he will 

 doubtless make for the nearest thicket, " pumping " his 

 tail, as Thompson expressively says, in describing hk 

 somewhat jerky flight. Now he questions you with a 

 mildly impatient chimp or twink, a call-note not to be 

 mistaken for that of any other species, when once you 

 have learned it. Equally diagnostic is the bird's spotted 

 breast with one larger spot in its center. 



The Song Sparrow's nest is usually placed on the 

 ground, but sometimes a bush may be chosen for a nest- 

 ing site. The eggs, four or five in number, are bluish 

 white, thickly marked with reddish brown. The Song 

 Sparrow rears three broods each year, the nesting season 

 lasting from May to August. 



The Swamp Sparrow, a well-named cousin of the 



Song Sparrow, resembles his relative in his fondness for 



Swamp Sparrow, the vicinity of water and habit of tak- 



Meiospiza georgiana. ing ref uge in low cover. He is a true 



Plate XLIT. marsh or swamp bird, and is particu- 

 larly abundant in large marshes. - His call is an insig- 

 nificant cheep , while his song is a simple, sweet, but rather 

 monotonous tweet-tweet-tweet, repeated many times and 

 occasionally running into a trill. 



The Swamp Sparrow nests from northern Illinois 

 and Pennsylvania northward to Labrador. Its nest and 

 eggs resemble those of the Song Sparrow. It is migra- 

 tory in the northern part of the range, and is rare in win- 

 ter north of southern New Jersey. 



Both the Song and Swamp Sparrow are, as we have 

 seen, birds of the lowlands, though the latter also inhab- 



