SPARROWS AND FINCHES. 399 



quents dry marshes. Song and manner of 

 singing like Seaside Sparrow. 



451. SHARP-TAILED SPARROW. 



Size of last, sides of head deep buff, en- 

 closing a gray spot; paler buff elsewhere, 

 streaked above on sides and across breast 

 with black; top of head, dark-brown with a 

 median line of buff, fig. 316. Breeds on 

 Atlantic coast of U. S. from Mass, to north- 

 ern Pla. ; casually as far north as Mass., 

 south in Oct., north in May. Prequents 

 rather dry salt marshes. Song, a feeble 

 twitter, given as bird hovers over grass. 



452. NELSON SHARP-TAILED 

 SPARROW. 



Smaller than last, brighter in color, 

 streaking narrower, but more sharply de- 

 fined. Breeds on prairie marshes of Missis- 

 sippi Valley from northern 111. north to 

 Manitoba; winters along Gulf coast from S. 

 C. to Tex., regular during migration in 

 Oct. on coast of Mass. 



