SHARP-TAILED SPARROW 239 



Sharp-tailed Sparrow: Ammodramus caudacutus and 

 races. 



Above, dark olivaceous ; cheeks gray, inclosed by a dark brown 

 ring ; tail feathers narrow and sharply pointed ; breast and 

 sides buff, distinctly streaked with black ; middle of throat and 

 belly white. Length, about 6 inches. ' 



GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION. Atlantic coast north to New 

 Brunswick; marshes of Mississippi valley north to Dakota 

 and Manitoba. 



This species is confined exclusively to the salt- 

 water marshes of our coast, where it may be 

 found in large numbers. 

 It runs about among the 

 reeds and grasses with the 

 celerity of a mouse, and 



is not apt to take wing 



-, , i FIG. 148. 



unless closely pressed. .. . , 



J * Tail of Sharp-tailed Sparrow. 



Mixed flocks of the sev- 

 eral varieties of the Sharp-tail, together with the 

 Seaside Sparrow, gather in the fall among the 

 sedges, and may be observed hiding in the grass, 

 or clinging to the tall stalks of the cat-tails. In 

 the breeding season it is usually associated with 

 the Seaside Sparrow on the same marsh ; but it 

 prefers the drier parts, and builds its nest in the 

 tussocks on the bank of a ditch, or in the drift 

 left by the tide, rather than in the grassier sites 

 chosen by its neighbor. 



" From some bit of driftwood or a convenient 

 stake its infrequent song may be heard morning 



