BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 243 



Lincoln's Sparrow is found in Pennsylvania as a rather rare spring 

 and fall migrant, frequenting shrubbery, brush piles, and weedy, briery 

 thickets about streams and in swampy grounds. I have taken four 

 specimens during the past ten years in eastern Pennsylvania ; two early 

 in May, one late in September, and the last early in October. Feeds 

 on seeds and different kinds of insects. It is a quiet and secretive 

 little bird, usually seen singly ; only occasionally is it found in com- 

 pany with other species of sparrows, and if disturbed it seeks safety 

 by hiding in the thick undergrowth rather than by flight. 



Melospiza georgiana (LA.TH.). 



Swamp Sparrow. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Size a little smaller than Song Sparrow ; crown bright chestnut ; forehead black ; 

 back broadly streaked with black, and most feathers of back edged with brownish ; 

 upper surface of wings and tail decidedly rusty ; belly white ; sides, flanks and tibiae 

 brownish; chest and line over eye grayish; the lower anterior parts are usually 

 without streaks or spots ; throat whitish with sometimes indistinct blackish streaks. 



Habitat. Eastern North America to the plains, accidentally to Utah, north to 

 British provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador. Breeds from Northern 

 States northward, and winters in the Middle States and southward. 



The Swamp Sparrow is retiring in its habits, and, as the name would 

 indicate, it is a common frequenter of grassy, weedy and bushy swamps ; 

 it is also often found about the edges of streams and ponds where weeds 

 and grasses grow in abundance. I have never found the nest of this 

 species, but from reports received from various naturalists and collectors 

 it appears that it breeds sparingly in nearly all parts of the state. The 

 Swamp Sparrow occurs as a tolerably frequent winter resident in 

 swampy thickets in the southern counties of Pennsylvania. The nest 

 and eggs of this bird, as described by different writers, are very similar 

 to those of the Song Sparrow. The food is similar to that of other 

 birds of the genus Melospiza. 



GENUS PASSERELLA SWAINSON. 

 Passerella iliaca (MERB.). 



Fox Sparrow. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 31. Fig. ?.) 



Upper mandible dark, lower chiefly yellow ; legs brown. Readily distinguished 

 by its rusty red or ferruginous colors, brightest on the wings, rump and tail ; below 

 white ; upper part of breast, sides of throat and body with triangular rusty spots, 

 darkest and most conspicuous on middle of upper part of chest ; tips of middlo and 

 greater coverts forming two whitish wing bars. Length about 7 inches ; extent 

 about 11. 



Habitat. Eastern North America, west to the plains and Alaska (valley of the 

 Yukon to the Pacific), and from the Arctic coast south to the Gulf States. Breeds 

 north of the United States :- winter.* chiefly south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers. 



