392 FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



Nest, of grasses and seaweed, lined with fine grasses, on the ground. Eggs, 

 3-4, white or grayish white, finely speckled with cinnamon-brown, especially 

 at the larger end, 78 x '57. Date, Amityville, N. Y., May 31; Lynn, Mass., 

 June 6. 



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 unless closely pressed. Mixed flocks of the several 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 and evening. It is short and gasping, and 

 only less husky than the somewhat similar performance of the Seaside 

 Sparrow. J. DWIGHT, JR. 



549.1. Passerherbulus nelsoni nelsoni (Allen). NELSON'S SPAR- 

 ROW. Similar to P. caudacutus, but smaller, the upperparts darker, the 

 feathers of the back more olive-brown and more broadly margined with 

 whitish; the throat, breast, and sides deeper ochraceous-buff, very slightly if 

 at all streaked with blackish. "L., 5'50; W., 2'25; T., 1'90; B., '43" (Dwight). 



Range. E. N. Am. Breeds in Canadian and upper Transition zones 

 from Great Slave Lake and w. cen. Alberta se. to sw. Man. and ne. S. D.; 

 winters on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from N. C. to Fla. and Tex. ; n. on 

 the Atlantic coast during migration at least to N. Y., Mass., and Maine, 

 accidental in Calif. 



Washington, rare T. V., May-Sept. Ossining, tolerably common T. V., 

 Sept. 28-Oct. 17. Cambridge, formerly uncommon T. V. Glen Ellyn, one 

 record, Oct. 2, 1893. SE. Minn., uncommon T. V. 



Nest, on the ground, of fine grasses. Eggs, 5, grayish white ground, 

 thickly sprinkled and clouded all over with markings of brown, thickening 

 on the extreme butt into a dark brown zone, '65 x 50. Date, (found by E. 

 S. Rolfe, at Devil's Lake, N. D., June 14, 1899; Auk, 1899, 356). 



This interior representative of the Sharp-tailed Sparrow occurs on 

 the Atlantic Coast only as a migrant and winter visitant when it is 

 associated with the Sharp-tail and Acadian Sharp-tail. 



549. la. P. n. subvirgatus (Dwight). ACADIAN SHARP-TAILED SPAR- 

 ROW. Similar to P. caudacutus, but paler above and with the throat, breast, 

 and sides washed with cream-buff and indistinctly streaked with ashy. "L., 

 5-55; W., 2-30; T., 2'00; B., '46" (Dwight). 



Range. Marshes of the Atlantic coast. Breeds mainly in Canadian 

 fauna from se. Que., Prince Edward Is., and Cape Breton Is. to Maine; 

 winters on coasts of S. C., Ga., and Fla. 



Ossining, rare T. V., Sept. 29-Oct. 16. Cambridge, formerly T. V., May; 

 Sept. and Oct. ; very common in fall. 



Since this race was separated by me in 1887 few new facts have been 

 developed regarding it, except that, as I anticipated, it has been found 

 in other parts of the Maritime Provinces, and never far from salt water. 



