HKLOSPIXA PALUSTR1S. 117 



indeed they appear to be partly aquatic, for if one be wounded it will instantly jump into 

 tin- water and strike out boldly. I have also frequently seen them dive beneath the sur- 

 face when I was about to capture them, or creep into holes with the body submerged, be- 

 having much as I have seen young ducks under similar circumstances. 



These sparrows, like the greater portion of the family, are seldom found in the woods 

 but prefer hedge rows along open fields. On the Magdalen Islands they find shelter in the 

 short shrubbery on the edges of the little clearings, they are abundant on the margins of 

 the rich interval lands of Maine, and thousands may be found in the thickets along fences 

 which intersect the farms of Massachusetts. They also swarm in countless myriads in the 

 rank growth of vegetation along the river bottoms of Pennsylvania. On the borders of 

 the cotton plantations of the Sea Islands, they were very numerous and I even met them 

 in the orange groves of Northern Florida; in fact it is difficult to find a single locality where 

 one will not be greeted by the chirp or melodious carol of the Song Sparrow, for they are 

 one of the most abundant of birds in the section of which I write. 



GENUS XV. HELOSPIZA. THE SWAMP SPARROWS. 



(!K\. Cii. Bill, somewhat slender, not t/iiik nor swollen at base. Ujyicr mandible, but little curved. Winys, lonyer 

 than f/it tail which is s/iylit/y rounded. Sternum, not stout, with the cofaeoids equal in linyth to the top of the keel which is 

 rrry htw, not exceeding in heiyht one third the length of the coracoids. Size, rather small. 



I have been induced to f.illow Prof. Baird's suggestion as givon in Birds of N. A. 1858, p. 477, and remove the species 

 herewith given from the genus Mclosjriza, not only r:n account (,f the differences in external structure, but also on account 

 of the peculiar form <.f the sternum which has as lowakeeland as long commie Is its any genus in the Family, not excepting 

 Aininodromvs, to which Helospiza is closely allied both in structure and in habit. 



HELOSPIZA PALUSTRIS. 



Swamp Sparrow. 

 Helospiza palustris BAIRD, Birds N. A.; 1858, 477. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. Cn. Form, rather robust. Size, small. Tongue, rather thin and horny, prorided with a bifid, terminal tuft of 

 bur-like fibers. Sternum, as given above. 



COLOR. Adult in spriny. Ear coverts, sides, flanks, upper portion of body, yellowish-rnfuus, with the latter broadly 

 streaked with dark-brown. Top of head, chestnut. Forehead, maxillary and superciliary lines, lores, back of neck , and 

 band aern-s breast, ashy. Outer webs of wings and tail, bright reddish-brown, dullest on the latter; inner webs, brown. 

 SIM its on seapularies and wing coverts, dark-brown. Throat, belly, abdomen, and under tail coverts, white, with the latter 

 tinged with yellowish. Bill and feet, brown. 



Adult in trint'.r. Similar to the above, but with the chestnut of the top of head obscure'] with black markings, and a 

 median line of ashy extends from hill to occiput. 



Yimny. Have the sides and flanks streaked with dusky, while the top of the head is streaked with black, and the sides 

 of the head are tinged with yellowish. 



Ynuny of the yar. Colors above, more suffused, and there are but slight indications of maxillary lines. There is a 

 tinge of yellowish over the throat, sides. Hanks, and breast, and the latter is streaked with dusky. 



A t/tinys. The ashy markings are oliscured with yellowish-rufous, and the entire under parts are tinged with it. 

 The lower neck and breast are streaked more or less with dark-brown. Bill, lighter. Soxes similar in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens vary considerably in shade of color on the back, some having it nearly as bright as the crown. The streak- 

 er aUn broader MI -omc than on others. Readily distinguished in the adult stages h\ the clear chestnut crown and 

 black forehead, taken in connection with the ashy band across the breast. The younger stages may always IK; disiingui-hed 

 by the bright reddish-brown "'ings which arc \rry n itieeable e\cu in the nestlings. Distributed, during the breeiiitrj- -ca 

 son, throughout Ka-tern I iiited State- 1 , from the latitude of Pennsylvania north to tliat of Canada. Winters from the Car- 

 oliiias to Southern Florida. 



