240 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



Nelson's Sparrow is known in this State so far only from Pea Island, where 

 Bishop found it rather common on February 7-18, 1901, and May 10, 1902. This 

 bird is found chiefly in the interior and occurs only as a migrant on our coast, 

 where it may be looked for in company with the Sharp-tailed Sparrow, which it 

 closely resembles. 



230. Passerherbulus maritimus maritimus (Wils.}. SEASIDE SPARROW. 



Description: Ads. -A yellow line before the eye and on the bend of the wing; upperparts 

 grayish olive-green; tail grayish brown, the outer webs of the feathers margined with olive - 

 greenish; a dusky line from the base of the lower mandible passes down the sides of the throat; 

 breast more or less suffused with buffy (wanting in summer specimens), and indistinctly streaked 

 with grayish; throat and middle of the belly white; sides grayish. L., 6.00; W., 2.50; T., 2.20; 

 B., .60. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. Salt-marshes of Atlantic coast. 



Range in North Carolina. Salt-marshes of coast, apparently only a winter visitor. 



Fia. 190. SEASIDE SPARROW. 



This, the typical or first-named subspecies of the Seaside Sparrows, is not defi- 

 nitely known to breed in North Carolina, and it is uncertain to which of the three 

 geographical races found in the State the following records refer. 



Coues recorded the Seaside Sparrow as abundant in the marshes near Beaufort, 

 where it breeds abundantly, retiring in April from the interior of the marsh to 

 place its nest among the bushes on shore. Pearson discovered a nest with four eggs 

 in Dare County (New Inlet), on May 13, 1898, and found the birds to be plentiful. 

 Dr. Smith wick reported it from a marsh near Plymouth, May 15, 1891, and H. H. 

 Brimley took specimens near Beaufort in June, 1896, and July, 1894. Bruner 

 collected breeding specimens at Beaufort in the summer of 1910. 



In habits the bird is shy, and it is said to be hard to flush, as is the case with 

 nearly all of the genus: "They climb the reeds with remarkable ease, sliding up 

 and down, skipping from one to another, and hanging in every attitude except 

 head downwards; they are doubtless much aided by the somewhat stiffened tail. 

 On the ground they are unmistakably sparrow-like and always proceed by hopping; 

 the flight does not differ noticeably from that of their several near allies. It is 

 irregular and very quick and they never remain long on the wing." (Coues, Natural 

 History of Fort Macon, N. C., No. 1. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. of Philadelphia, May 2, 

 1871.) 



