250 



BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



FIG. 198. LINCOLN'S SPARROW. 



244. Melospiza georgiana (Lath.). SWAMP SPARROW. 



Description: Ads. in summer. Crown chestnut-rufous; forehead black; a grayish line over 

 the eye; a blackish line behind the eye; nape slaty gray with a few black streaks; feathers of the 

 back broadly streaked with black and margined with rufous and cream-buff or ashy buff; wing- 

 coverts rufous, the greater ones with black spots at their tips; rump rufous grayish brown, some- 

 times streaked with black; tail rufous grayish brown, the middle feathers darker along their 

 shafts; throat and middle of the belly white, breast grayish, sides washed with pale grayish 

 brown. Ads. in winter and Im. -Similar, but the top of the head streaked with black, rufous- 

 brown, and grayish; nape less gray; breast washed with brownish. L., 5.89; W., 2.34; T., 2.32; 

 B., .46. 



Remarks. The underparts resemble those of some immature white-throated sparrows, but 

 the wing-bars and the yellow bend of the wing will always distinguish the latter. (Chap., Birds 

 of E. N. A.) 



Range. Eastern North America, breeding mainly north of the United States. 



Range in North Carolina. Central and eastern portions in winter, mountain region during 

 the migrations. 



FIG. 199. SWAMP SPARROW. 



This is a common winter visitor in that part of our State lying east of the moun- 

 tains, arriving from the north about the middle of October; and it has been found 

 at Raleigh as late as May 19, nearly a month later than the Song Sparrow stays. 



In the mountains it is recorded only from Weaverville, Buncombe 'County, as a 

 spring transient in late March and April, and a fall transient in October and 

 November. 



The favorite haunts of the Swamp Sparrow are patches of marsh interspersed 

 with low bushes, where it may be found hopping about on the marsh and always 

 ready to dart for cover upon the approach of danger. 



