536 NdllTlI AMKKICA.N JUIiDS. 



Dr. Cones, in liis visit to r/il)nuliii', in ISfJO, found tiiis Sjiarrow almndant 

 in tliiit reyion in low moist niciulow.s and inaishy tracts near the soa-slioro, 

 liut never noticed it in any other situations. He fre(|uently observed it there 

 f'eedin,n on tlie beds of dried eel-grass along tlie rocky shores, searching for 

 food in conii)any with tlie Titlarks and small Sandpipers. 



During my visits to the islaiuls of the ]>ay of Fundy, in one of which I 

 remained a number of days, I had a good opportunity to notice these birds. 

 In many respects their habits undergo noticeable changes during the breed- 

 ing-season. As they j.ass north or soutii in their migrations, they are not 

 l)articularly shy or ditlicidt to api)roacii, but when they liad nests they seemed 

 to become particularly cautious and mistrustful. The male and female sat 

 by turns upon their eggs, b\it generally one remained witliin hailing distance, 

 and always gave promptly a signal of danger when the nest was approached, 

 at which the other would glide from the nest, running off on the ground like 

 a niou.se. I found it impossiljle to identify by shooting the parent on the 

 nest, and only accomplislied its identification by means of snares. When 

 once lost in the tall grass, it was impossible to find it again, or if it reap- 

 peared it was impossible to tell which of the many chirping Sparrows, all of 

 them out of reacli of shot, and keeping a sharp lookout on my movements, 

 liad any coiniection with tlie nest. This manu'uvre was gone through with 

 in every nest 1 found, but 1 soon learned to distinguish them without the 

 need of gun or snare. 



This Sparrow is eminently terrestrial, confining itself almost entirely to 

 tlie ground, and rarely alighting on anything even so high as a fence. 

 Though frequenting low moLst ground.s, its nest is always in a dry spot and 

 usually somewliat elevated. The nest is almost always sunk into tlie groird, 

 is made very simply and loosely of dry grasses, with a lining of softer mate- 

 rials of the same. I have never found any other material than this in the 

 many nests I have examined, although nests of var. itlaiuliniifi, in the vicin- 

 ity of Fort Anderson, are freipiently lined with feathere or deers' hair, 

 according to MacFarlaue. 



The eggs, five or six in nundior, vary consideraldy in their appearance. In 

 siiape they are a rounded oval, one end being much more pointed than the 

 other. Tiiey measure .68 by ftn of an inch. In some the ground-color, 

 wliich is of a greenish-white, is plainly visible, being only ])artially covered 

 by l)lotches of lirown, shaded with red and i)ur}ile. These blotches are more 

 numerous aljout the larger end, becoming continent and forming a corona. 

 In others, the ground-color is entirely concealed by confiuent ferruginous 

 fine dots, over which are darker markings of brown and purple and a still 

 darker ring of the same about the larger end. 



