ii ! 



I I' 



208 



FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



AV/', f>f course frnisucs niul rcnl stalks, lined with (rrns.Aes, on tlie ground. 

 /uftfx, three to lour, wliite or hiuisii wiiite, elouded or finely speekled with 

 ciMiianii)n-l)rown, especially ut the lurjrer end, •i*0 x -CS. 



Like most nuirsh-loving birds. Seaside Sparrows are so consistent 

 in tlioir choice of a lioine that it would be (juite useless to look for 

 them anywhere but in a marsh, and that a salt one, jjenerally within 

 sound or at least sijjht of the sea. The baymen call them "Meadow 

 Chippies," and often when Snipe and Plover shooting 1 have drawn 

 numbers to me by simply ^queakinii. They tipped all the reeds about 

 my blind, chirping excitedly at the peculiar sound which aroused 

 tlieir curiosity. They pass much of their time on the ground among 

 the reeds and grasses, but mount a stalk to sing their short, unattract- 

 ive song of four or five notes. Sometimes they flutter into the air a 

 few feet al)ove the reeds atul deliver their song while on the wing. 



The absence of distinct streaks on the breast and lack of rufous 

 in their olivaceous or grayish plunuige will distinguish them from the 

 Sluirp-tailed, Swamp, Savanna, or Song Sparrows, the only ones which 

 are likely to be found in their haunts. 



650a. A. m. peninsulSB Alleti. Scott's SEAf^iuE Spakkow.— Similar 

 to the preoediii),', but iiuieli ilurker ; prevailing color of the upper parts brown- 

 ish blaek, the feathers margined with grayish olive-iu'reen ; under parts more 

 heavily stn-akcd, tlic breast and sides streaked with blaek or blackish. W., 

 2'30 ; T., '2-00 ; B., •r)2. 



lidiKje. — .Vtlaiitie coast from northern Florida to South Carolina; CJulf 

 coast from Florida to Texas. 



A common southern representative of the Seaside Sparrow. 



651. Ammodramusiiigresceiu /iVf/^>r. DrsKYSEAsntE Sparrow. 

 Ad. — Upper parts blaek, narrowly margined with grayish and grayisli olive- 

 green ; under parts sharply streaked with black and white in about equal 

 proportions. "J.., 5-9.'); W., 2-2r)-2-40 ; T., 2-10-2-r)0: B., -nO-GO" (liid^'w.). 



lieynarls. — This species is very distinct, and can be at once distinguished 

 from A. m. peninsula, its nearest known ally, by its much darker upper parts 

 and conspicuously streaked under parts. 



Ji'aiKje. — Marshes iit the northern end of Indian Kiver, Florida. 



^\'st and effffs unknown. 



Mr. C. J. Maynard, the only collector who has ever met with this 

 species, found a single individual, March 17, 18T2, at Salt Lake, near 

 Titusville, while in April it was "qnite common on the marshes of 

 Indian Kiver just below Dummett's Grove," and " very abundant on 

 the upper end of Merritt's Island." I have searched for it most care- 

 fully, but without success, during Februai-y and i\Iarch in the marshes 

 of the east peninsula of Indian River opposite Micco, and for a species 

 which is not rare, the Dusky Seaside Sparrow apparently has a more 



