mm 



308 



FIN'CIIKS, SPARROWS, ETC. 



Ill 



'tl i 



towiinl tho silent stnifjf^U'r, while in the autumn he is lust in the waves 

 of Sparrows tliat flood tho t-ountry. 



If we follow him northward, we fiiid him irregularly distrihutod in 

 small colonics or single pairs in damp clearings, perhajts along hrooks 

 or ponUs, but avoiding almost entirely the wetter, nu)re open localities, 

 where the Swamp. Sparrow is at home. Attracted by a sharp chirp 

 which, at times reduplicated, resembles that of a young ('lii|ipiiig 

 Sparrow, we may succeed in catching a glimjise of him as he lurks 

 beneath a little spruce perhaps no l)igger tlum an und)rella. 



Sometimes venturing tinudly to the outer boughs of a spruce, he 

 stjrprises the hearer with a most unsparrowlike song. It is not loud, 

 and suggests the bubbling, guttural m-tes of the House Wren, com- 

 bined with the sweet rijipling music of the Purple Finch, and when 

 you think the song is done there is an unexpected aftermath. The 

 birds sing very little and at long intervals, and are seldom heard dur- 

 ing the later hours of the day, ceasing at once if anybody api)roaches. 



J. DwuiiiT, Jr. 



u 



584. MelOSpiza ^eor^ana {Lath.). Swamp Spakrow. Ad. in 

 summer. — Crown clifsttiul-rutous ; torfiieud black; u grayish line over tlie 

 eye; u blaekisli rine behind the eye; nnpe slaty gray with u few black 

 streaks: fcatlic-rs of the back hroailly streaked with black and iimrgined 

 with rufous and creaui-ljutf or ashy l)utl'; wing-coverts rufous, the greater 

 ones with l)lack spots at their tips; rump rufous grayisli brown, soiiietiuiea 

 streaked with black ; tail rufous grayisli l)rown. the middle feathers darker 

 alonir their shafts; tlinmt and iiiiddle of the belly white, breast grayish, sides 

 wtushed with pale grayish brown. A'i. hi winter and Iin. — Similar, hut tho 

 top of tlic head streaked witli black, rufous-brown, and grayish ; nai>e less 

 gray ; breast washed with brownish. L., r)-8'J; W., 2-34; T., '2-3'J; B., •40. 



l{an<ie. — Eastern North America; breeds from northern Illinois and Penn- 

 svlvania northward to Labrador; winters from southern Illinois and Massa- 

 chusetts to the Gulf. 



Washington, very common T. V., Apl. to May 15; Sept. 25 to Oct. 80; a 

 few winter. Sing Sing, tolerably conuuon S. K., Apl. 4 to Dec. 2; a few 

 winter. Cambridge, abundant S. R., Apl. 12 to Nov. 10; a few winter. 



Ked., generally similar to that of M. famata^ on the ground. /-'(/!7'S four 

 to tivo, similar in color to tho.' : of M. fasciata, but the markings are generally 

 more confluent, -70 x 57. 



While wintering in the south. Swamp Sparrows frequently belie 

 their name, and I have often fouiul nundiers of them in dry "old 

 fields" of broom sedge; but at the north they are more consistent, 

 and one rarely sees them Vjeyond the confines of a wet meadow, or, 

 more preferably, a large grassy marsh with reed-bordered streams. 



Swamp Sparrows may be distinguished from their cousins, the Song 

 Sparrows, by their uiistreakcd breasts and totally different notes. Their 



