270 General Notes. Yy^-i 



Notes on the Black Seaside Finch (Ammodramus jiigrescens'). — Doubt- 

 less no bird breeding in North America has a briefer history than has the 

 Black Seaside Finch. Discovered in 1872 by Mr. C. J. Maynard at Salt 

 Lake, near Titusville, Florida, and in the marshes of Merritt's Island 

 and south of Dummitt's Grove on the opposite side of the Indian River, it 

 has apparently been met with b}' no other ornithologist, and the sum of 

 our knowledge concerning this interesting species is contained in Mr. 

 Maynard's 'Birds of Eastern North America.' 



In March, 18S9, I looked for Ammodrajnus nigresceiis very carefully on 

 the evidently favorable marshes near 'Oak Lodge' on the east penin- 

 sula of Indian River, some fifty miles south of the point where Mr, 

 Maynard found it, but without success. 



Returning to the Indian River in March, 189S, I determined to continue 

 the search for this bird and securing a small sloop sailed from Titusville 

 on March 2, for the mouth of Dummitt's Creek. Two da3's were passed 

 at this point and Ammodramus ?iigrescefis was found to be a very common 

 inhabitant of the adjoining marshes. Heavy rains prevented me from 

 spending more than five hours in the marshes where, nevertheless, under 

 the most unfavorable conditions seventeen specimens were secured, 

 evidencing the abundance of the bird. 



The marshes here are covered with well-defined areas of a low branch- 

 ing, matted grass, and a tall, single-stalked reedy grass, Avhile along the 

 shores of the river, creek, and marsh ponds there is a fringe of bushy 

 sedge {Borr/c/iia frutesce^is'). The Finches were found in the tall grass 

 and in the sedge. They were not in song and the sexual organs of the 

 specimens secured exhibited but little signs of enlargement, showing 

 that the breeding season was not yet at hand. 



Savanna and Swamp Sparrows were also common in these marshes. 

 The paler color and darting, more extended flight of the former at once 

 distinguished them from nigrescetis, but the Swamp Sparrows were not 

 so easily identified. One soon learned, however, to recognize nigrescetts 

 by its darker color and by its flight, which was shorter and more hesita- 

 ting than that of the Swamp Sparrow. 



Like the Seaside Finch {Ammodramus maritimus), ?iigrescens appears to 

 possess considerable curiosity and could often be made to mount to the 

 grass-tops by ' squeaking.' 



Mr. Maynard states that the birds were doubtless breeding in the latter 

 part of April and that he believes them to be migratory, Avintering, 

 probably, at some more southern point. 



Their abundance, and the fact that they have been found at no other 

 locality, in connection with their occurrence in numbers so long before 

 the breeding season, would tend to disprove this theory, and in my opinion 

 Amtnodra7nus 7iigrescens will be found to be a permanent resident species. 

 — Frank M. Chapman, American Museum of Natural History, Netv 

 York City. 



