596 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



lAst of specimens. 



MELOSPIZA PALUSTRIS, {Wils.) Bd. 

 Swamp Sparrow. 



This is another of the several species of the family which were ob- 

 served during the autumnal movement at the camp on Mouse Eiver, 

 from the middle of September until I left the country, the second week 

 in October. It haunts the closest and most impenetrable shrubbery, to 

 which it clings with such pertinacity that it is liable to be. overlooked 

 unless diligently sought for. I have seldom seen it in plain view, and 

 never, to my recollection, at any distance from the ground, or on the 

 outskirts of the undergrowth. It has been commonly considered con- 

 fined to the Eastern Province, and the specimens below enumerated 

 are, with one exception, the westernmost hitherto recorded. Dr. H. G. 

 Yarrow, however, found it in Southern Utah some four years ago. The 

 difficulty of tracing it westward, where it seems to be less abundant than 

 it is in the Atlantic districts, is probably one reason why its distribution 

 was long supposed to be more restricted than it really is. 



List of specimens. 



MELOSPIZA MELODIA, (^7*.) Bd. 



Song Sparrow. 



By an oversight, I stated in the " Birds of the Northwest'' that I did 

 not find this species in Northern Dakota. A specimen, however, was 

 procured at Turtle Mountain early in August. It appears to be rare in 

 this part of the country, as this was the only one taken, and I find no 

 record respecting it except in my register of specimens. 



