88 THE OOLOGIST 
BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER, 
For a long number of years expert 
gunners have brought in specimens of 
this bird and the same has been no- 
ticed around Buffalo and vicinity dur- 
ing the entire season. making it 
plausible that they breed here, but 
never before has this fact been estab- 
lished. Having heard that numbers 
were seen in rear of the shipyard on 
the Canadian side of Niagara River, 
near Bridgeburg, we decided to go 
there cn June 12th and look for them. 
Arriving there we searched for them 
on the somewhat dry meadows and 
very soon raised a pair, but did not 
find their nest.. The male flew close 
around us uttering its peculiar whis- 
tle. Finally the female circled around 
us uttering its weird whistle entirely 
different from that of the male. 
We went to another field close by 
and soon another pair circled around 
us. We hid in three different direc- 
tions and watched the birds and were 
rewarded by seeing the male and 
female fly to the ground on the same 
spot. We closed in on them and to 
our delight, found the nest; but. to 
our grief, the four eggs lay broken, 
scattered around the nest. Several 
pictures of the nest and eggs were . 
taken and I finally packed the pieces 
carefully in a box and have them in 
my collection. They are more pyas 
form in shape than those that I have 
from North Dakota. 
We decided that I should return to 
the meadow where we saw the first 
pair and my son Ed. and Mr. James 
Savage concluded to make a wide cir- 
cle to look for more. 
a searching tour located another pair 
and finally found a young bird about 
a week old, closely watched by the 
the parent birds, flying alarmingly 
around them. Mr. Savage took several 
pictures. 
I, in the meantime, watched the first 
The latter, after_ 
pair, but could not locate the nest. The 
male bird lit on a fence post about 
thirty feet away and uttered its pecu- 
liar call while the female circled 
around me. 
By this time the afternoon was well 
advanced and We had to take our boat 
to get back to Buffalo. 
The end of May will be the proper 
time next year to look for the eggs. 
The Bartramian and Spotted Sand- 
pipers have increased materially in 
the vicinity of Buffalo. ; 
OTTAMAR REINEKE. 
———s 
THE SWAMP SPARROW. 
(Melospiza georgiana) 
A, O. U. No. 584. 
This inconspicious little grayish 
colored bird is well known to all bird 
students; but to the ordinary layman, 
it is just one of the multitude of 
“brown chippies’ with which cogno- 
men most cf cur small sparrows are 
designated. 
The home of the Swamp Sparrow, 
as its name would imply is in the 
marshy swamps, scattered throughout 
its range. This little bird wears a 
bright chestnut crown and black visor, 
usually streaked with black. The black 
throat patch so common to many of 
our sparrows is wanting. The upper 
parts are brownish, boldly variegated. 
with black center lines of the feathers, 
and gravish outer edgings of the wing, 
giving the bird a streaked appearance. 
The under varts are an ashy gray. 
Its range covers almost the entire 
Eastern part of North America West 
to the Great Plains, North to Hudson 
Bay and Labrador. It winters in the 
Southern states. It is an abundant 
bird in the breeding season, and like 
its- near relative, the Song Sparrow, 
is a fine musician. 
Its nest is placed at the base of 
a small sprout or in the side of a bank 
