The Migration of North American Sparrows 
FOURTH PAPER 
Compiled by Professor W. W. Cooke, Chiefly from Data in the Biological Survey 
With Drawings by Louis AGAssiz FUERTES 
(See frontispiece) 
SHARP-TAILED SPARROW 
This species winters im the salt marshes of the Atlantic coast from North 
Carolina to Florida, less commonly on the New Jersey coast, and rarely or casu- 
ally on Long Island, and even on the coast of Connecticut. The earliest migrants 
appear on Long Island late in April, and reach the northern limit of their range 
in eastern Massachusetts and southwestern Maine about May 20. The last were 
noted on Cumberland Island, Ga., April 25, 1903, and in Chatham county, Ga., 
May 2, 1907; the last at Pea Island, N. C., May 11, rg901, and May 12, 1902. 
Some late fall records are: Scarboro, Me., September 17, 1902; Durham, N. H., 
October 21, 1899, and Newport, R. I., October 1, 1899. 
NELSON’S SPARROW 
A comparison of the breeding and wintering ranges of the species shows an 
unusual migration route. The breeding range extends from Manitoba to northern 
Alberta, while the species winters on the seacoast from North Carolina to Texas, 
and occurs in migration as far north as Massachusetts. The migration route is 
therefore fan-shaped, the small end in Alberta, hardly four hundred miles wide, 
while the other end reaches from Texas to Massachusetts, with a width of sixteen 
hundred miles. 
Spring records are scanty and irregular: Blacksburg, Va., May 23, 1908; 
Atlantic City, N. J., May 9, 1892; Erie, Pa., May 24, 1900; Cambridge, Mass., 
May 31, 1871; Scarboro, Me., May 22, 1897; Quincy, Ill., April 26, 1889; 
Warsaw, Ill., May 8, 1879; Geneva, O., May 17, 1902; Coralville, Ia.. May 27, 
1904; Sioux City, Ia., May 24,1906; Madison, Minn., May 23, 1889; Minne- 
apolis, Minn., May 26, 1892; Cando, N. D., May 15, 1891; Winnipeg, Mani- 
toba, May 25, 1892; Stony Plain, Alberta, May 23, 1908; and May 26, 1909; 
Peace River Landing, Alberta, Jume 19, 1903; Hay River, Alberta, June 30, 
1903. The latest recorded dates in the winter home are: Amelia Island, Fla., 
May 11, 1905; Chatham county, Ga., May 2, 1907; Sabine, La., May 20, 1907. 
Fall records are more numerous and indicate a late migration. Dates of fall 
arrival are: Southern Wisconsin, average, September 18, earliest, September 7, 
1877; Chicago, Ill., average, September 21, earliest, September 17, 1874; Toronto, 
Ont., September 22, 1894 and September 23, 1898; Fort Wayne, Ind., September 
27, 1903; Erie, Pa., September 23, 1893 and September 13, 1900; Washington, 
D. C., September 18, 1893 and September 26, 1898; Charleston, S. C., October 
8, 1884; Fernandina, Fla., October 17, 1906. The latest dates recorded in the 
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