58 THE LOOK 



tinguislied tliis species from the other swamp-frequenting 

 sparrows, but only some three years ago did I become cer- 

 tain of its identity, and not until the present season did I 

 secure a good full set of its eggs. The first nest that I saw, 

 when I first distinguished the bird, was placed on the ground 

 among some swamp grass and low willows, near the brink of a 

 small creek, in a swampy place. It was formed almost wholly 

 of fine, dry grass, and contained two eggs. About these there 

 was nothing specially remarkable, and I would have passed 

 them by without further notice if the sharp " chip"-like notes 

 of the bird, which had flushed off among the bushes, had not 

 arrested my attention. Then on a closer view of the plumage 

 and actions of the bird I saw that she was a different species 

 to either the White-throated or Song Sparrows, the only other 

 species of this genus that I had previously known to frequent 

 such situations. Occasionally since then I have seen specimens 

 of this species, but they always darted into concealment as 

 soon as they became aware that they were being observed. — 

 However, since I have learned to distinguish its song, I note 

 that, though not abundant, yet that some pairs of them genera- 

 ally frequent most of the low, wet places, where a second 

 growth of , brush-wood has succeeded the original forest. Last 

 season the sharp notes of a pair of these birds, in a piece of 

 low ground on " Wildwood," caused me to look for the nest. I 

 found it placed in some fallen brush, which kept it out of the 

 water, but gave it little shelter from above. This contained 

 two young, a few days old, and two addled eggs. On the 

 3rd of June of the present season I discovered in a piece 

 of swamp, placed in a tuft of beaver meadow grass, a nest 

 containing two eggs which I thought belonged to this species, 



