55 



Thompson Setoii describes, and which he collected near De 

 Winton in Manitoba, June 11, 1882, belonged to this sub- 

 species, but I have not seen birds from this locality, and it 

 is not mcluded by Mr. Ridgway in the breeding range of 

 this form. 



Ammodramus nelsoni. Nelson's Spaeeow. 



Tolerably common in fall on the salt marshes of southern 

 Connecticut and occurring more rarely in spring, wintering 

 commonly in the marshes of the coastal sand belt of North 

 Carolina, and thinly scattered in the breeding season through 

 the north central portion of the United States, this little bird 

 shuns observation everywhere. It dwells amongst the high 

 grass, sometimes running on the bundles of stalks bent by 

 the wind or tide. When one approaches it usually drops 

 quietly to the ground and disappears, or when flushed, flies 

 a short distance with somewhat twisting flight, then drops to 

 the ground and runs, and is with difficulty flushed a second 

 time. In late September and October it comes with the 

 Acadian Sparrow to the wild rice growing at the mouths of 

 creeks that empty into Long Island Sound, and for an hour 

 after sunrise, if the tide is low, both these birds will run 

 about the mud flats within a few yards of the rushes. A 

 series of over one hundred and twenty-five skms of these 

 two forms that I have collected has convinced me they are 

 specifically distinct from A. caudacutus. 



In northern North Dakota, where this species breeds, I 

 have not seen over half a dozen in three seasons' collecting, 

 and the majority of these I was unable to identify before I 

 had the bird in my hands. Extensive marshes of shallow 

 water overgrown with a slender, tall grass are common in 

 parts of North Dakota, and in such places I have most fre- 

 quently found this species. On July 19, 1901, I saw a bird 

 which I believe was Nelson's Sparrow fly into the air from 

 such a marsh, uttering a song similar to that of our Sharp- 



