Brown, Olive or Grayish Brown, and Brown and Gray Sparrowy Birds 



This bird deliglits in the company of the dull-colored seaside 

 sparrow, whose haunts in the salt marshes it frequents, especially 

 the drier parts; but its pointed tail-quills and more distinct mark- 

 ings are sufficient to prevent confusion. Mr. J. Dwight, Jr., who 

 has made a special study of maritime birds, says of it: "It runs 

 about among the reeds and grasses with the celerity of a mouse, 

 and it is not apt to take wing unless closely pressed." (Wilson 

 credited it with the nimbleness of a sandpiper.) "It builds its 

 nest in the tussocks on the bank of a ditch, or in the drift left by 

 the tide, rather than in the grassier sites chosen by its neighbors, 

 the seaside sparrows." 



Only rarely does one get a glimpse of this shy little bird, 

 that darts out of sight like a flash at the first approach. Balancing 

 on a cat-tail stalk or perched upon a bit of driftwood, it makes a 

 feeble, husky attempt to sing a few notes; and during the brief 

 performance the opera-glasses may search it out successfully. 

 While it feeds upon the bits of sea-food washed ashore to the 

 edge of the marshes, it gives us perhaps the best chance we ever 

 get, outside of a museum, to study the bird's characteristics of 

 plumage. 



"Both the sharp-tailed and the seaside finches are crepus- 

 cular," says Dr. Abbott, in "The Birds About Us." They run 

 up and down the reeds and on the water's edge long after most 

 birds have gone to sleep. 



Song- Sparrow 



(Mdospiia fasciata) Finch family 



Length — 6 to 6.5 inches. About the same size as the English 

 sparrow. 



Male and Female — Brown head, with three longitudinal gray bands. 

 Brown stripe on sides of throat. Brownish-gray back, 

 streaked with rufous. Underneath gray, shading to white, 

 heavily streaked with darkest brown. A black spot on 

 breast. Wings without bars. Tail plain grayish brown. 



Range — North America, from Fur Countries to the Gulf States. 

 Winters from southern Illinois and Massachusetts to the Gulf 



Migrations — March. November. A few birds remain at the 

 north all the year. 



Here is a veritable bird neighbor, if ever there was one ; at 

 home in our gardens and hedges, not often farther away than the 



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