504 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA. 



wherever a favourable locality exists. The original discovery- 

 was made on May 24th, 1898, when several were noted at Jeannette 

 creek and since then they have been found in the locality on two 

 other occasions. This is the most inconspicuous bird I have ever 

 met with ; it runs through the grass like a mouse and does not rise 

 until one is almost on it, when it makes a short zigzag flight and 

 again conceals itself. (W. E. Saunders.) I was surprised to find 

 this sparrow on Lake Joseph, Muskoka, and apparently breeding. 

 I first noticed it on July 14th, 1902, in a hay -field about a mile from 

 Port Sandfield, and for some days had every opportunity of watch- 

 ing the males as they sat on the fence and uttered their rather 

 wheezy notes. Two more pairs were in one field, and I could find 

 none in any of the few Ukely places elsewhere. (/. H. Fleming in 

 The Auk, Vol. XIX., p. 403.) I met with a pair of these birds near 

 Lansdowne, Ont., in May, 1898. Later found the nest containing 

 four eggs. It was placed in a wet springy place in a meadow and was 

 well concealed under a tuft of grass. The eggs are readily dis- 

 tinguished from those of the Savanna sparrow, of which I have seen 

 numbers. The nest is somewhat similar but more substantial. 

 {Rev. C. J. Young.) Saw several on Sable island, N.S., May i8th, 

 1905 and May i6th, 1907. (/. Boutelier.) Mr. BouteUer is probably 

 mistaken in his identifications. 



548. Leconte Sparrow. 



Ammodramus leconteii (AuD.) Gray. 1849. 



A male specimen of this species was given to me as an Acadian 

 sharp-tailed sparrow, taken May 5th, 1897, at Toronto, Ont.; this 

 is the first record for Ontario. (/. H. Ames in The Auk, Vol.- XIV., 

 p. 411.) 



The rediscovery of this Httle known and extremely interesting 

 species in Dakota was made in the season of 1873 by the Boun- 

 dary Commission. On the march between Turtle mountain and 

 the first crossing of the Mouse (Souris) river, I came upon what 

 seemed to be a small colony of the birds in a moist depression of 

 the prairie. I subsequently found the bird again and secured 

 another specimen. {Coues.) This beautiful sparrow abounds in 

 Manitoba wherever there are meadows that offer the right com- 

 binations of willow, scrub and sedgy grass, and has been taken by 



