294 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



the dry fields of broom sedge. In New York it is of local occurrence and 

 is rather uncommon or rare in all portions of the State; yet there can be 

 no doubt that it is more common than is generally believed. As it is true 

 that none but the initiated seem to detect the presence of the Grasshopper 

 sparrow, even in localities where it is fairly common, it is doubly true that 

 few who are inexperienced distinguish the Henslow sparrow. It has been 

 reported as breeding in Rockland county by Giraud; in Rockland county 

 and on Long Island by DeKay; in the vicinity of New York by Lawrence; 

 in Monroe county by David Bruce; and in Albany and Rensselaer counties, 

 1908, by the late E. Seymour Woodrviff. Specimens of the nest and eggs 

 fully identified have been found near New York, May 10 (Chapman) ; 

 Syracuse, June 30, 1887 (Morris M. Green) ; Stephentown, Rensselaer county. 

 May I, 1890 (Hoag); Mount Dorr, Rockland county, May 23, 1897 (L. W. 

 Brownell). Migration dates are scarce, but it has been reported from 

 Binghamton, April 10, 1905, by Lilian Hyde; Potter Swamp, Yates county, 

 August, 1909, by Otto McCreary; Ossining, October 5, 1910 (Fisher); 

 Scarboro, November 3, 1897, Gerald Thayer; Shelter Island, November 20, 

 1901 (Worthington) . Beside these, I notice reports from Webster, N. H., 

 April 17, 1874, and Boscawen, N. H., April 26, 1875 (Ruthven Dean), 

 as well as Oysterville, Mass., November 6, 1874 (Brewster). The Novem- 

 ber dates by Brewster and by Worthington seem to indicate that this 

 species sometimes remains very late in the fall, or possibly through the 

 winter after the manner of the Sharp-tailed sparrow. 



Haunts and habits. The Henslow sparrow is a southern species and 

 rarely goes beyond the northern limits of the Carolinian zone, but is 

 found in rather cold localities in New Hampshire, western Massachusetts 

 and eastern New York, which are ordinarily considered within the AUe- 

 ghanian area. On the wet, ill-drained hillsides, upland pastures, and 

 neglected fields overgrown with spiraea, cinquefpil and various sedges, 

 this bird will be detected by the practised ear. 



The call has two characteristic syllables which sometimes sound like 

 the word "flee-sic,'' or as Gerald Thayer would write it " phit-zit" suggest- 



