FINCHES. 215 



d. Their song is said to be a fine one, and is described 

 " as composed of the notes of a Canary and a Woodlark of 

 Europe." They have also a " chuck." 



C. 6EOE6IANA. Swamp Sparrow. In Massachusetts, 

 on the whole, a common summer resident.* 



a. 5J-6 inches long. Crown, bay (in $ in autumn and 

 5 , black-streaked, and divided by a light line). Forehead 

 (" and nuchal patch " ?), often black. (Side-markings on the 

 head not prominent.) Side of head, and the breast, warm 

 gray or "ash." Latter sometimes marked with obsolete 

 streaks, which become more distinct on the sides (which are 

 often brown-washed). Chin and belly, almost white. Inter- 

 scapulars, bay, boldly black-streaked (and pale-edged). 

 Rump, the same. Tail, not strongly marked; wings, much 

 edged with bay. 



h. The nest is placed in swamps, and on or near meadows, 

 usually in a tussock of grass, but sometimes in a low bush. 

 It is much like that of the Song Sparrow, and is finished 

 about the middle of May. The eggs of each set, two sets 

 being often laid in the season, are four or five, and average 

 about .80 X .60 of an inch. They are white, tinged with 

 gray, green, or blue, finely marked with brown (and lilac), 

 and irregularly blotched or even splashed, usually more 

 thickly about the crown than elsewhere, with two or three 

 shades of a brown, varying in tint from sandy brown to 

 umber. I have seen eggs, both of the Song and Tree Spar- 

 rows, very closely resembling them. 



c. There are few greater charms in Nature than her first 

 music in spring ; and the simple chant of the Song Sparrow 

 in March makes the heart gladder than the melody of the 

 Wood Thrush in June. Yet the cheerfid song of the former, 

 when first heard to ring through the meadows, inspires but 

 delusive hopes of spring, and it is therefore that the sweet 



* The Swamp Sparrow breeds mer bird. A few individuals regu- 



ttronghout New England wherever larly pass the winter in the Fresh Pond 



it finds fresh-water swamps or mead- marshes at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 



ows suited to its requirements, and in — W. B. 

 many localities it is an abundant sum- 



