374 - NESTS AND EGGS OF 



four eggs of the Sharp-tailed Sparrow taken by Hon. John. N. Clark, near Old Say- 

 brook, Connecticut, at the mouth of the Connecticut river. The nest was in the salt 

 grass of a wet meadow; the eggs were fresh, brownish- white, varying to greenish- 

 white, thickly sprinkled and speckled with tawny-brown, sizes: .75x.58, .76x.57, 

 .76X.58, .80X.56. The eggs are also not to be readily distinguishable from some ex- 

 amples of the Savannah Sparrow. 



549a. NELSON'S SPARROW. Ammodramus ccmdacutus nelsoni Allen. Geog. 

 Dist. — PYesh marshes of the interior, from Northern Illinois northward to North 

 Dakota and Manitoba; south in winter to Texas. 



This subspecies is dedicated to Mr. B. W. Nelson, the ornithologist. It is similar 

 to A. caudacutus, but smaller, with slenderer and longer bill; the colors are brighter 

 and the markings more sharply defined. In its migrations it visits the Atlantic 

 coast. New England and the Lower Hudson Valley. It is accidental in California. 

 According to Mr. Walter Raine and Mr. G. F. Dippie the nests and eggs of this bird 

 resemble those of Leconte's Sparrow very closely, the eggs being about the same in 

 size, color and markings. The bird was found breeding by them in the marshes of 

 Long Lake, Manitoba. 



5496. ACADIAN SHARP-TAILED SPARROW. Ammodramus caudacutus 

 subvirgatus Dwight. Geog. Dist. — Coast of Southern New Brunswick, Prince Edward 

 Island (and probably Nova Scotia), and southward in migration to South Carolina.^ 



A race named by Mr. Jonathan Dwight, jr., in 1887. The bird is similar to A. 

 caudacutus, but paler and much less conspicuously streaked beneath with pale 

 greenish-gray instead of black or deep brown. It inhabits salt water marshes where 

 grasses grow luxuriantly. According to Mr. Dwight the male has a fine song which 

 is repeated at all hours of the day from a tall stalk in the meadow, from a fence, 

 or while the bird is in the grass. Occasionally toward nightfall one will mount into 

 the air and, with set wings, float down, fairly gushing with song, a habit shared 

 by the ordinary Sharp-tail and by the Seaside Sparrow as well. 



550. SEASIDE SPARROW. Ammodramus maritimus (Wils.) Geog. Dist. — 

 Salt marshes. of the Atlantic States, from Massachusetts south to those bordering 

 Gulf of Mexico. 



The Seaside Finch is a common species in the salt marshes of the Atlantic coast 

 from Connecticut southward. Its nest and eggs are identical with those of the 

 Sharp-tailed Sparrow, only, as already stated, in speaking of the Sharp-tailed species 

 the nest is more bulky. It is carefully concealed in clumps of salt grass and quite 

 neatly built of grasses, lined with fine material. In exceptional instances the nests 

 have been found arched over. The largest set of eggs Mr. Shick ever found on the 

 New Jersey coast was seven, but the usual numbers are four or five — five being the 

 more common. Their ground-color is greenish or brownish-white, thickly speckled 

 with umber-brown, and are not with certainty distinguishable from those of the last 

 species. The sizes of a set of five eggs taken by Mr. Shick at Sea Isle City, New 

 Jersey, May 21, 1887, are as follows: .70x.56, .75x.56, .74x.55, .73x.55, .71x.54. 



550o. SCOTT'S SEASIDE SPARROW. Ammodramus maritimus peninsulw 

 Allen. Geog. Dist. — South Carolina to Northern Florida; Gulf coast from Florida to 

 Texas. 



This is a common southern representative of the Seaside Sparrow, A. maritimus; 

 it is similar, but its general plumage is much darker. 



