SEASIDE SPARROW 165 



same places that the White-throated Sparrow frequents, — 

 thickets and undergrowth, the edges of roads, and weedy 

 patches. 



Its song is too rarely heard ; it he- 

 gins with pure sweet notes that suggest 

 the Meadowlark's whistle, or a Vesper 

 Sparrow singing louder than usual, 

 and continues with notes that recall 

 the Black-throated Green Warbler ; 



the whole performance is quite differ- ^'°- *«• WhUe-crowned 

 ^ ^ Sparrow 



ent from the song of the White-throat. 



An adult bird is distinguished from its relative the 

 White-throat by the absence of yellow before the eye, by 

 the pure ashy throat, which lacks the square white throat- 

 patch, and by the different aspect of the crown, — the hroad- 

 est white stripe is in the centre, and there is no broad stripe 

 of white over the^fe. The shape of the head, moreover, 

 is different and characteristic : the back of the head seems 

 a little higher than the crown. In fall the immature bird 

 must be distinguished by the cleaner look about the sides of 

 the head and throat ; everything is ashy-gray, except the 

 crown. The bill in both adults and young is reddish-brown. 



Seaside Spaerow. Ammodramus maritimus 

 6.00 



Ad. — Upper parts brownish-gray, nearly uniform ; line from 

 bill to eye yellow ; throat whitish, with a dark streak on each side ; 

 rest o£ under parts grayish-white; breast streaked with dull gray; 

 no buff on side of head. Im. — Upper parts streaked with black; 

 under parts buffy white; breast and sides streaked with dark 

 grayish-brown. 



Nest, in the grass on the ground. Eggs, white, speckled with 

 reddish-brown, especially at the larger end. 



The salt marshes along the sea-coast from Point Judith, 

 E. I., southward, are inhabited by the Seaside Sparrow as 



