94 



VESPER SPARROW. 



placed either on the ground, or fastened to grass stalks or stems of low bushes. They 

 arrive on the marshes of the more northern sections during the last part of April, and 

 leave before the ground freezes, but they are constantly resident at least aS far north 

 as North Carolina." 



The nest is found on the ground in a clump of salt grass, and is strongly but coarsely 

 woven of dry sedges and stems of grasses, and is lined with similar but finer material. 

 The eggs, mostly five in number, have a grayish-white ground, and are spotted and 

 blotched with reddish-brown, and these marks are distributed over the entire egg. It 

 is said that they are not with certainty distinguishable firom those of the Sharp-tailed 

 Sparrow, but the sets in the "Goss Collection of North American Birds' Eggs" in the 

 PubUc Museum of Milwaukee show a great difference, those of the Sea-side Sparrow 

 being larger and having a white ground and not so densely spotted. This difference w^as 

 pointed out to me many years ago by Hon. John N. Clarke, of Saybrook, Conil. 



The variety Scott's^ Sea-side Finch, A. maritimus peainsulse Allen, was discovered 

 by Mr. W. E. D. Scott on the Gulf coast of south Florida. 



The Sea-side Finch on the Gulf coast of Texas is now known as the Texas Sea-side 



Finch, A. maritimus sennettii Allen. 



NAMES: Sea-side Sparrow, Sea-side Finch, Sea-side Bunting, Gray Shore Pinch. — Meerfink (GermanJ. 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Friagilla maritiwa Wils. (1811). AMMODRAMVS MARITIMUS Swains. (1827). 

 Fringilla mcgillivrayi Aud. (1834). 



DESCRIPTION: "Edge of wing and supraloral streak, yellow; no distinct superciliary stripe; malar stripe, 

 whitish. Above, nearly plain olivaceous, tinged with ashy, the wings and tail more brownish; 

 beneath, grayish-white, the chest streaked with dull grayish. 



"Length, 5.58 inches; wing, 2.48; tail, 2.18 inches." (Ridgway.) 



The Dusky Sea-side Finch, y . nigresceas Ridgw., inhabits the marshes of the 

 Indian River, Fla., where it was discovered by Mr. J. C. Maynard in March 1872. 



vespeF^ sparrow, 



Pooceetes gramineus Baird. 



Plate XXIII, Fig. 5. 



Yet these sweet sounds of the early season 

 And these fair lights of its early days, 



Are only sweet when wc fondly listen. 

 And only fair when we fondly gaze. 



There is no glory in star or blossom. 

 Till looked upon by a loving eye ; 



There is no fragrance in April breezes, 



Till breathed with joy as they wander by. 



William Cullbn BRYANf. 



I^HOUGH the first harbingers of spring, the Bluebirds, Robins, and Song Sparrows, 

 have made their appearance in the gardens of the northern parts of our country, 

 April is still a cold and unpleasant month, a month of hopes and surprises, and, in 

 many cases, of disappointments. Stormy, rainy and cold days change with bright, 



