SPARROWS 



(584) 



Melospiza georgiana 



(Lalh.) 



SWAMP SPARROW. A dark 

 sparrow. Crown chestnut-brown 

 shading to black on the forehead; au- 

 riculars brown, bordered with black- 

 ish; median line, superciliary line 

 and sides of neck dark gray; breast 

 and flanks washed with deep buff; 

 back very dark chestnut-brown, more 

 or less s.treaked with black. L., 5.75; 

 W.. 2..^o; T., 2.30. Nest — Of weeds 

 and grasses, lined with very fine 

 grasses; on the ground, usually in 

 clumps of grass in swampy places; 

 four or five pale greenish-blue eggs, 

 heavily blotched and clouded with 

 various shades of brown, .80 x .55. 



Range — North America east of the 

 Great Plains. Breeds from N. J., 

 111. and Mo. north to Quebec and cen- 

 tral Keewatin. 



meadows and even in our dooryards, as these. Their grass 

 nests are built either on the ground or low down in bushes. 

 The first family is raised early in the year and often a single 

 pair will rear as many as three broods in a season. They 

 have so few enemies and so many friends that they appear to 

 be increasing in numbers everywhere. 



LINCOLN'S SPARROWS are quite shy and retiring dur- 

 ing their migrations, slipping through the weeds and bushes 

 along walls, like so many mice. They represent one of the 

 least known of eastern sparrows, not because they are very 

 rare but because they are so secretive. They are most apt 

 to be mistaken for Song or Savannah Sparrows but if you 

 are fortunate enough to plainly see them, the buff breast 

 band wOl distinguish them from the latter and the finely 

 streaked breast from the former. 



SWAMP SPARROWS are, as one would naturally suspect 

 from the name, chiefly found in swamps. While they are 



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