SPARROWS 235 



this bird is apparently less common in winter than in summer, 

 it is not known to migrate regularly. 



General habits. — Seaside sparrows are well named, for they 

 are strictly confined to the salt or brackish marshes of the 

 seashore or the rivers near the coast. The birds remain con- 

 cealed in the dense marsh grass or rushes most of the time, 

 but during the breeding season may be seen making short 

 flights over the marsh, while the males frequently sing as they 

 cling to the tops of the rushes. When flushed from their re- 

 treats they fly for only a short distance, just above the tops 

 of the rushes, then suddenly drop into the cover of the marsh. 



On warm days in winter occasional weak, squeaky, chipper- 

 ing songs may be heard from these sparrows ; the full song is 

 sweet, and though rather weak, may be heard at some little 

 distance. It suggests a weak, distant song of the red-wing 

 and has somewhat the same form as a meadowlark's song. 



The nest of the seaside sparrow is rather bulky, constructed 

 of coarse grasses, and placed on the ground in a bunch of 

 marsh grass or in low bushes ; no nests have as yet been found 

 in Alabama. 



Food habits. — The food of this sparrow consists mainly of 

 insects inhabiting the salt marshes, among which are included 

 grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, flies, moths, wasps, and 

 weevils. Spiders, snails, small crabs, and moUusks are eaten, 

 as well as some weed and grass seed. 



LOUISIANA SEASIDE SPARROW: Thryospiza maritima 

 fisheri (Chapman) .J 



State record. — ^The Louisiana seaside sparrow breeds on the 

 coast of Louisiana and eastern Texas; a single specimen was 

 taken at Bayou Labatre, February 15, 1912, doubtless a strag- 

 gler from its normal range.* 



LARK SPARROW : Chondestes grammacus grammacus 



(Say). 



State records. — The lark sparrow occurs as a rare and local 

 summer resident. Dr. Avery found it breeding in southern 



•Cf Griscom and Nichols, Abstr. Proe. Linnaean Soc. New York, No. 32, p. 24, 1920. 

 ItPakBerherbuloa marltimus fisheri of the A. O. U. Check-list; for change of name see 

 The Auk, vol. 35, p. 210. 1918. 



