SEASIDE SPARROW. 65 



curious feature of tlie bird's food habits is the liking sliown for Dip- 

 tera. These insects, mainl}^ midges (Chironomidfe) and their larvae, 

 certain allied insects, and the smaller adult horseflies (Tabanidae) 

 constitute 5 percent of the food, probabl}^ a larger proportion of 

 Diptera than characterizes the food of an}^ other birds except fly- 

 catchers and those shore-inhabiting species in the far north which 

 feed so extensively on Chironomidae. 



There is a difference in the food of the sharp-tailed sparrows col- 

 lected b}^ the salt water and those taken near fresh water, owing, no 

 doubt, to difference of environment. The (28) salt-water birds had 

 eaten no vegetable food but grass seed, while 7 of the (23) birds taken 

 near fresh water (at Hillsborough, Nova Scotia) had also eaten other 

 seeds, such as those of polygonum, lamb's-quarters, clover, and dan- 

 delion. The salt-water birds feed on the seeds of salt grasses and 

 occasionally eat wild rice {Zizania aquatica) ; the fresh- water birds 

 eat other grasses, particularly panicums. 



The salt-water birds eat many sand fleas, small amphipod crusta- 

 ceans belonging to the family Gammaridae. These sand fleas are very 

 abundant along the beach, and the birds pick them up either on the 

 clean sand or amid seaweed or other shore debris. They constitute 

 16 percent of the food of the salt-water birds, but were not found in 

 the stomachs of the fresh-water birds. Not one of the fresh-water 

 birds had eaten a snail, while six of the other birds had found snails 

 very palatable; in fact, one had eaten four at a meal. The birds 

 collected in fresh- water marshes had fed on army worms. 



The economic position of this sparrow is so similar to that of the 

 next species, the seaside sparrow, that for the sake of convenience 

 the two birds will be grouped together in considering their relation to 

 crops. 



SEASIDE SPARROW. 



(Ammodramus maritimus. ) 



The seaside sparrow is a ver}- dark- colored bird for a sparrow, and 

 has a yellow line behind each nostril. It breeds along the Atlantic 

 coast from Massachusetts to Georgia, and is characteristic of the sea- 

 shore. Unlike the sharp-tailed sparrow, it is never found away from 

 saltwater. Often, particularly in autumn, seaside and sharp-tailed 

 sparrows may be found congregated in loose flocks. 



The food habits of the two sparrows are verj^ similar, both in 

 elements and proportions of the food. There are, however, some 

 minor differences of details. Thus, the seaside sparrow does not take 

 nearl}^ so many sand fleas (Amphipoda) as its congener, and according 

 to Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway,^ it feeds on small crabs, which as far 

 as known form no part of the food of the sharp-tailed sparrow. 



iHist. North American Birds, Vol. I, p. 561, 1874. 



