387 
FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
hairs, on the ground. Eggs , 4-5, bluish white or pinkish white, speckled and 
spotted with rufous-brown or umber, 1*83 x ’61. Date , Chester Co., Pa., 
May 5; Norwich, Conn., May 8; Cambridge, May 10; se. Minn., May 6. 
In walking through dry upland fields or along dusty roadsides a 
rather pale, streaked Sparrow will sometimes run rapidly ahead of 
you, wait for you to catch up, then run ahead again. It is best to be 
content with what measure of his confidence and society he voluntarily 
grants you, for, if you quicken your steps and try to overtake him, he 
will rise and bound on before you or swing off to one side, showing, as 
he flies, the white feathers on each side of his tail. 
Frequently he will alight on a fence rail or even the higher branch 
of a tree, for, although a field Sparrow, he is by no means a purely ter- 
restrial one. When singing, he generally selects an elevated perch and 
gives himself entirely to his musical devotions. Early morning and 
late afternoon are his favorite hours, but he can be heard at other times. 
His song, which is loud, clear, and ringing, may be heard at a distance 
of several hundred yards. It resembles that of the Song Sparrow, but 
is sweeter and more plaintive. When heard in the evening it is a truly 
inspired and inspiring melody. 
541. Passereialiis prineeps Mayn. Ipswich Sparrow. Ads.— Gen- 
erally with a spot of sulphur-yellow before the eye and on the bend of the 
wing; upperparts pale brownish ashy, streaked on the head, back, and 
upper tail-coverts with black and cinnamon-brown ; the nape and rump with 
few or no streaks; a white line over the eye; wings grayish brown, outer 
webs of greater coverts and tertials margined with pale ochraceous-buff ; tail 
grayish brown, the outer webs of the feathers margined with brownish ashy; 
underparts white; breast and sides lightly streaked with blackish and 
ochraceous-buff. L., 6*25; W., 3*00; T., 2*25; B., *40. 
Range . — Breeds on Sable Is., N. S.; winters from Sable Is. s. along the 
Atlantic coast to Ga. 
Cambridge, casual, two instances, Oct. 
Nest, on the ground, in a cup-shaped hollow scratched by the birds, of 
weed-stalks, and coarse grasses, lined with finer grasses. Eggs, 4-5, indistin- 
guishable from those of the Savannah Sparrow but averaging a little larger 
(Dwight). Date , Sable Is., N. S., June 4. 
Those who care to visit in winter the bleak, wind-swept sand hillocks 
of our Atlantic coast will find this bird much less rare than it was once 
supposed to be. It never strays far from the waving tufts of coarse 
beach-grass that scantily cover the sand-drifts, and single individuals 
may be found skulking among such surroundings. They seldom allow 
a near approach, but fly wildly away to considerable distances, and 
on alighting run off so rapidly that they are difficult to find a second 
time. The flight is rapid and irregular, and the birds may easily be 
mistaken for Savannah Sparrows, with which, during the migrations, 
they are sometimes associated. On rare occasions a sharp chirp is 
heard, but as a rule they are silent. 
It is an interesting species, discovered in 1868, and at first mistaken 
for Baird’s Sparrow of the far west, a species, by the way, that it resem- 
bles very little. For many years nothing was known of its breeding 
range. In 1884 some large eggs from Sable Island, Nova Scotia, sup- 
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