268 
Saunders, The Ipswich Sparrow . 
fAuk 
LJuly 
a fact which seems curious when one considers the migrants which 
remain for days in both spring and fall. The total number of 
summer residents is ten, including two Ducks, two Plovers, two 
Sandpipers, three Terns, and the Ipswich Sparrow. 
During my stay, I was in every way highly favored, for not 
only was the season much farther advanced than at the time of 
Dr. Dwight’s visit, without which I could have been able to see 
nothing of the nesting season, but on three of our eight days we 
saw the sun, and though many trifling rains were encountered, 
there were none that made one desire shelter, so that the whole of 
all the eight days were available for bird study, when other duties 
would permit. 
The Sparrows were found in increased numbers and their song 
could be heard at all hours of the day. 
The song resembles very closely that of the Savanna Sparrow, 
but instead of ending with dzzz as does that species, the conclud- 
ing note is a weak imitation of the call of the terns which, as 
Dr. Dwight truly remarked, can be heard at all hours of the day 
and night. He has well described this note by the syllables 
pree-a and they are delivered rapidly and abruptly, almost as much 
so as one can articulate while giving the letters their full sound. 
The birds were not found to be very shy, but their color is 
eminently protective, and they appear to realize this thoroughly 
and would often remain motionless and allow a fairly close 
approach before flying. There was seldom any difficulty in 
approaching to within comfortable range of the few that I shot. 
While I was too early for most nests to have eggs, I arrived at 
the most favorable time to find them, because the first step in 
nestbuilding is the excavation of the nest cavity which usually 
results in the exposure of some black soil, the patch of dark color 
being easily seen among the dried grass stems which cover the 
site. A few days later, when these holes were covered with 
grasses, detection became very difficult indeed. 
Ihree nests were found in the enclosure surrounding the Super- 
intendent’s house, and nearly 30 were found altogether, most of 
them being, of course, incomplete. Of those containing complete 
sets, four contained 5 eggs, and four contained 4 only, part of one 
set being hatched. All the nests but five were placed among long 
