The Seaside Finch ( Ammodramus maritimus) in Eastern Massa- 
chusetts. — As the existence of this species in Massachusetts has been 
challenged, and none are known to have occurred for a number of years, 
it would seem not amiss to mention that a single specimen of this species 
was shot by Mr. George 0. Welch at Nahant in August last. It was in 
company with a number of A. caudacutus , but was the only one of its 
kind. It was in the not common plumage described by Audubon as a 
distinct species under the name of Ammodramus macgillivrayi, was sent 
to Professor Baird, who found it closely corresponding to Audubon’s type, 
which he possesses. It was a young male, and appeared to have come from 
the north. In “ History of North American Birds” (Yol. I, p. 560) it is 
given as not occurring north of Long Island Sound. 
In this connection it may not be uninteresting to add that Mr. Welch 
found Ammodramus caudacutus quite abundant on the shores of St. An- 
drew’s Bay, the estuary of St. Croix Kiver, and lying between the eastern 
boundary of Maine and New Brunswick. This, if I am not mistaken, 
is the first time that it has been taken in Maine so far to the east, and 
not at all, except that Mr. N. C. Brown (this Bulletin, Yol. II, p. 27) ob- 
tained a single specimen in Scarborough. Mr. Brewster (ibid., p. 28), on 
the authority of Mr. William Stone, mentions it as abundant at Tignish, 
Prince Edward Island. — T. M. Brewer, Boston, Mass. 
Bull. N. 0.0. 3, Jan., 1878. p, . 
Seaside Sparrows at Monomoy Island, Cape Cod. — Although I have 
kept a sharp lookout for the Seaside Sparrow (. Ammodramus maritimus') 
at Monomoy every season, the first to my knowledge was taken by Dr. L. 
B. Bishop on the salt marshes, April 14, 1890. This bird, which was 
an adult female, was moulting about the head and lower neck. Dr. 
Bishop saw several others but not thinking that they were rare shot only 
the above specimen. I visited the marshes several days after and hunted 
it carefully without seeing a bird, although I saw several Sharp-tailed 
Sparrows. From my own observation I am inclined to believe that this 
bird is rare in Massachusetts, at least on the Cape coast. — John C. 
Cahoon, Taunton , Mass. 
Axi&i 111. July, 1890, P, Xtrf-2-JO . 
Breeding of the 
Auk. XIV, July, 1397, 
Seaside Sparrow in Massa 
assachusetts. — On Tulv 
1896, I took a set of four partly incubated eggs of the Seaside Sparrow 
( Ammodramus maritimus ), together with the female bird, at Westport, 
Mass. The nest was cleverly hidden within a tussock of the salt marsh. 
The Seaside Sparrow is not rare as a summer resident in the Westport 
River marshes. It is, however, rather colonial, and confines itself closely 
in the breeding season to certain sections of the marshes. — J. A. Farley, 
Newton, Mass. 
Auk, XV, April, 1898, D > 
The Sea-side Sparrow on Cape Cod in Winter, and other Notes. —I 
have been asked to report the following interesting records. Mr. Henry 
B. Bigelow and Mr. George C. Shattuck while walking over the salt marsh 
on Sandy Neck, Barnstable, Mass., on February 9, 1898, started from the 
grass a single Sea-side Sparrow ( A mmod ramus maritimus '). Mr. Bigelow 
shot the bird at once and found it to be apparently in perfect health and 
without any marks of any old injuries. The sexual regions being 
badly torn by the shot, determination of the sex was impossible. 
This is the first record of the wintering of this species in New England 
to my knowledge, for the bird probably wintered, and the capture also 
suggests the idea that the bird probably bred during the past season. 
Besides Mr. E. Sturtevant’s records of the occurrence of this species at 
"Middletown, R. I. (Auk, Vol. XIV, pp. 219 and 322) in May and July, 
1889, 1896, 1897, we have Mr. J. A. Farley’s record of its breeding at West- 
port, Mass. (Auk, Vol. XIV, pp. 322). Do these records signify the 
increasing number of competent observers in the field or the movement 
northward of the species’s range from southern Rhode Island to Massa- 
chusetts? 
