BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
243 
Lincoln’s Sparrow is found in Pennsylvania as a rather rare spring 
and fall migrant, frequenting shrubbery, brush piles, and weedy, briery 
thickets about streams and in swampy grounds. I have taken four 
specimens during the past ten years in eastern Pennsylvania; two early 
in May, one late in September, and the last early in October. Feeds 
on seeds and different kinds of insects. It is a quiet and secretive 
little bird, usually seen singly; only occasionally is it found in com¬ 
pany with other species of sparrows, and if disturbed it seeks safety 
by hiding in the thick undergrowth rather than by flight. 
Melospiza georgiana (Lath.). 
Swamp Sparrow. 
Description. 
Size a little smaller than Song Sparrow ; crown bright chestnut; forehead black ; 
back broadly streaked with black, and most feathers of back edged with brownish ; 
upper surface of wings and tail decidedly rusty ; belly white ; sides, Hanks and tibiae 
brownish; chest and line over eye grayish; the lower anterior parts are usually 
without streaks or spots ; throat whitish with sometimes indistinct blackish streaks. 
Habitat .—Eastern North America to the plains, accidentally to Utah, north to 
British provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador. Breeds from Northern 
States northward, and winters in the Middle States and southward. 
The Swamp Sparrow is retiring in its habits, and, as the name would 
indicate, it is a common frequenter of grassy, weedy and bushy swamps; 
it is also often found about the edges of streams and ponds where weeds 
and grasses grow in abundance. I have never found the nest of this 
species, but from reports received from various naturalists and collectors 
it appears that it breeds sparingly in nearly all parts of the state. The 
Swamp Sparrow occurs as a tolerably frequent winter resident in 
swampy thickets in the southern counties of Pennsylvania. The nest 
and eggs of this bird, as described by different writers, are very similar 
to those of the Song Sparrow. The food is similar to that of other 
birds of the genus Melospiza. 
Genus PASSERELLA Swainson. 
Passerella iliaca (Merr.)* 
Fox Sparrow. 
Description (Plate Si. 
Fig. S.) 
Upper mandible dark, lower chiefly yellow ; legs brown. Readily distinguished 
by its rusty red or ferruginous colors, brightest on the wings, rump and tail; below 
white; upper part of breast, sides of throat and body with triangular rusty spots, 
darkest and most conspicuous on middle of upper part of chest; tips of middle and 
greater coverts forming two whitish wing bars. Length about 7\ inches; extent 
about 115 . 
Habitat .—Eastern North America, west to the plains and Alaska (valley of the 
Yukon to the Pacific), and from the Arctic coast south to the Gulf States. Breeds 
porth of the United States : winters chiefly south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers. 
