308 l<‘th,‘lll“.S, SI’ARROWS, fi'l‘C.

toward the silent st raggler. while in the autumn he is lost in the waves ot‘ Sparrows that flood the country.

If we follow him northward. we find him irregularly distributed in small colonies or single pairs in datnp elearings. perhaps along brooks or ponds, but avoiding almost entirely the wetter. more open localities, where the Swamp Sparrow is at home. Attraeted by a sharp ehirp which, at times reduplieated, resembles that of a young Chipping; Sparrow, we may succeed in etching a glimpse of him as he lurks beneath a little spruee perhaps no bigger than an umbrella.

Sometimes venturingr timidly to the outer boughs of a spruee, he surprises the bearer with a most unsparrowlike sonrf. It is not loud, and suggests the bubbling. guttural notes of the Ilouse \Vren. com- bined with the sweet rippling music of the Purple Finch, and when you think the song: is done there is an unexpeeted aftermath. The birds sing very little and at long intervals, and are seldom heard dur- ing the later hours of the day, 0 utsing at, once if anybody approaches.

J. Dwiou'r. JR.

584. Melospiza. georgiana. (lad/1ft. Swami Si-Anuow. At]. in summun—L'rtiwn eltesttttita‘ttthtts: tort-head blaek: a grayish line over the eye; a blaekish litie behind the eye; nape slaty gray with a t'ew blaek streaks: feathers of the bat-k broadly streaked with blaek and inareined with rut'ous and ereani—butl' or asliy butl'; \\‘iiie~eo\'erts rut'ous, the greater ones with blaek spots at their tips; rump rutbus grayish brown. sometimes streaked with blaek; tail rttt'ous grayish brown. the middle feathers darker along their sltat'ts; throat and middle ot'the belly white. breast grayish. sides washed with pale grayish brown. All. in u‘inhr ruu/ In1.—-m\'itnilar. but the top of the head streaked with black, rtttonslrown. and grayish; nape less gray: bre 't washed with brownish. L. Sash; \V" 2-34; T” _ g; 1;“ '4“.

[fax/low, Eastern North Ameriet ; breeds t'rom northern Illinois and Penn— sylvauia northward to Labrador; winters from southern Illinois- and Massa- chusetts to the (lult'.

Washington. very eonnnon T. V., Apl. to May 15: Sept. ‘25 to ()et. 30; a few winter. Sing Sing, tolerably eotmnon 5. hi. Apl. 4 to Dee. 2; a few winter. Cambridge, abundant S. 11., Apl. l‘.’ to .\'o\'. 10; a few winter.

Ms]. renerally similar to that of All. fits-«v'vttrt. on the ground. laws, {our to tire. similar in eolor to “105001.Alfivftt'*(‘illttl, bttt the markings are generally

more eontluent. '74} y .37.

\Vhile winteringr in the, south. Swamp Sparrows frequently belie their name. and l have. often found numbers of them in dry “ old fields" of broom sedge; but at the north they are more consistent, and one rarely sees them beyond the (entities of a wet meadow, or, more prefe 'ably. a large grassy marsh with reed-bordered streams.

Swamp Sparrows may be distinguished from their cousins, the Song Sparrows, by their unstreaked breasts and totally different notes. Their