What Bird is That? Part 20

Glen Ellyn, not common T.V., May 4-?; Sept. 8-Oct.

6. SE. Minn, uncommon S.R., May 1-Oct. 17.

This is the third and rarest member of the trio of small, retiring Sparrows of which the Gra.s.shopper Sparrow is the commonest. It is found east of the Mississippi only in the winter when it may be a.s.sociated with the Gra.s.shopper and Henslow's Sparrows.

SHARP-TAILED SPARROW

_Pa.s.serherbulus caudacutus. Case 6, Fig. 47_

A buffy Sparrow with the underparts sharply streaked with black. L. 5.

_Range._ Salt marshes of the Atlantic coast; nests from Virginia to Ma.s.sachusetts; winters from New Jersey to Florida.

Cambridge, formerly common S.R., but occurs no longer.

An abundant inhabitant of salt marshes. There is, or was, a colony on the Hudson River immediately south of the long pier from which Piermont takes its name, but with this exception I have never seen this Sparrow beyond the sound of the surf. It runs about through the thick marsh gra.s.ses taking wing only when hard pressed. Its song is short and insignificant. It nests on the ground, the 3-4 grayish white, finely speckled eggs being laid in late May or early June.

NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW

_Pa.s.serherbulus nelsoni nelsoni_

Resembles the Sharp-tailed but is smaller and has the throat, breast and sides deeper, very slightly, if at all, streaked with blackish; the upperparts more broadly margined with whitish. L.

5.

_Range._ Nests in the interior from South Dakota northward to Great Slave Lake; migrates south to Texas and southeast through New York and Ma.s.sachusetts to North Carolina and Florida.

Was.h.i.+ngton, rare T.V., May-Sept. Ossining, tolerably common T.V., Sept. 28-Oct. 17.

Cambridge, formerly uncommon T.V. Glen Ellyn, one record, Oct. 2, 1893. SE. Minn., uncommon T.V.

This is a fresh-water representative of the Sharp-tail which nests in the prairie sloughs of the interior and reaches the Atlantic coast during its migrations and in the winter. It resembles the Sharp-tail in habits and when on the coast, may be found a.s.sociated with it.

The Acadian Sharp-tailed Sparrow (_P. n. subvirgatus_) is similar to the Sharp-tailed Sparrow but is paler above; the throat, breast and sides are washed with cream-buff and indistinctly streaked with ashy. It nests on the salt marshes of the Atlantic coast from Maine to Cape Breton and in Prince Edward Island; and winters from South Carolina to Florida. In general habits it resembles the two preceding.

The three Sharp-tails may be distinguished chiefly by the color and markings of the breast. In the Sharp-tail these are _pale_ buff _distinctly_ streaked with blackish. In Nelson's they are _deep_ buff lightly if at all streaked. In the Acadian they are cream-buff indistinctly streaked with _grayish_. The Sharp-tail may be known from the other two by its distinct black marks below, but the other two cannot certainly be distinguished from each other in life where both may be expected to occur.

SEASIDE SPARROW

_Pa.s.serherbulus maritimus maritimus. Case 6, Fig. 46_

An olive-greenish Sparrow, with a yellow mark before the eye and on the bend of the wing; the underparts _not_ distinctly streaked. L. 6.

_Range._ Salt marshes of the Atlantic Coast; nests from Virginia to Ma.s.sachusetts; winters from Virginia to Georgia.

In the Piermont marsh, referred to under the Sharp-tailed Sparrow, there are Seasides as well as Sharp-tails, but this is the only place in which I have seen Seasides away from the sea. There they are abundant in the gra.s.sy marshes. Their song is weak and unattractive. Like the Sharp-tail they nest on the ground, laying 3-4 white or bluish white eggs, clouded or finely speckled with cinnamon-brown, the latter part of May.

This northern Seaside Finch is migratory, coming the latter part of April and remaining until the latter half of October, but in the South there are several races which for the most part are resident in the same locality throughout the year. Thus we have:

Macgillivray's Seaside Sparrow (_P. m. macgillivraii_).--Atlantic Coast from North Carolina south to Matanzas Islet, Florida. Dusky Seaside Sparrow (_P. nigrescens_), an almost black species from Merritt's Island, at the head of Indian River, Florida. Cape Sable Sparrow (_P. m.

mirabilis_), Cape Sable, Florida. Scott's Seaside Sparrow (_P. m.

peninsulae_), Gulf Coast of Florida from Tampa to St. Marks; Northwest Florida Sparrow (_P. m. juncicola_) Coast of Florida west of St. Marks; Alabama Seaside Sparrow (_P. m. howelli_), Coast of Alabama and Mississippi. Louisiana Seaside Sparrow (_P. m. fisheri_), Coast of Louisiana to Northeast Texas; and Sennett's Seaside Sparrow (_P. m.

sennetti_), Coast of Texas from Galveston at least to Corpus Christi.

LARK SPARROW

_Chondestes grammacus grammacus. Case 7, Fig. 19_

The chestnut and white head markings and the white-tipped tail-feathers are conspicuous field-marks. L. 6.

_Range._ Mississippi Valley; nests from Louisiana to Minnesota and Ohio; winters from Mississippi southward; casual east of the Alleghanies, chiefly in the fall.

Was.h.i.+ngton, A.V., Aug., two captures. N. Ohio, rare S.R., Apl. 28. Glen Ellyn, local and uncommon S.R. SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 20-Aug. 2.

Few field experiences have given me more pleasure than the discovery near my home at Englewood one November 2, many years ago, of a Lark Finch--one of the 'casuals' which had presumably been carried far from its course by a severe storm of the preceding days. The bird's strongly marked face and conspicuously white-tipped tail-feathers made an impression which testifies to their value as field-characters. In its own range this beautiful Sparrow is a sweet-voiced inhabitant of the fields, nesting on the ground or in low trees and bushes, and laying 3-5 white eggs, spotted and blotched with blackish, in May.

HARRIS'S SPARROW

_Zonotrichia querula. Case 7, Fig. 21_

A large Sparrow, larger even than the Fox Sparrow; with a pinkish bill, the crown, throat and breast more or less blackish; cheeks buff. L. 7.

_Range._ Interior of North America, nesting in North Carolina; winters from Kansas to Texas; rare east of Wisconsin. Glen Ellyn, one record, May 19.

SE. Minn., common T.V., May 6; Sept. 21-Oct. 25.

When migrating this Sparrow reminds one of a White-throat. It has a sharp _clink_ note and frequents brier patches and bushy places.

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW

_Zonotrichia leucophrys. Case 7, Fig. 22_

Resembles the White-throat but throat gray, like the breast, s.p.a.ce before the eye black, not yellow, white in the crown more conspicuous. L.

6.

_Range._ Nests in Canada; winters from Virginia and Ohio to Mexico; not a common migrant in the Atlantic States.

Was.h.i.+ngton, irregularly common W.V. and T.V., May 1-17; Oct. 7-Nov. 20. Ossining, rare T.V., May 9-26; Oct. 3-30. Cambridge, uncommon T.V., May 12-22; Oct. 1-20. N. Ohio, common T.V., Apl.

22-May 20; Sept. 5-Oct. 16. Glen Ellyn, not common T.V.; chiefly spring, Apl. 24-May 31; Oct. 2-21.

SE. Minn., common T.V., Apl. 30-; Sept. 26-Oct.

14.

This distinguished-looking cousin of our White-throated Sparrow is rare enough in the Eastern States, always to command our attention when we are so fortunate as to meet him. He resembles the White-throat in habits and choice of haunts but his song has a tender, appealing quality, lacking in the White-throat's more cheerful lay, charming as that is.

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW