The Bird Book Part 75

Slightly paler than the last; has the same nesting habits; eggs indistinguishable.

[Ill.u.s.tration 340: 544--544c.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Baird's Sparrow. Gra.s.shopper Sparrow.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: left hand margin.]

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[Ill.u.s.tration 341: C. A. Reed.

GRa.s.sHOPPER SPARROW ON NEST.]

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546b. FLORIDA GRa.s.sHOPPER SPARROW. _Ammodramus savannarum florida.n.u.s._

Range.--Central Florida.

A local form, darker above and paler below than the common species. Eggs not different in any particular.

547. HENSLOW'S SPARROW. _Pa.s.serherbulus henslowi henslowi._

Range.--United States east of the Plains, breeding locally from Maryland and Missouri north to Ma.s.sachusetts and Minnesota.

This species is similar in form and marking to the last, but is olive green on the nape, and the breast and sides are streaked with blackish.

Their nesting habits are very similar to those of the Gra.s.shopper Sparrow, the nests being difficult to find. The eggs are greenish white, spotted with reddish brown. Size .75 .55.

547a. WESTERN HENSLOW'S SPARROW. _Pa.s.serherbulus henslowi occidentalis._

Range.--A paler and very local form found in the Plains in South Dakota and probably, adjoining states. Eggs not apt to differ from those of the preceding.

548. LECONTE'S SPARROW. _Pa.s.serherbulus lecontei._

Range.--Great Plains, breeding from northern United States to a.s.siniboia; winters south to Texas and the Gulf States.

A bird of more slender form than the preceding, and with a long, graduated tail, the feathers of which are very narrow and pointed. They nest on the ground in damp meadows, but the eggs are difficult to find because the bird is flushed from the nest with great difficulty. The eggs are white and are freely specked with brown. Size .70 .52.

549. SHARP-TAILED SPARROW. _Pa.s.serherbulus caudacutus._

Range.--Breeds in marshes along the Atlantic coast from Maine to South Carolina and winters farther south.

These birds are very common in nearly all the salt marshes of the coast, nesting in the marsh gra.s.s. I have nearly always found their nests attached to the coa.r.s.e marsh gra.s.s a few inches above water at high tide, and generally under apiece of drifted seaweed. The nests are made of gra.s.ses, and the four or five eggs are whitish, thickly specked with reddish brown. Size .75 .55. The birds are hard to flush and then fly but a few feet and quickly drop into the gra.s.s again.

[Ill.u.s.tration 342: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Henslow's Sparrow. Leconte's Sparrow.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sharp-tailed Sparrow.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: left hand margin.]

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549.1. Nelson's Sparrow. _Pa.s.serherbulus nelsoni nelsoni._

Range.--Breeds in the fresh water marshes of the Mississippi valley from Illinois to Manitoba.

This species is similar to the Sharp-tailed Finch but more buffy on the breast and generally without streaks. The nesting habits are the same and the eggs indistinguishable.

549.1a. ACADIAN SHARP-TAILED SPARROW. _Pa.s.serherbulus nelsoni subvirgatus._

Range.--Breeds in the marshes on the coast of New England and New Brunswick; winters south to the South Atlantic States.

This paler variety of Nelson's Sparrow nests like the Sharp-tailed species and the eggs are the same as those of that bird.

550. SEASIDE SPARROW. _Pa.s.serherbulus maritimus maritimus._

Range.--Atlantic coast, breeding from southern New England to Carolina and wintering farther south.

This sharp-tailed Finch is uniform grayish above and light streaked with dusky, below. They are very abundant in the breeding range, where they nest in marshes in company with caudacutus. Their nests are the same as those of that species and the eggs similar but slightly larger. Size .80 x .60. Data.--Smith Island, Va., May 20, 1900. Nest situated in tall gra.s.s near sh.o.r.e; made of dried gra.s.s and seaweed. Collector, H. W.

Bailey.

All the members of this genus have a habit of fluttering out over the water, and then gliding back to their perch on the gra.s.s, on set wings, meanwhile uttering a strange rasping song. The nesting habits and eggs of all the subspecies are precisely like those of this variety, and they all occasionally arch their nests over, leaving an entrance on the side.

550a. SCOTT'S SEASIDE SPARROW. _Pa.s.serherbulus maritimus peninsul._

Range.--Coasts of Florida and north to South Carolina. Above blackish streaked with brownish gray; below heavily streaked with black.

550b. TEXAS SEASIDE SPARROW. _Pa.s.serherbulus maritimus sennetti._

Range.--Coast of Texas. Similar to maritimus, but streaked above.

550c. LOUISIANA SEASIDE SPARROW. _Pa.s.serherbulus maritimus fisheri._

Range.--Gulf coast. This form is similar to peninsul, but darker and more brownish.

[Ill.u.s.tration 343: Seaside Sparrow. Dusky Seaside Sparrow.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: right hand margin.]

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