away to fragrant smoke in November, they veil his song a little, but it still continues.
December daunts him, — so long to spring, he thinks, but even then a warm sunbeam draws out a note or two; and when January's iron hand numbs him, he whispers, "so long since summer," and breathes a note in undertone for memory's sake: so is completed this Sparrow's year of song
Swamp Song Sparrow: Melospiza georgiana.
- Length:
- 4.50-4.80 inches.
- Male and Female:
- Crown bright bay, gray stripe over eye and gray wash over brown around neck. Back striped with various browns. Tail reddish brown. Much bay on wings. Mottled gray below.
- Song:
- A liquid though monotonous trill.
- Season:
- Migrant; March and April, October and November. Breeds here sparingly.
- Breeds:
- From Northern States northward.
- Nest and Eggs:
- In tussock or bush in swamp, otherwise like Song Sparrow's; eggs also similar.
- Range:
- Eastern North America to the Plains, accidentally to Utah, north to the British Provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador. Winters in the Middle States and southward.
The distinctive marks of the Swamp Song Sparrow are its bright bay crown, bay wing-edges, and absence of any yellow washes, or white tail feathers. The Chipping Sparrow has the bay crown, but lacks the bay on the wings; the Vesper Sparrow has the bay wings, but lacks the crown, but the Swamp Sparrow has both.
This Sparrow has neither the vocal powers or the sociability of the Song Sparrow. It is a shy bird that loves deep, cool thickets and haunts such impenetrable shrubberies as border sphagnum bogs; and though it is common in such places, when you look for it you will find it as elusive as the Veery and Marsh Wrens.
Its fresh trill can be heard from middle April until it passes on in May; where it breeds it sings almost continu-
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