Copulation is described. The incubation period was not determined for either species. Three or four eggs seem to be a normal clutch. Females do all of the incubating.
The young remained in the nests nine to ten days. These nests, of course were disturbed, for I visited them at least daily. The nestlings of the Seaside Sparrow are fed by both parents. Male Sharp-tailed Sparrows seem not to know the location of the nests and take no part in rearing the young at least up to time of fledging. The natal down of both species is described. Data on growth and behavior of the young are presented.
Seaside Sparrows obtained most of their food from the shoreline of the marsh, in areas of open mud and smooth cord-grass. The plumage of the adult matches, in color, this mud. The Sharp-tailed Sparrow feeds everywhere in the marsh, but mostly in areas of dense and matted black grass. The plumage on the dorsum of this species is brown and streaked resembling the dead grass. Juvenal Seaside Sparrows, which spend most of their time concealed in the dense grass, resemble adult and juvenal Sharp-tailed Sparrows in plumage. Sharp-tailed Sparrows molt completely twice per year. The Seaside Sparrow molts but once per year. The difference in number of molts, too, is correlated with habitat preference, since the grassy forage habitat of the Sharp-tailed Sparrow must result in greater abrasion of the plumage than does the open feeding habitat of the Seaside Sparrow.
LITERATURE CITED
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| Peterson, Roger Tory | |
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| Tomkins, Ivan R. | |
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Transmitted June 14, 1956.