_Passerherbulus 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 Massachusetts; 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
grassy 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.
peninsulæ_), 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.