About size of Song Sparrow White body, rusty on head and back Long, pointed, white wings with black tips From its breeding grounds in the Arctic, this large sparrow-like bird comes to Crane’s Beach only in the winter. It is at home during the hardest, most severe snowstorms. One may stand on the verge of frostbite and watch large flocks of Snow Buntings flitting about, whistling in a cheerful tinkling song. Look for them among the dunes or marshes, where they feed on the grass and weed seeds. [Illustration: Ipswich Sparrow] Ipswich Sparrow (_Passerculus princeps_) Large sparrow, gray above, white below Breast and sides have dull brown markings Upper parts more heavily streaked The Ipswich Sparrow is an occasional visitor to Ipswich. It was isolated years ago on desolate Sable Island off the coast of Nova Scotia. It breeds only on Sable Island, but its winter migrations cause it to wander along the Atlantic Coast. It was first reported in 1868 from the dunes on Castle Hill, hence its name Ipswich Sparrow. When observed, this bird is most often found among the debris left at high tide on the upper beach. It is quick to fly when disturbed and, upon landing, will run for several yards to lose itself in the Beach Grass. FOR A WIDER ACQUAINTANCE AMONG THE BIRDS It is obvious that this chapter serves only to introduce you to the great variety of bird life awaiting the interested naturalist. To continue your study, consider the purchase of a good binocular and one or all of the books listed below. _Field List: Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts_. Salem, Mass.: Peabody Museum, 1952. $.35 Edward Howe Forbush, _Natural History of the Birds of Eastern and Central North America_. Revised and abridged by John B. May. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1939. $7.50 Roger Tory Peterson, _How to Know the Birds_. New York: New American Library, 1949. $.50 ——, _A Field Guide to the Birds_. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947. $3.95 Charles Wendell Townsend, _The Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts. Memoirs of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, No. 3_. Cambridge, Mass.: Nuttall Ornithological Club, 1905. Available in Museum of Science Library. ——, _Supplement to The Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts. Memoirs of the Nuttall Ornithological Club, No. 5_. Cambridge, Mass.: Nuttall Ornithological Club, 1920. Available in Museum of Science Library. George J. Wallace, _An Introduction to Ornithology_. New York: Macmillan, 1955. $8.00 COMMON BIRDS OF CASTLE NECK Here are sixty of the most common birds you can expect to find at Castle Neck: