546b. FLORIDA GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. _Ammodramus savannarum floridanus._ 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. _Passerherbulus henslowi henslowi._ Range.--United States east of the Plains, breeding locally from Maryland and Missouri north to Massachusetts 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 Grasshopper Sparrow, the nests being difficult to find. The eggs are greenish white, spotted with reddish brown. Size .75 × .55. 547a. WESTERN HENSLOW'S SPARROW. _Passerherbulus 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. _Passerherbulus lecontei._ Range.--Great Plains, breeding from northern United States to Assiniboia; 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. _Passerherbulus 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 grass. I have nearly always found their nests attached to the coarse marsh grass a few inches above water at high tide, and generally under apiece of drifted seaweed. The nests are made of grasses, 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 grass again. [Illustration 342: White.] [Illustration: Henslow's Sparrow. Leconte's Sparrow.] [Illustration: White.] [Illustration: White.] [Illustration: Sharp-tailed Sparrow.] [Illustration: left hand margin.] Page 341 549.1. Nelson's Sparrow. _Passerherbulus 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. _Passerherbulus 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.