LINCOLN‘S SPARROWS 
     
     AREN’T ALL SHY 
     
    
   
   
    
     by John Wright, Head of Montague 
     
    
   
   
    
     For three or four years I have heard Lincoln's , 
     
     every spring, in a swampy unused field in Head of 
     
     Montague. Peterson's field guide says this species 
     
     is a "skulker, afraid of its shadow". Sane other 
     
     references emphasize their shyness. The Audubon , 
     
     guide, western region, qualifies it: "When not 
     
     singing, it is wary and secretive." Maybe those 
     
     near my hcme are western strays. I find them fairly 
     
     bold when singing, and I have seldom got as close to a bird as I did this morning, 
     
    

    
     May 29. 
     
    

    
     It was sunny, very light breeze, about 8°C. I heard one and began to approach 
     
     it about 6:15 am. He perched high in a bush about 2.5 m tall, with open space 
     
     around it. The song, to my ear, is: "teen'l, teen'l"; then about one second of 
     
     a fairly high trill or gurgle; then a few shorter bits, often three (lower, higher, 
     
     lower). Sometimes it is preceded by a lower, fainter "toon'l, toon’l". 
     
    

    
     In moving toward him, I had the feeling that, if I moved only during the 
     
     utterance of a song, his attention would be more on his song-than on me, and that 
     
     he would have the urge to complete the song rather than break it off to flush. 
     
    

    
     As I‘noved about, in the full opei‘and in a bright red coat, raising book and 
     
     binoculars at times, he continued singing. He stayed high in the bush, changing 
     
     twigs occasionally and even turning his back a while as if he didn't care if I was 
     
     only 4 meters behind him. When I was only about 2.5 m away, he moved to time far 
     
     side of the bush, hiding about 5% of himself behind a twig. I walked around the . 
     
     bush and he moved back to the other side. ’ 
     
    

    
     I was too close to focus my binoculars. Looking from book to bird, I noted 
     
     these field marks: narrow crown stripe, gray superciliary, buffy malar, white 
     
     throat, buffy breast with streaks and a fairly distinct central spot. There was 
     
     also a faint eye ring, but doesn't every sparrow have a trace of eye ring? His 
     
     tail looked as if it had only two feathers. Maybe he lately had a narrow escape, 
     
     but then why was he so bold? I got cold feet (literally) and "retired from the 
     
     field". I hope he was proud of having sung me to defeat. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     MARITIMES SHOREBIRD SURVEYS. 1983 marks the tenth anniversary 
     
    

    
     of the Maritimes Shorebird Survey and the International Shore- . 
     
    

    
     ‘bird Survey schemes. During this time a wealth of information 
     
    

    
     has been collected, much of it by volunteers. Data is proving 
     
    

    
     invaluable for conservation purposes; including the identifi- ‘ip 
     
     cation of stopover areas, determination of migration routes 
     
    

    
     and schedules, and a baseline against which future population , 
     
    

    
     trends may be measured. Initially surveys were carried out only during fall 
     
     migration but since 1981 spring surveys have been conducted too. Participants 
     
     in the scheme choose a survey area habituated by migrating shorebirds. Visits 
     
     are made at intervals of one Or two weeks, and information on species, numbers, 
     
     behaviour, feeding and roostino sites, tidal conditions, etc. are recorded. In 
     
     the past few years P.E.I. has had a very low participation level in this very 
     
     worthwhile project. If you are able and willing to conduct counts this summer 
     
     and fall, please contact Dr. R.I.G. Morrison, Canadian Wildlife Service, 1725 . 
     
     Woodward Dr., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E7. ‘ 
     
    
   
   
    
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