BIRDS OF NEW YORK 29 1 



Ammodramus savannarum australis Maynard 

 Grasshopper Sparrow 



Plate 81 



Ammodromus australis Maynard. Amer. Exch. and Mart. 1887. 3:33 

 Emberiza passerina DeKay. Zool. N. Y. 1844. pt 2, p. 156, fig. 150 

 Ammodramus savannarum australis A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 3. 

 1910. p. 256. No. 546 



savannarum, quasi-Latin from Sp., savanna, meadow; australis, southern 



Description. Smaller than the Savannah sparrow. Upper parts 

 variegated with black, rufous brown, buff and ash, the ash appearing as 

 edgings on the feathers and tending to form broad back stripes, the rufous 

 brown most conspicuous as spots and streaks on the neck and back; 

 a median crown streak of creamy huff; bend of the wing yellow; lesser wing 

 coverts yellowish olive green; under parts buffy, without spots, fading to 

 whitish on the belly. Young birds: Somewhat spotted on the breast and 

 sides with blackish. 



Length 5-5.4 inches; extent 8.5; wing 2.4-2.6; tail 1.8-2; bill .43; 

 tarsus .75-. 8. 



Distribution. This species inhabits eastern North America from 



southern Wisconsin, Ontario and New Hampshire to Louisiana, Alabama 



and South Carolina; wintering from southern Illinois and North Carolina 



to Cuba and Yucatan. In New York it is a common summer resident 



in various localities of the Carolinian and lower Alleghanian life zones, 



its known distribution at the present time being shown by a map on page 



23, volume 1 of this work. It is rarely found in localities of greater 



elevation than 1000 feet, but is fairly common as a breeding species on 



Long Island, in the vicinity of New York City, in the Hudson valley, and 



through central and western New York, especially at Canandaigua, 



Phelps, Chili, West Barry, Maplewood, Lockport, Bushnell's Basin, 



Potter, Meridian and East Hamburg. In the southeastern part of the 



State its spring migration begins from the 1st to the 10th of May, 



sometimes as early as the 26th of April, and it disappears in the fall 



between the 5th and the 25th of October. These dates also agree very 



closely with the migrations at Rochester and Canandaigua recorded in my 



notebook. 



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