708 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 i-aet 2 



PASSERCULUS SANDWIGHENSIS NEVADENSIS GrinneU 



Nevada Savannah Sparrow 



PLATE 40 



Contributed by Wendell Taber 



Habits 



This medium-sized, pale-gray race of the Savannah sparrow occupies 

 a vast area in the western half of the continent. Roughly rectangular, 

 with its corners in British Columbia, central Manitoba, western 

 Nebraska, and northern California, its breeding range covers over a 

 million square miles. 



Nesting. — Despite the vastness of this breeding area, the ubiquitous 

 nevadensis breeds plentifully throughout it, whether the locality be a 

 mountain meadow, a prairie slough, or a lakeside marsh. 



C. S. Jung (1930) found the Savannah the most abundant sparrow 

 in the joint delta region of the Athabasca and Peace Rivers in north- 

 eastern Alberta in June 1928. He found five nests in an area 100 

 yards square in the swamp meadows on the southeast shore of Lake 

 Claire. For more than 5 square miles in the immediate vicinity the 

 birds seemed to average better than one nest to every 100-yard square 

 block. On June 15 he found nests in every stage of development 

 from those with a single egg to some with fledgings almost ready to 



fly. 



J. S. Rowley (1939) reported a nest of nevadensis found on the ground 

 in a natural depression well concealed by grasses in a marshy place at 

 about 6,000 feet elevation near Convict Creek, Mono County, Calif. 



D. S. Farner and I. O. Buss (1957) observed Savannah sparrows, 

 presumed to be breeding, at an altitude of about 6,500 feet near 

 Hart's Pass on the summit of the Cascade Mountains in Okanogan 

 Coimty, Wash., in July 1956. Most of the ground was covered with 

 alpine vegetation. The habitat contained small clumps of alpine 

 firs (Abies lasiocarpa) which were widely scattered over sloping 

 meadows. Dwarf willow (Salix sp.) gi-ew densely in moist sites. 

 At Hart's Pass (altitude 6,200 feet), July 1-4, 1959, R. C. Banks 

 (1960) found much of the snow had melted from the large, open, 

 south-facing meadows, making them very wet. Shaded and drifted 

 areas retained up to 2 feet of snow, and most of the forest floor was 

 similarly covered. Temperatures at night dropped to freezing. The 

 Savannah sparrow was one of the most common species, and proved 

 to be the race nevadensis. A nest containing five eggs was found on 

 July 2. 



In extreme northeastern North Dakota, F. B. Philipp (1936) 

 found a nest of nevadensis containing five slightly incubated eggs in a 



