716 U-S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 2 



Howard Robertson (1899) discovered three nests of beldingi near 

 Santa Monica, Calif., on Apr. 21, 1899, of which two contained eggs 

 and one young. The nests were placed in salt grass about 6 inches 

 above the ground and were composed principally of large and small 

 straws of the salt grass interwoven with a few straws of Bermuda grass. 

 The first nest, containing fom' eggs, was well lined with horsehair while 

 the second nest was lined mostly with fine straws, some hairs, and a 

 few gull feathers. 



J. Van Denburgh, on the Todos Santos Islands from May 24-30, 

 1923, found young and old birds very common. A nest on the ground 

 held two half-grown young and one infertile egg. Another nest was 

 about 14 inches up in a small bush. H. B. Kaeding (1905) found 

 fresh eggs on these islands Mar. 10, 1897. 



Eggs. — Dawson (1923) writes: "3, or rarely, 4; greenish or bluish 

 white, speclded and spotted or washed and clouded with verona brown. 

 Average of 10 eggs in the M.C.O. coll.: 18.5 X 14.2 * * *. Season: 

 April-June, two broods." W. C. Hanna (1924b) gives the average 

 weight of three eggs as 2.25 grams. 



W. G. F. Harris writes: "The measurements of 40 eggs average 

 20.0 by 14.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 

 21.0 by 15.1, 20.9 by 15.4, and 18.9 by I4.I millimeters." 



Voice. — Hoffmann (1927) described the song of beldingi, which at that 

 time was treated as a distinct race, as a fine-drawn, wheezy song, tsip, 

 tsip, tsip, tsrree, tsick-a-tsee, differing from the song of the eastern 

 Savannah sparrows in the emphatic ending. Dawson (1923) describes 

 the song as high-keyed and insectlike, tsit tsit isu weezz tsit tsit. 



Behavior. — -After the nesting season the birds deploy more widely 

 through the more elevated weedy stretches which surround the marsh 

 proper, or take up station in the sand dunes. They invade the beaches 

 also at that time, nimbly pursuing the kelp flies or snatching salty 

 comfits from the wet sand. Momentarily the birds may hide from an 

 approaching person, skulking behind driftwood or stranded kelp roots, 

 but shortly they bolt for weedy regions (Dawson, 1923). 



Field marks. — ^Hoffman (1927) describes beldingi adults as having 

 the upper parts dark brown streaked with black; an indistinct light 

 stripe through the crown and another over the eye, the latter ending 

 in front in yellowish; under parts whitish, heavily streaked with black. 

 Bill slender, dusky above, flesh-colored on the sides and below; feet 

 light brown. The immatures are similar but lack the yellow between 

 the eye and the bill. 



Peters and Griscom (1938) diagnose beldingi as being similar to 

 alaudinus (formerly bryanti), but more heavily and extensively streaked 

 with black below; upperparts more olivaceous, less markedly streaked 



