706 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 237 part 2 



Robert Ridgway (1901) gives the wing as not less than 68.58 milli- 

 meters, averaging about 76.20, and the exposed culmen not less than 

 11.18, averaging 11.94. He also describes the young as similar to 

 adults, but paler streaks of upper parts more buffy, dusky streaks of 

 under parts less sharply defined, ground color of under parts more 

 buffy, the superciliary stripe usually without yellow anteriorly and 

 finely streaked with dusky. 



Migration and winter. — It is always fascinating to consider how a 

 land bu'd that nests on an island manages to migrate twice a year 

 across a featureless ocean. Such a problem exists for that segment of 

 the P. s. sandwichensis population that nests along the Aleutian chain. 

 Basically, the problem is whether sandwichensis migrates across the 

 Gulf of Alaska or whether it takes the more circuitous route around 

 the southern Alaskan coast. 



Peters and Griscom (1938) appear to be in general agreement with 

 Swarth's (1911) suggestion that the migration route of sandwichensis 

 after leaving the Alexander Archipelago is directly across the Gulf of 

 Alaska to (and from) its breeding grounds, and cite as support of this 

 statement a specimen of sandwichensis taken at sea at lat. 47° N., long. 

 152° W. However, this position is considerably south of the Gulf of 

 Alaska, and is more suggestive of a bird off course than of a direct 

 trans-gulf migration. Such a view seems to be supported by the obser- 

 vations of Serventy (1939), who stated that on Sept. 29, 1938, when 

 his ship was 278 nautical miles from Victoria, British Columbia (noon 

 position lat. 46° 18' N., long. 129° 02' W.) there were a number of 

 land birds resting on the vessel's deck. "The most numerous was the 

 savannah sparrow {Passercuius sandwichensis). Several birds were 

 seen flying over the water like storm petrels and a number rested for 

 quite a while on the boat deck aft. Several were tame, evidently 

 because of exhaustion, and I was able to catch one and handle it. 

 The superciliary stripe, lores, and medial crown stripe were quite 

 yellow. The coloration was distinctly brighter than that of the form 

 nesting in the Seattle region (P. s. hrooksi) and I felt that the birds 

 belonged to the Aleutian breeding race, P. s. sandwichensis. The 

 birds were seen up tUl noon but there was none in the afternoon." 



The next day with a noon position of lat. 41° 58' N., long. 136° 24' W. 

 (688 miles from Victoria), a slight rain was falling and the weather, 

 which was rough in the morning, subsided in the afternoon. A pair of 

 Savannah sparrows on deck at 8:30 a.m. looked wet and rather be- 

 draggled. Later he saw three more all in bright plumage, which 

 haunted the deck all mornmg. At 1:00 p.m. an obviously tu-ed bird 

 appeared on deck. Another was seen in the late afternoon. The 

 ship's cat was reported to have taken several birds. Serventy re- 

 covered one bird from the cat in the evening. Subsequently, GrinneD 



