DWARF SAVANNAH SPARROW 699 



definite though limited geographic area, * * * they differ from * * * 

 other Savannah sparrows in being largely resident." 



Nesting. — Joseph Mailliard (1921) describes a breeding site of 

 hrooksi at the mouth of the Ivlamath River opposite Requa, Del 

 Norte County, Calif., on an alluvial flat about a mile long and a 

 half-mile ^vide, shut off from the ocean by a bar of low sand dunes. 

 The birds were observed only at the ocean end of the flat, on meadow 

 land bisected by a small stream backed up by the tides. The bh-ds 

 were seen most often on the scattered bushes of lupine that covered 

 most of the drier parts of the flats. 



W. L. Dawson (1923) found a nest of hrooksi with five eggs in 

 northern California resting on the surface of damp earth, perfectly 

 concealed by the edge of some cow dimg held aloft by stift* grass. 

 Another similarly situated nest contained two eggs and two freshly 

 hatched young. 



P. s. hrooksi is considered the breeding form in the Willamette 

 Valley of Oregon and the coastal counties where it is common in the 

 open grasslands (Gabrielson and Jewett, 1940). A set of five eggs 

 was taken at Tillamook on May 26, 1928. 



Both J. H. Bowles (1920) and Allan Brooks (1917) refei to the early 

 nesting of hrooksi in coastal Washington. Bowles says that the very 

 small, light-colored hrooksi usually arrives in the latter part of March, 

 sometimes a few bh'ds appear much earlier. By the time anthinus 

 reaches Tacoma, about April 20, hrooksi is busy with nests and eggs. 

 Brooks points out that in the Cliilliwack Valley, a %vide alluvial flat 

 on the south bank of the Fraser River near Vancouver, hrooksi was 

 sitting on eggs and in some cases feeding young when the larger race 

 passed through in great numbers. 



Plumages. — Peters and Griscom (1938) state that P. s. hrooksi is 

 the smallest of the races of the Savannah sparrow. The bill is inter- 

 mediate between the stout-billed and the slender-billed forms, Vvilh 

 the depth of the bill averaging about one-half the length of the culmen. 

 In spring, the general coloration is nearest nevadensis, averaging very 

 slightly browner, but distinctl}^ gi'^yer than anthinus. The supra- 

 orbital stripe is the same depth of yellow as in anthinus, and much 

 deeper than in nevadensis. The lateral crown stripes are more diffuse 

 with the edgings broader and dark centers reduced. They feel that 

 it is difficult to distinguish in winter except by its definitely smaller 

 size. They also state that hrooksi is roughly intermediate in coloration 

 between anthinus and nevadensis. 



Voice. — W. L. Dawson (1923) describes the song of hrooksi as a 

 series of lisping and buzzing notes, fine only in the sense of being small, 

 and quite unmusical, tsut, tsut, isu, wzzzzztsuhut. The sound instantly 

 recalls the grasshopper sparrow, Ammodramus savannarum perpallidus, 



