680 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETUST 23 7 part 2 



the surrounding vegetation, consisting chiefly of cinquefoil, daisies, 

 and coarse grasses." 



Townsend (1905) refers to the Savannah sparrow in coastal New 

 England as an abundant summer resident among the sand dunes, on 

 the borders of the salt marshes, and among the adjoining grassy fields. 

 He describes a nest found at Ipswich, Mass., which was built in the 

 dunes just above the level of the highest tides. "The nest was con- 

 cealed by a tuft of grass, and its bottom, which must have been 

 excavated for the purpose was below the level of the sand which was 

 rounded up about it. It was made of coarse grass, and neatly lined 

 with fine grass." 



From the mid-coastal areas of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, 

 John H. Buckalew writes me: 



"June 6, 1936. Two nests found near Indian River Inlet, Dela- 

 ware, were each located near the base of a smaU sand dune, in the 

 base of a clump of sedge. The nests were in slight hoUows, the rim 

 almost even with the sand, and were constructed of fine, dead marsh 

 grass, lined with what appeared to be very fine marsh hay (Spartina 

 patens) . 



"June 1, 1941. One nest found approximately one mile south of 

 the Delaware-Maryland line, in Maryland, was at the edge of the 

 salt marsh under a clump of S. patens, and apparently constructed 

 entirely of the same grass." 



Although colonial nesting by the Savannah sparrow has been 

 alluded to several times in the literature (Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, 

 1874a; Butler, 1897; Griscom, 1938), it is not frequent. These few 

 observations might well only reflect a semicolonial tendency enforced 

 by a scarcity of suitable nesting territory for the available population. 



Since the success or failure of any bird population is to a large extent 

 dependent upon the adaptability of the species to new situations, 

 especiaUy during the breeding season, an unusual nesting site for the 

 Savannah sparrow Allen H. Morgan and I found in Carelton, Quebec, 

 Canada, June 29, 1957, is of interest. Near the center of this little 

 Gaspesian town was a small parklike area (150 X 500 ft.) between 

 Chaleur Bay and Route 6. One-sixth of the area was a hard-topped 

 parking lot that exited onto the main road; the remainder was mowed 

 grass, interspersed with such ubiquitous plants as dandelion, burdock, 

 plantain, white clover, and yarrow. The nest was sunk in the ground 

 about 20 feet from the main road and 6 feet from the parking lot. 

 We were not the first to discover the nest, for its location had been 

 marked with a stick and the nest had been carefully circumnavigated 

 by the mower. The female became disturbed when people came too 

 close to the nest, but seemingly paid no attention to persons walking 

 down the sidewalk, or such noises of civilization as cars, trucks, doors 



