LARK BUNTING 657 



Dakota — Jamesto^vn, September 5. South Dakota — Rapid City, 

 October 15. Miunesota — Wilder, October 21. Nova Scotia — Cape 

 Island, Shelbiirne County, October 12. Massachusetts — Wayland, 

 November 11. New York — Wainscott, November 27. Virginia — 

 Sandridge, September 5. 



Egg dates — Alberta; 8 records, May 15 to June 2. 



Colorado; 23 records, May 22 to July 25; 14 records, June 1 to 

 June 10. 



Kansas; 25 records. May 26 to June 24; 12 records, June 6 to 

 June 14. 



Montana; 17 records, Maj^^ 25 to July 21; 9 records, June 13 to 

 June 20. 



North Dakota; 1 record, July 20. 



Wyoming; 12 records, May 21 to July 8. 



PASSERCULUS PRINCEPS (Maynard) 



Ips^vich sparrow 

 Contributed by John Jackson Elliott 



Habits 



Ornithologists have long suspected that the Ipswich sparrow may 

 prove eventually to be a geographical race of the Savannah sparrow 

 {Passerculus sandwichensis) . Richard H. Pough (1946) points out 

 that actually no one knows whether or not this strongly marked form 

 of Sable Island can interbreed with mainland Savannah sparrows and 

 remarks that: "It is merely assumed on the basis of the differences 

 which we observe between them that they would not." He then adds : 

 "Should Sable Island eventually wash completely away, as seems 

 likely, forcing the Ipswich sparrow to breed on the mainland or perish, 

 it will survive as a distinct form only if it has actually achieved 

 reproductive isolation from the Savannah. Should this be lacking 

 (in which case it is not a species), interbreeding with mainland Savan- 

 nahs would soon obhterate the distinctive Ipswich characteristics." 

 The 1957 A.O.U. Check-List, however, still retains it as Passerculus 

 princeps. 



The Ipswich sparrow was discovered in 1868, when C. J. Maynard 

 shot one on December 4 among the sand dunes of Ipswich, Mass. 

 It was at first mistaken for Baii'd's sparrow (Ammodramus hairdii) 

 of the far west. Previous to this it was known as "gray bird" by 

 the residents of Sable Island, Nova Scotia, a name that it retained 

 there for many years. As early as 1858, Dr. Gilpin mentioned a 

 sparrow resident there and on the mainland; some years before this, 



