BELDING'S SAVANNAH SPARROW 717 



witli brown and black; bill distinctly larger. Van Rossem (1947) 

 says that: 



Within the group characterized above, bill smaller both in length and depth 

 than that of Passerculus sandwichensis anulus of Scammon Lagoon, and tail 

 slightly longer than in that form. Compared with Passerculus sandwichensis 

 ("bryanti"] alaudinus of the San Francisco Bay area of California, bill longer and 

 more attenuated (less conical) , and upper parts with black streaking less prominent. 



This race is dichromatic in that a gray tendency or manifestation is present in 

 many individuals. The extreme gray phase is not dissimilar in color to the essen- 

 tially gray, black, and white P. s. nevadensis of the Great Basin but the shorter 

 wing and tail, longer and larger bill, and broad ventral streaking of beldingi serve 

 to distinguish such rare extremes without difficulty. It follows that individual 

 variation in color is very pronounced in beldingi but a sharj), contrasting pattern 

 is always present and in this feature beldingi, together with anulus, is well set ofif 

 from the other races of northwestern Mexico. 



Distribution 



Range. — Belding's Savannah sparrow is resident in coastal south- 

 western California (Santa Barbara south to San Diego) and north- 

 western Baja California (Todos Santos Islands, El Rosario). 



Egg dates. — California: 2 records, April 30 and May 27. 



PASSERCULUS SANDWICHENSIS ANULUS Huey 



Scammon Lagoon Savannah Sparrow 

 Contributed by Wendell Taber 



Habits 



A permanent resident at Scammon Lagoon and the adjacent Santo 

 Domingo Landing on the Pacific coast of central Baja California 

 and one of the "beldingi" group, this race is the link which in bill 

 size connects that group with the "guttatus" group to the south 

 (van Rossem, 1947). In color it is similar to P. s. beldingi from which, 

 though usually lighter, it is not certainly distinguishable. However, 

 the bill is distinctly larger and longer and the tail shorter. 



Nesting. — Griffing Bancroft (1927) reports these Savannah sparrows 

 as very common in the marshes of the Scammon Lagoon, both insular 

 and mainland, and closely resembling in behavior both beldingi and 

 rostratus. Birds were "forever making short flights to thick tufts of 

 grass or branches of dead bushes, never paying much attention 

 tous,yetnotforan instant losing their keen perception of our presence." 

 Close approach was not possible. Bkds were fully as thick in suitable 

 spots as the race beldingi in similar habitat in southern California. 



Bancroft further comments that the neat nests of anulus are so 

 like those of beldingi as to be indistinguishable. The nests of both 



