GRASSHOPPER SPARROW 727 



{Ruhus spp.) and broomsedge (Andropogon spp.), also are inhabited 

 by the grasshopper sparrow, but the birds leave as the shrubs fill in 

 the fields. On the islands off the New England coast this bird is found 

 in old fields with red cedar {Juniperus virginiana) and bayberry 

 {Morella ])ens;ylvanica) . 



Prime habitat for the western subspecies perpallidus and ammolegus 

 is the prairie. Kendeigh (1941) notes that grasshopper sparrows are 

 more plentiful in prairie grasses than in bluegrass. 



In the forested regions of the east grasshopper sparrows originally 

 were restricted to extensive natural clearings and sparsely wooded 

 areas. They are found in such situations today in Minnesota 

 (Roberts, 1936) and Michigan (Walkinshaw, 1940). Walkinshaw 

 writes: "In Crawford County in natural clearings, grown sparsel}'' to 

 grass, the species was found on open areas only a few acres in extent 

 where no stock was pastured and no haying was done. Here the 

 birds were found in the natural wild state before man had taken over 

 the land for his use." 



Clearing the land for agiiculture permitted the species to spread. 

 Todd (1940) writes: "Undoubtedly the species has greatly increased 

 in number during the past century and it is interesting to find that in 

 extending its range it has invaded territory far beyond its usual 

 altitudinal and faunal limits." Forbush (1929) notes that the 

 gi'asshopper sparrow is a bird "of the coastal plains, river vaUeys 

 and lower uplands. It is rarely found at elevations much above 

 1,000 feet." But in Pennsylvania on the western flank of the Alle- 

 ghenies, the species is found at elevations over 2,000 feet when local 

 conditions are suitable, and Maurice Brooks (1944) found it in West 

 Virginia "on the Allegheny Backbone, in Pocahontas County, at 

 an elevation of 4,300 feet." 



The Florida grasshopper sparrow occupies an aberrant type of 

 habitat for the species. Howell (1932) writes that this race "lives 

 among the stunted growth of saw palmetto and dwarf oaks {Quercus 

 mimina) a foot or two high, seemingly preferring this habitat to the 

 grassy areas." D. J. Nicholson vn:'ites it inhabits the more open parts 

 of the lussimmee Prairie "where the saw palmettos are small — 10 to 

 15 inches high — and the grass is sparse with patches of bare gromid 

 showing here and there. * * * they avoid heavy growth of pal- 

 mettos or dense grass. * * * Frequently the cattlemen burn the 

 prairie, and the birds seem to prefer these biu-ned-over areas where 

 the cover is very light and rather open." 



Spring. — The grasshopper sparrow returns to its nesting grounds, 

 often unnoticed, usually from mid-April to early May, although 

 it may appear as early as the last of March. My earliest arrival 

 date for north central Pennsylvania is Mar. 31, 1945, when a resident 



