EASTERN SAVANNAH SPARROW 687 



Townseiid (1920) who stales that "In courtship the male stands on 

 the ground and vibrates his wings rapidly above his back. He also 

 flies slowly a sliort distance above the ground with head and tail up and 

 rapidly vibrating wings." And presumably as part of the courtship 

 display, Townsend wTites: "I have heai'd the song given on the wing." 



Also of some possible significance in this regard is an observation I 

 made at Middletown, R.I., in May 195S: "A male Savannah has been 

 vigorously patrolling his territory along a stone wall. He fell silent 

 for some 15 minutes and then flew back to the stone wall. He crept 

 about the top of the w^all, singing as he went, then eventually flew to 

 the top of the tallest fence post along the wall and sang steadily. 

 A^'liat I presumed to be the female came to the wall a few minutes 

 later and also crept (and hopped) along the stones towards the male. 

 She then dropped into the grass and the male followed. The signifi- 

 cance of the creeping action is obscure, but it may be related to either 

 courtship or pair formation." 



Injury feigning by the female (and male?) is a well-known be- 

 havioral trait, and accounts can be found as far back as 1832, when 

 Wilson and Bonaparte described a female who "counterfeited lame- 

 ness, spreading her wings and tail, and used many affectionate 

 stratagems to allure me from the place." However I have flushed a 

 number of Savannahs from nests containing eggs or young that gave 

 no distraction display. It would be interesting to know what actually 

 triggers this maneuver. 



Evans and Emlen (1947) in discussing barn owl prey state that 

 Savannah sparrows commonly roosted at night in the grassy fields 

 at Davis, Calif. Mcllhenny (1942) adds: "I learned an interesting 

 thing about Savannah sparrows that night, which is — they sleep in 

 small compact groups on the ground in short grass." 



One last observation that is perhaps more physiological than be- 

 havioral relates to the fact that the Savannah sparrow is found in a 

 number of habitats that are either actually dry (weedy upland fields) 

 or devoid of fresh water (salt marshes or sand dunes). To utilize 

 these habitats the birds must be able either to subsist on a limited 

 supply of water (dew) or to satisfy their moisture requirements from 

 metabolic water. However, they do use fresh water for bathing and 

 drinking when it is available (Norris, 1960), and in the winter when 

 aU water is frozen I have seen them eat snow. 



Voice. — The song of the Savannah sparrow can only be described 

 as utilitarian. That it obviously does not delight the ear of man 

 can be seen by the comments of those who have described it in print: 

 "insignificant" (Dwight, m Chapman, 1897), "buzzy and insect-like" 

 (Saunders, 1935), "high-pitched and thin in quality" (Roberts, 1936), 

 shrilly musical (Hausman, 1946). But to the male patrolling his 



646-737— 68— pt. 2 7 



