GRASSHOPPER SPARROW 731 



Eggs. — The grasshopper sparrow commonly lays 4 or 5 eggs; 

 although frequently sets of 3 are found and occasionally as many as 6, 

 They are generally ovate and have a shght gloss. The ground color 

 is creamy white, speckled and spotted with shades of reddish browns 

 such as "Rood's brown," "russet," "Mars brown," or "chestnut 

 brown," and undermarkings of "pale purplish gray," or "pale neutral 

 gray." The spots are usually sharp and well defined; they may 

 be scattered over the entire egg or concentrated toward the large 

 end where they often form a loose wreath or become confluent over 

 the cap. Many eggs show as many gray undermarkings as spottings 

 of the red browns. The pattern of markings of this species might be 

 considered somewhat delicate, especially as compared with the eggs of 

 the Savannah or song sparrow. The measurements of 92 eggs average 



18.7 by 14.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 



20.8 by 14.7, 18.3 by 15.8, 16.3 by 13.7, and 17.9 by 13.6 millimeters. 

 A. s. pratensis. The measurements of 50 eggs average 18. G by 14.4 



millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure SO.S by 14.7, 

 18.3 by 15.8, 16.3 by 13.7, and 17.8 by 13.7 millimeters. 



A. s. perpallidus. The measurements of 32 eggs average 18.7 by 

 14.3 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure ;^(9.5 by 

 15.0, 19.6 by 15.2, 17.8 by 14.2, and 17.9 by 13.6 millimeters. 



Incubation. — The exact incubation period of the grasshopper 

 sparrow is unknown, as it is only with considerable luck that a nest 

 with a partial or a recently completed clutch can be found. King 

 (1940) reports finding a nest on May 29, 1940, containing five eggs. 

 On June 10, the same uest contained four young and one egg. As- 

 suming that the young were shortly out of the egg and the fifth had yet 

 to hatch, the incubation period would have been 12 days. D. J. 

 Nicholson writes that the incubation period of the Florida grasshopper 

 sparrow is "11 to 12 days — not more." Simmons (1925) writes that 

 the incubation period of perpallidus "lasts for about 12 days." 



The female alone incubates the eggs and broods the young. She 

 sits very closely on the nest. When leaving, she slips off, runs a 

 distance through the grass and then flies. On her return she never 

 flies directly to the nest, but drops down into the grass some distance 

 away and goes to it on foot, by one of the several paths. 



If flushed from the nest the female may dart off, run a short dis- 

 tance, arise in a short fluttering flight, then drop to the ground again 

 where she spreads her tail and trails her wings as if injured. At other 

 times the female may flutter directly off the nest as if crippled or 

 may fly from the nest to a point 25 to 30 feet away and hide in the 

 grass. 



W. H. Nicholson writes that some female Florida grasshopper 

 sparrows "will run off the nests before they are found; others will sit 



