FKINGILL1D.E — THE FINCHES — PASSERCULUS. 183 



Passerculus anthinus, Bonaparte. 



THE TITLAEK SPARROW. 



Passerculus anthinns, Bonaparte, Comptes Rendus, XXVII. Dec. 1853, 919. (Russian 



America.) — Baikd, T. R. Rep. IX. Birds, 445. 

 Pas^eicuhis alaiidinus, Hder.maxx, P. R. Rep. X. vi. 49. 



Sp. Cii.\R. Similar to P. Sandirtchensis, but fmallpr. Beneath tinged -with redili^h. 

 Breast and upper part of belly thickly .spotted with sharply defined sagittate brown spots, 

 exhibiting a tendency to aggregation on tlie middle of the belly. Superciliary stripe, and 



one in the middle of the crown, decided greenish-yellow, the head generally tinged with 

 the same ; as also the back and sides of the neck. Length, 5.75 ; extent, 0.00 ; wing, 2.75 ; 

 tail, 2.25. Iris brown ; bill brown ; feet and lower mandible paler. 

 Huh. Coast of Calilbrnia ; Ilussian America ; Kodiak. (Bonaparte.) 



This plain little bird i.s peculiarly tlie marsh-sparrow of this coast, as I 

 have found them rarely out of the salt marslies, wliere they lie so close, and 

 run so stealthily under the weeds, as to lie flushed with some difficulty, 

 rising only to fly a few rods and drop again into the covert. They are not 

 very gregarious, except when migrating, and fly up singly. 



Tliey abound in winter south of Sau Francisco, but I am not sure that 

 any of them spend the summer so far south, though inclined to think that 

 they do. Near San Diego, in February, they began to utter a short but 

 pleasant song as they perched on the top of some tall weed ; and though I 

 observed them there until April, I did not succeed in finding any nests, and 

 have not found the species at San Pedro in summer. 



This species appears better marked, as compared with P. Savrrnna, than the 

 preceding, although I am not entirely satisfied that it is different. It may, 

 however, constitute a race characterized by a much greater amount of spot- 

 ting beneath, extending over the whole breast and upper part of jugulum. 

 They are rather dark brown, well-defined, and unusually sagittate. 



