26 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



singer's natural enemies, it is i)ersisted in by all 

 but a very few American s])ecies, the law of the 

 " survival of the fittest " to the contrary notwith- 

 standing. In point of fact, however, the Savan- 

 nah's song is a rather insignificant elTort. Dr. 

 Jonathan Dwight describes it as " a weak, musi- 

 cal little trill following a grasshopper-like intro- 

 duction, and is of such small volume that it can be 

 heard but a few rods." As the sun sinks and the 

 quiet of evening deepens the tsip-tsip-tsip se-e-e- 

 s'r-r-r ( Dwight ) is sung more frequently and is 

 audible for a greater distance. The bird's best 

 known note is a sharp tsip, frequently heard 

 when it is migrating and still more frequently 

 during the breeding season. This note seems to 

 be used either to express alarm or to scold. 



The Savannah is primarily a bird of the fields, 

 especially those near the coast, and is likely to 

 be mistaken for any of several other field Spar- 

 rows, for the Vesper, probably, more often than 

 others ; but careful study of the bird's coloration, 

 plus its ground-singing habit, will make its iden- 

 tification comparatively easy. 



The Savannah is one of the most useful of the 

 Sparrows. Nearly half of its food consists of in- 



sects, beetles being most eagerly sought, and in 

 winter it consumes large quantities of grass seeds 

 and weed seeds. Individuals taken in cotton 

 fields in winter were found to have eaten a 

 number of boll weevils. 



In western North America, breeding in Alaska 

 but ranging south to Mexico, is the Western Sa- 

 vannah Sparrow (Passcrcuhis sandimchensis 

 alaudiniis) . It is about the same size as the 

 eastern species but the coloration is decidedlv 

 paler and grayer. 



Other members of this group are : Bryant's 

 Sparrow {Passcrcuhis saudzinchciisis br\<anti), 

 somewhat smaller and darker than the Savannah 

 and found in the salt marshes along the coast of 

 California; Belding's Sparrow (Passcrcnliis 

 bcldhuji), still darker in coloration than Bryant's 

 and found in the salt marshes of southern and 

 Lower California; and the Large-billed .Sparrow 

 {Passcrcnliis rostratiis rostratiis), differing as 

 its name suggests in the size of the bill and also 

 in not having the upper parts conspicuously 

 streaked ; this Sparrow is also found in the salt 

 marshes of southern California and Lower 

 California. 



GRASSHOPPER SPARROW 



Ammodramus savannarum australis Maynard 



A. O. U. Xumber =.46 See Coh.r I'late 81 



Other Names. — Quail Siiarrow ; Yellow-winged 

 Sparrnw- 



General Description. — Lengtli, 4' j inches. Upper 

 parts, gray, buff, brown, and black, mixed ; under parts, 

 whitish. Wing, short: tail, short and the featliers 

 narrow and lance-likc. 



Color. — Adults in Summer: Crown, blackish nar- 

 rowly streaked with light gray or grayish buffy and 

 divided centrally by a distinct tine of pale grayish 

 buff; rest of upper parts, mixed grayish, pale buffy, 

 rusty brown, and black, the last prevailing on back 

 and shoulders, where forming large central or median 

 spots: hindneck, grayish streaked with chestnut, the 

 chestnut streaks sometimes black centrally : feathers 

 of rump, streaked or spotted with rusty brown, the 

 streaks sometimes black basally ; wings, dusky with 

 distinct pale buffy grayish edgings ; the lesser coverts, 

 mostly yellowish olive passing into yellow on edge of 

 wing; sides of head, including broad stripe over eye, 

 dull buffy, paler and more grayish on lores, the region 

 above lores yellowish; a dusky streak behind eye; 

 under parts, buffy becoming white or nearly so on lower 

 breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts ; bill, brown, 

 paler on the edge and below ; iris, brown. Adults 

 IN Winter: Similar to summer plumage, but brighter 

 colored, with less black and more of chestnut on upper 



parts; the center crown-stripe, deeper buffy; the hind- 

 neck broadly streaked with chestnut; the space be- 

 tween the shoulders distinctly edged with buff and 

 .gray; buff of under parts deeper, that of chest some- 

 times indistinctly streaked with chestnut. Young : 

 Crown, dusky with an indistinct center stripe of pale 

 .grayish, and indistinctly streaked with the same, or 

 with pale brownish ; hindneck streaked with dusky 

 and pale buffy grayish; back and shoulders, dusky 

 or dull blackish ; the feathers distinctly margined with 

 dull buffy and pale grayish ; middle and greater 

 wing-coverts, margined terminally with dull buffy 

 whitish; under parts, dull buffy whitish; the chest and 

 sides of head streaked with dusky ; no yellow over 

 lores nor on edge of wing. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : On ground or sunk level, 

 in dry fields, clearings, or pastures, and well concealed ; 

 bulky ; built of dried grass, sometimes semi-arched with 

 deep interior. Eggs : 3 to 5, clear white, spotted and 

 specked rather sparsely, chiefly around large end, witli 

 chestnut, black, and lilac gray. 



Distribution. — Eastern United States and more 

 southern British Provinces; west to edge of the Great 

 Plains ; north, in summer, to Maine, New Hampshire, 

 Ontario, etc. ; south, in winter, to Bahamas, Cuba, 

 island of Cozumel, Yucatan, and Gulf coast of Me.xico. 



