Interior of British North America. 75 



tution ; Mr. Ross also notices it on the Mackenzie. This bird 

 is not included in the * Fauna Bor.-Am./ nor is it mentioned 

 by Mr. Murray among skins which he has received from the 

 neighbourhood of Hudson's Bay ; but this is not astonishing, 

 as it is one of those quiet retiring birds which would be over- 

 looked, except by a diligent ornithologist, and neither its habits 

 nor its plumage are likely to attract the attention of a casual 

 observer. I believe that I was the first to discover it in Nova 

 Scotia, where I distinguished it from others of the genus by its 

 note and manners. The former is a feeble chirping, and when 

 you approach it, it will fly from one small bush to another 

 without mounting in the air ; it perches also on stone walls, and 

 often on the ground, where it runs smartly. Wilson's description 

 of the Savannah Sparrow is not minute enough ; for he makes no 

 mention of the dividing-line of white on the crown, — of the line 

 of brown running from the lower mandible and bordering the 

 white throat, — of a second line of brown from the slit of the 

 mouth, encircling the ear-coverts, and joined, or nearly so, by a 

 third from the back of the eye, — of the decided line of pale white 

 which is thus left from the lower mandible to the back of the 

 ear-coverts, between the first two of these brown lines ; neither 

 does he remark, as he has in the case of the Tree Sparrow {Spi- 

 zella monticold), the almost concealed spot of brown on the breast, 

 which is very apparent in the living bird, but might be passed 

 unnoticed in a dead one or preserved specimen. Those indivi- 

 duals I have measured have been between 5| and 5^ in. in 

 length, and 2| and 2| in the wing. The Savannah Sparrow was 

 a common bird at Fort Carlton during spring, where I observed 

 it by the 4th of May. I also shot one near the eastern base of 

 the Rocky Mountains in August, to the westward of which bar- 

 rier I believe the bird has not been observed. 



Passerculus sandvichensis. 



Observed by Mr. Ross on the Mackenzie, as well as P. anthinus; 

 but this latter he marks as uncertain. 



64. Po(ECETES GRAMINEUS. 



The Bay-winged or Grass Finch is mentioned in the * Fauna 

 Bor.-Am.' as an inhabitant of the Saskatchawan, where I obtained 



