BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 313 



AMMODRAMUS BAIRDII (Audubon). (545.) 

 BAIRD'S SPARROW 



Of this sparrow's appearance in Minnesota I said in a hasty- 

 list of birds of the State published by the survey in 1881, I 

 think, "common along the Red river where it breeds." This 

 probably was based upon a mistaken identity of the species by 

 those reporting to me from that section. While it has been 

 found there by several different collectors it is in no ways 

 '■'common.'' I think all the specimens sent to me except one, 

 have evidently been young birds, but the exceptional one was 

 an adult male, the special characters of which were typical. 



It is said to breed abundantly in Dakota. The nests are 

 built on the ground, being constructed of the bark from weed- 

 stalks and grass that are rather losely disposed. They usually 

 contain five eggs, the ground color of which is dull white, 

 speckled all over with pale reddish- brown, with some darker 

 splotches of the same. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. 



Somewhat similar in general appearance to Passerinus 

 savanna; back grayish, streaked with dusky; crown nearly 

 covered by black streaks, bu t divided by a broad median band 

 of brownish-yellow; eyelids, and a faint supercilary stripe, 

 yellowish- white; beneath white, with a maxilliary blackish 

 stripe and some narrow streaks on the upper part of the 

 breast and the sides of the throat and body; outer edges and 

 tips of tail feathers white, the two outer feathers obsoletely 

 white; bend of wing white. 



Length, 4.75; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.20. 



Habitat, interior of North America from Saskatchewan 

 plains southward to Texas. 



AMMODRAMUS SAVANNARUM PASSERINUS (Wilson) 



(546.) 



GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. 



This unobtrusive little sparrow, notwithstanding my vigi- 

 lance, escaped my recognition for many years, simply because 

 I had not heard his song under circumstances to associate it 

 with him. But in 1875 Mr. T. S. Roberts identified it not far 

 from the city, since which time it has become extremely com- 

 mon in restricted localities. It seems to choose, dry, barren, 

 weedy pastures, and builds a nest on the ground consisting of 

 dried grass lined with hairs. Its usual number of eggs is 



