THE WESTERN SAVANNA SPARROW. . 113 
Migrations.—Spring: About April 1st; Bremerton March 23, 1906. 
Authorities.—Passerculus alaudinus Bonap. Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. 
Dxeprssendd7. (1). C&S. 5 Rh, Ra. Kk. J. B. E. 
Specimens.—U. of W. P'. Prov. B. 
NOT every bird can be a beauty any more than every soldier can be a 
colonel; and when we consider that ten times as many shot-guns are in 
commission in time of peace as rifles in time of war, we cannot blame a bird 
for rejoicing in the virtue of humility, envying neither the epaulets of 
General Blackbird nor even the pale chevrons of Sergeant Siskin. A Savanna 
Sparrow, especially the 
washed-out western va- 
riety, is a mere de- 
tached bit of brown 
earth done up in dried 
grasses; a _ feathered 
commonplace which 
the landscape will swal- 
low up the instant you 
take eyes off it. To be 
sure, if you can get it 
quite alone and very 
near, you see enough to 
admire in the twelve- 
radiating pattern of the 
head, and you may 
evel perceive a wan 
tint of yellow in the 
superciliary region; but 
let the birdling drop 
upon the ground and 
sit motionless amidst 
the grass, or in a criss- 
cross litter of weed-stalks, and sooner far will you catch the gleam of the 
needle in the haystack. 
Savannas are birds of the meadows, whether fresh or salt, and wherever 
well-watered grasses and weeds abound, there they may be looked for. Dur- 
ing migration, indeed, they may appear in most unexpected places, I saw 
one last year, at Bremerton, which haunted the vicinity of a tiny cemented 
pond in the center of a well-kept lawn. ‘This bird hopped about coyly, peer- 
ing behind blades of grass, and affecting a dainty fright at the sight of water, 
very much as a Chipping Sparrow might have done. In their nesting 
WESTERN SAVANNA SPARROW. 
