300 . NESTS AND EGGS OF 



543. Ammodramns beldingi RIDGW. [194, part.] 



Holding's Marsh Sparrow. 



Hab. Salt marshes of Southern California, from Santa Barbara south to Todos Santos Island, Lower 

 California. 



Mr. B. T. Gault found this sparrow to be very abundant in the salt 

 marshes in the vicinity of National City, San Diego county, California, 

 in the spring of 1883. A nest containing three fresh eggs was found May 

 24 ; it was situated in a patch of marsh weed, apparently raised a little 

 above the ground several feet above tide-water mark, and was com- 

 pletely saturated with water ; notwithstanding the dampness of the 

 nest the eggs were warm to the touch, as the female had just left the 

 nest. The structure was composed almost exclusively of weed stalks, 

 with a little grass and a few feathers, arranged in a careless manner. 

 The ground-color of the eggs is dirty-white, of a brownish tinge, 

 caused by minute specks of brown and lavender. The eggs had a 

 pinkish tinge before they were emptied of their contents. The spots 

 and specks are of lavender, and the blotches of amber-brown, congre- 

 gating principally toward the larger end, with an occasional streak of 

 a darker brown shade ; their sizes are .76 x 58, .77 x.59, .78 x .58. * 



545. Ammodramus bairdii (AUD.) [191.] 



Baird's Sparrow. 



Hab. Interior portions of North America, from the Plains of Dakota and Montana to the Saskatch- 

 ewan, south in winter to Texas, New Mexico, and Aiizona. 



In the summer months this species is found on the plains and 

 prairies of Dakota and Montana, north to the Saskatchewan. The 

 bird remained for a long time almost unknown, until Dr. Coues found 

 it breeding in profusion on the prairies of Dakota, in some places out- 

 numbering all the other birds together. In general habits and appear- 

 ance in life it is quite like the Savannah Sparrows. Dr. Coues states 

 that the song of this species is peculiar, consisting of two or three dis- 

 tinct syllables, of a mellow, tinkling tone, running into an indefinite 

 trill, like zip-zip-zip-zr-r-r-r. 



The nest is a slight affair, made of grasses and weed-stalks on the 

 ground ; its diameter is about four inches. The eggs are laid in June 

 and July, and they range from three to five in number, being similar to 

 those of the Vesper Sparrow (Grass Finch). They are whitish of 

 varying tints, irregularly spotted, speckled, and blotched, with pale 

 and dark reddish-brown ; size .80 x .65. 



546. Ammodramus savannarum passerinus (WILS.) [198.] 



Grasshopper Sparrow* 



Hab. Eastern United States and Southern Canada to the Great Plains, wintering in the Gulf States, 

 Bahamas, Cuba, and Porto Rico. 



Perhaps better known as the Yellow-winged Sparrow. Anyone 



* Bulletin No. 2,p.p. 58-60, Ridgway Ornithological Club, Chicago, Illinois. 



