NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



253 



541. Ipswich Sparrow. Passer cu lus princeps. 



Range. Breeds on Sable Island, off Nova Scotia; winters on coast of South 

 Atlantic States. This a large and pale colored form of the common Savanna 

 Sparrow. Its nesting habits are similar to those of the latter and the esss are 

 marked the same but average larger. Size .80 x .60. 



542. Sandwich Sparrow. Passerculus sandwichensis. 



Range. Breeds on the Alaskan coast; winters south to northern 

 California. 



A streaked Sparrow like the next but with the yellow supercil- 

 iary line brighter and more extended. Its nesting habits are 

 precisely like those of the next variety which is common and 

 well known; the eggs are indistinguishable. 

 [Oirayish white]. 



542a. Savanna Sparrow. Passerculus sandwichensis savanna. 



Range. North America east of the Plains, breeding from the Middle States 

 north to Labrador and the Hudson Bay region. 



Similar to the last but with the superciliary line paler and 

 the yellow reduced to a spot on the lores. Their nests are 

 hollows in the ground, lined with grasses and generally con- 

 cealed by tufts of grass or weeds. Their three to live eggs 

 vary greatly in markings from finely and evenly dotted all 

 over to very heavily blotched, the ground color being grayish 

 white. Size .75 x .55. They nest most frequently in swampy 

 places on or near the coast. 

 542b. Western Savanna Sparrow. Passerculus sandwichensis alaudinus. 



Range. Western North America from Alaska to Mexico. 



A slightly paler form whose nesting habits and eggs do not differ from those 

 of the last. 

 542c. Bryant Marsh Sparrow. Passerculus sandwichensis bryanti. 



Range. Salt marshes of California from San Francisco Bay south to Mexico. 



Slightly darker and brighter than the eastern Savanna Sparrow and with a 

 more slender bill. The eggs are not different from many specimens of savanna; 

 they are light greenish white heavily blotched with various shades of brown and 

 lavender. Size .75 x .55. 



543. Bel ding Marsh Sparrow. Passerculus beldingi. 



Range. Pacific coast marshes of southern California and southward. 



This species is similar to the last but darker and more 

 heavily streaked below. They breed abundantly in salt 

 marshes, building their nests in the grass or patches of sea- 

 weed barely above the water, and making them of grass and 

 weeds, lined with hair; the eggs are dull grayish white, boldly 

 splashed, spotted and clouded with brown and lavender. 

 Size .78 x .55. 

 Large-billed Sparrow. Passerculus rostratus. 



[Grayish white.] 



544. 



Range. Coast of southern and Lower California. 



Similar to the Savanna Sparrows but paler and grayer, without yellow lores 

 and a larger and stouter bill. They are common in salt marshes, often in 

 company with the last species and their nesting habits are similar to and the 

 eggs not distinguished with certainty from those of the latter. 

 544a. St. Lucas Sparrow. Passerculus rostratus guttatus. 



Range. Southern Lower California. 



A slightly darker form of the preceding, having identical habits, and prob- 

 ably, eggs. 



