FRINGILLID.E -THE FINCIIE??. 537 



Passerculus savanna, \.u\ alaudinus, Bonap. 



W£ST£BN SAVAITHA SPABSOW. 



Pnssemiliis tilaiiifiiwft, T'p. ('(niiiitts RtiHliis, XXXVII, !)<■•■. IS'iS, 018, Talifornia. — Ib. 

 Notes Oinitliolou'it^iu's I)»'l;ittii', 1>.'>4, 1.S (n'ltrint of prect'dinj^K — Bah;'), liinls X. Am. 

 18.'»S, 44*), i>l. xlvi. -(.'oopKK & Si« Ki.KV, 197, ]>1. xxviii, f. 2. — Elliot, Illust. Anj. 

 R III. — Dall ^ P.ANMsTKi:, Tr. Th. Ac. I, 18<)9, 284 (Alaska). —('ixU'Ei:, Orn. Cal. 

 I, 181. P'lss, rnilns siu'uima aud r. authinus, Dall k B.VN.MSTEU, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 

 1869, pp. 28;{, 284. 



Sp. Ciiah. Similar t(» /'. snranDn. Imt siiiallcr; the bill slenderer and more elonjratcd. 

 Little of yellow in the supereiliary stripe (luo^t distinct anteriorly); the rest of the head 

 without any linw of the same, tn-neral <olor much paler and i^raver than in P. savanna. 

 IJreast with only a few spots. Len^^th, o.2o ; wing, *J.7.'> : tjiil. l.'.iO. 



IIab. Middle and Western Provinces of North America; .sonth to Orizaba, north to 

 Ahu«ika (Kodiak) and the Arctic coast. Oaxuca (.Scl. Oct.) ; Vera Cruz (winter. Sumi- 

 ciihast). 



This western race of P. fsnrnnna is smaller, considerably paler in general 

 colors, tlie superciliary strip«^ w ith little yellow in it, and the lull more 

 slender, and lon<icr. In coloration, some Atlantic coast specimens often 

 exhibit an approximation, especially in the i)ale tint of the sui)erciliary 

 stripe; but the bill is always decidedly more attenuated in (iJotidinim. 



Tlie Western Savanna Sparrow is a common species throughout the West- 

 ern Province of North America, from the plains to California, and from 

 Alaska to Mexico. In California it appeare to l»e reidaced along the Pacific 

 coast by the variety onUiiiu's, ji (piite different ami very local form. In 

 Alaska, specimens were obtained by the naturalists of the Itussian Tele- 

 graph Expedition at varic^us hxalities, chiefly in the interior, and on the 

 Yukon it was obtaiiuMl by Mr. Lockhart. Dr. Cooper found it at Fort 

 Steilacoom, in AVashington Territory, wliei(» it was in eompany with P. sand- 

 wkhinMs, m the wet meadows. In California this species inhabits chiefly, 

 according to Dr. Cooper, tlie dry plains of the interior of the State. The 

 statement of the occuiTence of this form anywhere along the coast of Cali- 

 fornia should be received with considerable doubt, since in the lar^e series 

 of these birds all speeimens from this region are of the variety cmthinns, 

 an exclusively littoral type. 



Habits. Tlie Western Savanna S])arrow was found throughout the Great 

 P)asin, by Mr. IJidgway, in all wet, grassy situations, in which preference it 

 is like its eastern relative. It was verv abvnidant at Cai-son Citv, inhal)iting 

 exclusively the meadows. At Salt Lake City it was also very abundant, 

 freciuenting the wet meadows near the Jordan. 



This bird was also obtained at Sitka by liischotf, and was found on the 

 Yukon by Mr. Lockhart. It is the only species found in the Valley of the 

 Mackenzie, uj) to the Arctic coast. 



Dr. Cooper also met with it aimmg the low meadows of Washington Ter- 



