292 FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



It is an interesting species, discovered in 1868, and at first mistaken 

 for Baird's Sparrow of the far west, a species, by the way, that it re- 

 sembles very little. For many years nothing was known of its breed- 

 ing range. In 1884 some large eggs from Sable Island, Nova Scotia, 

 supposed to be of the Savanna Sparrow, were unearthed at the National 

 Museum, Washington, and later a summer specimen of the Ipswich 

 Sparrow was obtained from this island. Ten years later I had the 

 pleasure of visiting Sable Island and solving all the conjectures that 

 had become current regarding the Ipswich Sparrow's summer home. 

 The bird proved to much resemble the Savanna Sparrow in breeding 

 habits, song, nest, and eggs. J. DWIGHT, JR. 



542a. Ammodramus sandwichensis savanna ( Wils.), SA- 

 VANNA SPARROW. Ad. A pale yellow mark over or before the eye and on 

 the bend of the wing ; general tone of the upper parts brownish black, the 

 centers of the feathers black, margined first by rufous or ochraceous-buff, then 

 by ashy ; wings fuscous, the outer webs of the feathers margined with ochra- 

 ceous-buff ; tail fuscous, the outer web of the feathers margined with whit- 

 ish ; under parts white, heavily streaked with blackish and rufous, the breast 

 feathers tipped with wedge-shaped marks. L., 5-68 ; W., 2-62 ; T., 2-09 ; B., -40. 



Remarks. Fall specimens are more or less suffused with ochraceous. 



Range. Eastern North America ; breeds from Missouri and northern 

 New Jersey north to Labrador and Hudson Bay ; and winters from southern 

 Illinois and Virginia southward to Cuba and Mexico. 



Washington, abundant T. V., Mch. 20 to May 5; Oct. 14 to Nov. 15; a 

 few winter. Sing Sing, common T. V., Apl. 3 to May 13 ; Aug. 28 to Oct. 28. 

 Cambridge, abundant T. V., Apl. ; Oct. ; breeds sparingly. 



Nest, of grasses and sometimes moss, lined with finer grasses or hair, on 

 the ground. Eggs, four to five, bluish white, thickly marked, sometimes 

 heavily washed, with reddish brown or cinnamon, -78 x -56. 



This is essentially a bird of the fields and one of the most abun- 

 dant species of the Maritime Provinces of Canada in fact, character- 

 istic of them. The roadsides abound with the birds bobbing up and 

 down on the fence posts and chipping vigorously at every passer- 

 by. Their boldness is tempered with a certain timidity that becomes 

 apparent when they are followed, for, dropping into the grass, they will 

 slip away with surprising rapidity. They have a startling way. some- 

 times, of springing up with a whirr of wings almost from under your 

 very feet as you cross the fields where they have been feeding. At 

 the southern limits of their breeding range they gather into irregularly 

 distributed, isolated colonies frequenting wet, boggy meadows, and ex- 

 hibit a shyness that is not shared by their northern brethren. In the 

 fall, young and old gather into bands and, joining with other species, 

 form an important part of the large flocks of migrating Sparrows that 

 fill the fields and hedgerows. 



