112 Land Birds of New England 



With us this bird rarely sings, although it may be 

 heard both in spring and fall ; but farther north his 

 call is a familiar woodland sound. It consists of 

 two long clear notes (which are not so easily 

 heard as the remaining ones), followed by two or 

 three triplets. It has been variously translated as 

 Old-Sam-Peabody-Peabody-Peabody ; all-day-whit- 

 tling-whittling-whittling ; or by homesick French 

 Canadians, as La-belle-Canada-Canada-Canada. 



58. SAVANNA SPARROW 

 (Ammodramus sandwichensis savanna.) 



Upper parts streaked with bay, black, and flaxen; under parts 

 white or buffish, thickly marked on breast and sides of belly 

 with dark brown spots, some of which rarely run together to 

 form an obscure blotch on the breast ; head with a yellowish 

 line above the eye and sometimes a suffusion of yellow in front 

 of it. Beak conical, brown ; feet light brown. Bird a little 

 smaller than an English sparrow. Sexes similar. 



NOTE. This species is an extremely variable one ; fall specimens 

 are much more brightly colored than spring and summer ones. 



THIS timid little bird is an extremely local spar- 

 row ; it is said to be most abundant in the salt 

 water marshes and their neighborhood. It spends 

 its time almost exclusively on the ground in pas- 

 tures and open fields, several pairs usually frequent- 

 ing the same field or strip of shore. It is especially 



