'144 BIRDS OF OHIO. 



198. (546.) COTURNICULUS SAVANNARUM PASSERINUS 



(Wils.). 96. 



Grasshopper Sparrow. 



Synonyms: Coturniculus passerinus, Ammodramus savannarum 



passerinus, Fringilla passerina. 



Yellow-winged Sparrow, Quail Sparrow, Cricket Sparrow. 

 Kirtland, Ohio Geol. Surv., 1838, 164. 



This little sparrow is local in its distribution, but may 

 be fairly common in suitable regions, over the entire state. 

 Its diminutive size and weak voice serve to hide it from all 

 but the unusually interested. It seldom essays a higher 

 perch than the top of a fence-post, and is usually content 

 with a weed stalk or bunch of grass. It nests on the ground 

 in meadows or neglected fields. 



The food consists of insects and weed seeds and grain, 

 but almost half of the whole food consists of injurious in- 

 sects, and the grain is waste. The seeds are wholly of injur- 

 ious weeds and grasses. As a destroyer of injurious insects 

 this sparrow leads all the sparrows and equals some of the 

 larger birds, like the Robin, which are supposed to feed 

 largely upon insects and worms. 



It appears in Ohio during the last week in April and re- 

 mains until the first of October. During this time it must 

 be looked for on the uplands, not in low places. 



'199. (547.) AMMODRAMUS HENSLOWII (Aud.). 97. 

 Henslow Sparrow. 



Synonyms: Coturniculus henslovii, C. henslowi, Emberiza hen- 



slowii. 



Henslow's Bunting, Henslow's Grasshopper Sparrow. 

 Jones, Auk, XII, 1895, 241. 



Dr. Wheaton gives it in his catalogue of 1882, citing ref- 

 erences to Audubon, Birds Am., Ill, 1841, 76, and his own 

 publications based upon Audubon's statement and upon a 

 supposed specimen which Dr. Wheaton collected in the vi- 

 cinity of Columbus in 1856, which proved to be the young 

 of A. s, passerinus. Dr. Wheaton eliminates these records 

 and says,"In all probability Henslow's Bunting will be found 

 not uncommon in restricted localities, particularly in the 



