388 FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



posed to be of the Savannah 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 Savannah Sparrow in breeding 

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



1895. DWIGHT, J. H., JR., Mem. No. II,Nutt. Orn. Club., 1-56 (mono- 

 graph). 1902. SAUNDERS, W. E., Auk, XIX, 267-271 (nesting). 



542a. Passerculus sandwichensis savanna (Wils.). SAVANNAH 



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

 bend of the wing ; general tone of the upperparts brownish black, the centers 

 of the feathers black, margined first by rufous or ochracequs-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; underparts white, heavily streaked with blackish and rufous, the breast 

 feathers tipped with wedge-shaped marks. Ads. and Im. in winter. Similar, 

 but color deeper, more suffused with ochraceous. L., 5*68; W., 2'62; T., 

 2'09 ;B., '40. 



Range. E. N. Am. Breeds mainly in Boreal and Transition zones from 

 cen. Keewatin and n. Ungava s. to n. Iowa (casually Mo.), n. Ind., mts. of 

 Pa., Conn., and L. I., and casually in s. N. J.; winters from s. Ind. and s. 

 N. J. s. to ne. Mex., the Gulf coast, Bahamas, and Cuba; casual in Bermuda. 



Washington, abundant T. V., Mch. 20-May 11; Sept. 21-Oct. 23; a few 

 winter. Ossining, common T. V., Apl. 3-May 13; Aug. 28-Oct. 28. Cam- 

 bridge, abundant T. V., Apl.; Oct.; breeds sparingly. N. Ohio, not common 

 T. V., Mch. 20-May 12. Glen Ellyn, fairly plentiful S. R., Apl. 8-Oct. 20. 

 SE. Minn., common S. R., Apl. 17-Oct. 23. 



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

 the ground. Eggs, 4-5, bluish white, thickly marked, sometimes heavily 

 washed, with reddish brown or cinnamon, '78 x '56. Date, Bolton, Mass., 

 May 9; Cambridge, May 21; Utica, N. Y., May 19. 



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 passerby. 

 Their boldness is tempered with a certain timidity that becomes appar- 

 ent when they are followed, for, dropping into the grass, they will slip 

 away with surprising rapidity. They have a startling way, sometimes, 

 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 exhibit a shy- 

 ness 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. 



The song is insignificant a weak, musical little trill following a grass- 

 hopperlike introduction, and is of such small volume that it can be heard 

 but a few rods. It usually resembles tslp-tslp-tsip' se'-e-e-s'r-r-r. More 

 singing is heard toward sunset, when of a quiet evening the trills are 



