SAVANNAH SPARROWS 443 



abruptly into the shelter of the grass again. Their notes are rather faint 

 and almost ventriloquial in quality, hence one cannot upon hearing them 

 always readily locate the producers. 



The Nevada Savannah Sparrow is present about Mono Lake at least 

 from late April until mid-September (latest, September 20, 1915), but is 

 not believed to winter in the region. In May representatives of the species 

 are common there in the low wet meadows. Some of these are doubtless 

 transients, resting temporarily from their migration flights. By early 

 June the migrants have passed on and only the birds which are to spend 

 the summer in the region remain, and these are then busy with nesting 

 duties. A young bird, out of the nest and able to fly, was seen on June 22, 

 1916. 



Western Grasshopper Sparrow 

 Ammodramus savannarum bimaculatus Swainson 



Field characters. — Decidedly smaller than Junco; tail small, shorter than body. 

 Upper surface mixed black, tan, and chestnut; under surface unstreaked, buffy white; 

 head with a light stripe over each eye and another over crown, the three bounding two 

 broader blackish stripes (pi. 81). Keeps on ground where dodges about through grass 

 and is extremely averse to being routed out. Voice: Not heard by us; said to be "grass- 

 hopper-like. ' ' 



Occurrence. — Found in summer at Smith Creek, 6 miles east of Coulterville, June 6, 

 1915, June 16, 1916, and July 16, 1920. Inhabits grasslands. Non-flocking. 



The Western Grasshopper Sparrow as a species is so reclusive and so 

 local in its occurrence that we ourselves did not chance to encounter it 

 in our work in the Yosemite region. We record it here on the basis of 

 the experience of a resident of the region, Mr. Donald D. McLean, of 

 Smith Creek, 6 miles east of Coulterville. The first specimen of the 

 Western Grasshopper Sparrow taken by him was obtained on June 6, 

 1915, in a grassy meadow bordering Smith Creek. In 1916 he found the 

 species represented there by a number of individuals, and on June 16 he 

 succeeded in shooting two males. These three individuals were added to 

 the collection of birds of the Yosemite section at the Museum of Vertebrate 

 Zoology. The bird taken in 1915 was found upon dissection to be in 

 breeding condition and there is every likelihood that the species nested 

 in the region in both seasons — in the latter year, in some numbers. The 

 particular meadow which was inhabited by the birds was covered chiefly 

 with a species of saw-grass. 



In this instance we find illustrated one of the fascinations in the study 

 of bird life, namely, the ever-present possibility of a new discover}'. No 

 amount of attention to any given region, even by persons of relatively 

 large experience, will exhaust its entire resources; something is always 

 waiting for a subsequent diligent observer to seek out. 



