538 NORTH AMERICAN B-IRDS. 



ritory, wlierc thoy arrived in March, and remained until late in October. 

 Tiiey were usually found anion^ii tiic grass, from which they rarely rise, 

 except to sing their faint and lisjiing trill from a weed or some low Imsh. 

 Mr. liidgway represents this song as corresjjonding with the syllables witz- 

 tvitz-wiH-tzuH. This, he states, is uttered in a weak and lisping manner, as 

 the bird perches on a bush beside the brook, or on a fence, or as it nestles 

 among the grass on the ground. 



Dr. Cooper speaks of them as only winter visitants in Calil'ornia, and 

 there residing only on the dry interior plains, as far south as San Diego, 

 where they remain in large flocks until April. He has never met with 

 this bird during the summer months, though some are supposed to remain 

 and breed in the high prairies. He did not meet with any about the sum- 

 mits of the Sierra Nevada, in September. They api)eared to prel'er the dry 

 rolling prairies to marshes, though they were occasionally found in the 

 latter. 



This species is also a migratory visitant to the Department of Vera Cruz, 

 Mexico, where they are said l)y Sumichrast to pass the winter. 



Their nests are built upon the ground, and are comjiosed almost entirely 

 of the dry stems of grasses, and are lined with finer materials of the same. 

 Their eggs measure .75 of an inch in length by .52 in br(!adth, have a 

 greenish-white ground, over which are distributed numerous markings, spots, 

 and blotches of various sizes, of a light purjilish-brown and a deeper red- 

 brown, confluent about the larger end, where they form a crown. 



Near Fort Auderscm nests were found in great numbers, no le.ss than two 

 hundred and four having been obtained during four summers in that locality. 

 These nests were all taken on the ground, under low grass, in dry sjwts in 

 a large marshy prairie, and it is stated that they were ne\er found in any 

 other situation or locality. 



Fasserculus savanna, var. sandwichensis, Baird. 



NOBTHWESTEBN SAVANNA 8FABR0W. 



Emberizn simdwicheiixiy, Om. I, 1788, 875. Emhrrhn nrefien, L.\rii.\M, Iiid. Orn. I, 1790, 

 414. Frincfilhi tnrlicn, Viooits, Zoiil. of Hlossoiii, 18;ii(, 20 (pciliiilis one of tlic smaller 

 species). — " BliA.NDT, Icon. Ross. "J, (i." Eiispiza iircliai. Up. Conspeetiis, IH.in, iii'.*. 

 Zaiwtrichia arctiai, KiNsiii, 187"i. Eiiiherizii chrfimpn, Pai.i.a«, Zoiif;. Rosso-As. II, 

 1811, 4.'i, tab. xlviii, fif;. 1 (I'niilii.skiO. Situihrich Ilini/liuj, Latii. Syii. II, 1783, 202. 

 Uiiiilrtskii liuiitimj, I'knnant, Arctic Zoiil. II, 'MV\ ;<20, Xo. 229 (not of |i. 3(i4, N'o. 

 233). I'tismrciilun siniilirif/iniiiix, Haikd, IJiids N. Ami. Ifj.'if*, 444. — I)ai,i. & Bansls- 

 TEii, Tr. Cli. Ac. I, 18C9, 284. — Coupkii, Oni. Ciil. I, 180. P(i,ise.rc.ulm rnvdiiiui, 

 Dall k Banslstku, Tr. C'h. Ac. 1, 18ti9, 283. 



Sp. CllAR. Almost o.Kiiotly lik(? /'. stircnna, but half an iiicii li)ii,i.'i'r, with niueli larfjcr 

 bill. liOiiirth, (). 12 iiichc.<; \viii;r, ;i,0(>| tail, 'J.')"). Bill above, .50 ; below, .;i(i ; i,'ai)e, .50 ; 

 depth, .27. 



Uab, Northwe.'iterii con-st from the Columbia Itiver lu Kiis.siiiM .\nicrict.. 



