BIRDS OF MINNESOTA. 81t 
brown; a faint light superciliary and maxillary stripe; the 
latter margined above and below with dark brown; the upper 
stripe continued round the ear coverts, which are darker than 
the brown color elsewhere. Wings with the shoulder light 
chestnut-brown, with two dull whitish bands along the ends of 
the coverts; the outer edge of the secondaries also white; outer 
tail feathers and edge and tip of the second, white. 
Length, 6.25; wing, 3.10. 
Habitat, eastern North America to Plains. 
AMMODRAMUS SANDWICHENSIS SAVANNA (Witson). 
(542a. ) 
SAVANNA SPARROW. 
Although seldom extremely numerous, the Savanna Sparrow 
is a common summer resident of Minnesota. 
I have no knowledge of any dry prairie districts within the 
boundaries of my special observations where it has not, earlier 
or later, been found to spend the nidifying season. It reaches 
the principal points of notice from April 20th to May 5th, and 
proceeds to build its nest very soon afterwards, which is con 
structed of fine grasses and roots, and quite artistically inter- 
laced, the finest of the material being disposed neatly on the 
inside. It lays usually four grayish-white eggs, covered 
rather irregularly with spots of umber-brown and lilac. Com- 
monly two broods are brought out in a season. 
The song is really one of the hardest to describe, and I shall 
not attempt it, but Dr. Samuels, in his ‘“‘Birds of New Eng- 
land,” has so admirably succeeded in approximating it that I 
shall avail myself of his rendering. He says: ‘‘It resembles 
nearly the syllables ’chewée ’chewitt ’chewitt ’chewitt ’chewéet 
*chewée, uttered slowly and plaintively.” I have seldom vis- 
ited a section favorable to its breeding habits, but what, dur- 
ing a morning’s rambles, I have not heard its characteristic 
song. 
Mr. Washburn reports this species ‘‘extremely common in 
grass land throughout the Red river valley. I secured spec- 
imens ranging from the polar eastern varieties to the darker, 
sharply-marked western forms. From this fact, and from ob- 
servations of other species, I am led to infer that the Red river 
valley, situated as it is with the western plains on one side and 
the Mississippi river on the other, forms as it were, a neutral 
ground where eastern and western varieties meet and interbreed 
to some extent, forming intermediate varieties, with interme- 
diate shades of plumage.” 
21z 
