310 USEFUL BIRDS. 
Savanna Sparrow. 
Passerculus sandwichensis savanna. 
Length.— About five and one-half inches. 
Adult. — Brown above ; feathers generally pale (or gray) edged, and dark-streaked ; 
a narrow whitish stripe through crown, and a yellow line above the eye; 
white or buffy below, thickly streaked with dusky; a cluster of streaks 
on the breast is sometimes gathered into a blotch, as in the Song Sparrow, 
but the tail is short and notched, rather than long and rounded, as in the 
Song Sparrow, and not noticeably marked. 
Young. — Similar; colors more suffused ; no yellow over eye. 
Nest.— On ground. 
Eggs. — Bluish-white, marked thickly with brown. 
Season. — April to November. 
The Savanna Sparrow is a common summer resident along 
portions of the seacoast, and through the central and western 
parts of the State. It is found along river valleys, in upland 
meadows, fertile fields, and pastures. In eastern and south- 
ern Massachusetts it breeds only locally or near the coast, 
but in Worcester County and through the central and western 
parts of the State it is common in favorable localities. 
Although a bird of the meadow or savanna, it is common 
in many open fields and pastures of the hill country. It hasa 
Sparrow-like chirp, but its notes and song otherwise much re- 
semble those of insects, particularly the chirping of crickets, 
although the song is perhaps a trifle more musical than that 
of the Grasshopper Sparrow. Mr. Hoffman describes it well 
as two or three preliminary chirps, followed by two long, 
insect-like trills, the second a little lower in key than the 
first, thus: tsip, tsip, tsip, tseeeeeeeee, tse-ee-ee-ee. The song 
is often given from a stone, post, or fence. This bird is 
rarely seen off the ground, an occasional perch’on a stone 
heap or fence being usually the only deviation from this rule; 
but it sometimes perches fifteen to twenty-five feet up in a 
tree, or flies from tree to tree along the edge of a field. Al- 
though it often lives and breeds in the hill country, it may 
be seen in fresh-water marshes during migrations, and fre- 
quents such spots as are dear to Rails and Swamp Sparrows. 
In the south it is an inhabitant of wet fresh-water meadows 
or savannas. 
Nearly half the food of the Savanna Sparrow while in 
