Jan., 1909. Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin — Cory. 585 



It breeds in May and June. The nest, which is placed on the 

 ground, is made of dry grass. The eggs are from four to five, pale 

 bluish or buffy white, speckled and blotched (sometimes washed) 

 with cinnamon brown or dull rufous brown, nearly obscuring the 

 ground color. They measure about .77 x .56 inches. 



Genus COTURNICULUS Bonap. 



250. Coturniculus savannarum australis (Maynard). 

 Grasshopper Sparrow. 



Ammodramus savannarum passerinus (Wils.), A. O. U. Check List' 

 1895, p. 226. 



Local name: Yellow-winged Sparrow. 



Distr. : Eastern United States, from the Great Plains to the At- 

 lantic coast, north to southern Canada and south in winter to Cuba, 

 Porto Rico, and Central America; breeds from Missouri and the Caro- 

 linas northward. 



Adult: Crown, brownish black, with a pale buffy white streak 

 in centre; an orange yellow spot above the eye; bend of wing, clear 

 yellow; feathers on the back, dark brown, edged with rufous and gray; 

 under parts, pale tawny buff, shading into whitish on the belly, usually 

 without streaks; primaries and tail feathers, dusky, with very narrow 

 pale edgings, the outer tail feather, pale, but not white. 



Very young birds in August have the breast streaked or spotted 

 with dusky and show no yellow above the eye or on bend of wing. 



Length, 5; wing, 2.45; tail, 1.80; bill, .40. 



A common summer resident in Illinois and Wisconsin, from late in 

 April until September or October. 



Breeds from May to July. The nest is built on the ground and is 

 composed of dry grass, sometimes more or less arched over at the top. 

 The eggs are from 3 to 5 in number, pure white, speckled and spotted 

 with reddish brown, chiefly at the larger end, and occasionally showing 

 small markings of black and dull lavender. They measure about 

 .73 X .56 inches. 



Mr. Frank M. Chapman says: "Its fine insect-Hke notes give it 

 the name of Grasshopper Sparrow. They may be written pit-tuck, 

 zee-e-e-e-e-e-e-e . Under favorable circumstances they can be heard 

 by an attentive listener at a distance of two hundred and fifty feet, 

 but the casual observer would pass within ten feet of a singing bird 

 and be none the wiser." (Handbook Bds. Eastern N. A., 1895, p. 294.) 



