GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. 329 



The habits of this boreal species, discovered by Audubon in 

 Labrador, are very similar to those of the Song Sparrow. Like 

 it, mounted on the topmost twig of some tree or tall shrub, it 

 chants for hours together ; or, diving into the thicket, it hops 

 from branch to branch until it reaches the ground in quest of 

 its usual fare of insects and berries. It moves off swiftly when 

 watched, and if forced to take wing flies low and with rapidity 

 to some considerable, distance. It is met with usually near 

 streams, in the sheltered valleys of that cold and desolate 

 region. By the 4th of July the young had left the nest, and in 

 August they had begun their migrations to the South. Speci- 

 mens have been obtained by Mr. W. Cooper near New York 

 city. 



Lincoln's Finch is now considered less " boreal " in its distribu- 

 tion than Nuttall and his contemporaries supposed, for though it 

 has been found in Labrador and in the high Arctic regions of the 

 West, yet nests have been discovered in Nova Scotia, northern 

 New York, and Wisconsin, as well as on the higher mountains of 

 the West down nearly to the Mexican border. It is a rare bird 

 near the Atlantic, but is abundant along the Mississippi valley. 



GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. 



yellow-winged sparrow. yellow-winged bunting. 



Ammodramus savannarum passerinus. 



Char. Above, streaked with bay, black, buff, and ash ; crown black- 

 ish, with median line of buff ; lines over the eye buff; bend of wing bright 

 yellow; below, buff, shading to white on the belly. Length about 5 

 inches. 



Nest. In a field, concealed by long grass ; composed of grass, lined 

 with horse-hair. 



^gg^- 4-5 ; white, spotted with rich brown and lilac ; 0.75 X 0.60. 



This small Sparrow is a summer resident in the United 

 States, in the distant territory of the Oregon, and is likewise, 

 according to Sloane, a common species in the savannas or 

 open glades of the island of Jamaica. From what little is 

 known of it as a bird of the United States, it appears to 



