LAND BIRDS. 491 
not infrequently three. We have a set of eggs from Montcalm county 
taken July 18, 1883, and another from Kalamazoo county taken July 26, 
1890, both by Westnedge. 
The food consists mainly of grass-seeds and weed-seeds, but insects are 
taken freely, particularly grasshoppers. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Adult (sexes alike): Upper parts brownish-gray, streaked with darker brown or blackish, 
the streaks narrower and sharper on the head (without median light stripe) and neck, 
broader and more diffuse on the back, almost wanting on the rump; under parts whitish, 
washed with buff across the breast and along the sides, these parts also streaked with brown 
or blackish, the streaks often tending to form a spot on the chest; middle of throat and 
belly unstreaked; a whitish or buffy stripe runs backward from the base of the lower mandi- 
ble, bounded above by the dark auriculars and below by a series of narrow dark streaks 
along the sides of the throat; wings and tail brownish-black, the lesser wing-coverts 
(shoulders) bright reddish-brown or chestnut, the greater and middle coverts tipped with 
whitish; outer tail-feather mostly white, the next one usually with a little white; upper 
mandible brown, lower yellowish; iris brown. Young, similar to adult, but colors softer 
and markings not so sharp. 
_ In late summer and autumn all the white areas (except possibly the throat) are strongly 
tinged with buff, and the tertiaries and secondaries are broadly edged with the same color. 
Length 5.50 to 6.70 inches; wing 2.95 to 3.40; tail 2.40 to 2.75; culmen .38 to .45. 
221. Savanna Sparrow. Passerculus sandwichensis savanna (Wils.). (542a) 
Synonyms: Ground-bird, Vield Sparrow (incorrect).—Fringilla savanna, Wilson, 1811. 
—Passerina savanna, Vieill—Passerculus savanna, Bonap., B. B. & R., and many others. 
—Ammodramus sandwichensis savanna, Ridgw., 1885, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886, and most 
recent authors. 
A small gray or gray-brown, streaked sparrow, similar in many respects 
to the Vesper Sparrow, but distinguished by the absence of the white 
outer tail-feathers and the almost invariable presence of a yellow line or 
area above the eye and a more or less distinct yellow edging at the bend of 
the wing. 
Distribution.—Eastern North America, breeding from the northern 
United States to Labrador and Hudson Bay territory. 
This pretty little sparrow is really a rather abundant migrant in all parts 
of Michigan, arriving between April 1 and 15, according to latitude, and 
departing from the northern part of the state in September or early October, 
but lingering indefinitely in the southern counties. Among the birds killed 
on lighthouses in Michigan waters it has been recorded more frequently 
probably than any other sparrow. It was reported from Spectacle Reef 
Light on thirty-four different dates, the earliest being April 23, 1889, and 
the latest October 4, 1893, the larger part of the dates falling in May and 
September. Although generally distributed during migrations, the bird 
seems to nest somewhat sparingly, or else very locally, since it is reported 
by most observers as not known to nest. However, we know that it breeds 
somewhat regularly in Wayne county (Swales, Taverner) ; St. Clair county 
(Swales, Taverner); at Grand Rapids and at Ann Arbor (R. H. Wolcott, 
L. J. Cole); near Lansing (T. L. Hankinson, L. J. Cole, and the author) ; 
Marquette (O. B. Warren); Isle Royale (Peet). It seems probable from 
these facts that the bird nests regularly at suitable places in all the in- 
tervening territory. 
[ts habits are somewhat peculiar; during spring and fall it keeps very 
closely on the ground, running like a mouse among the long grass (prefer- 
