"^ 



BELDING'S MARSH SPARROW. 85 



do not breed in Texas. In northern Illinois and Wisconsin they usually arrive about 

 May 9. Full sets of eggs are found in the first week of June. As I have found fresh 

 nests by the middle of July, I am inclined to think that they make two broods 

 each season. 



Like all our small birds these Sparrows are exceedingly beneficial, their food con- 

 sisting, during the breeding time, mostly of insects, and in fall and winter they eat large 

 quantities of the seeds of noxious weeds. Unfortunately these and other songbirds are 

 killed by the thousand in the South by the negroes for the kitchen, and on the French 

 Market in New Orleans large masses of these birds are offered for sale during the whole 

 winter. This shameless slaughter of our native songbirds should be stopped by 

 stringently enforced laws for their protection. 



The Sandwich Sparrow, Ammodramus sandwichensis Ridgw., inhabits the north- 

 west coast from Unalashka eastward and southward, probably to northern California 

 in winter: This is the true species, while the Savanna Sparrow is only a variety. 



Another variety is the Western Savanna Sparrow, Ammodramus sandwichensis 

 alaudinus RidgW., inhabiting western North America, and breeding from the Rocky 

 Mountain plateau north to the Yukon district of Alaska. It winters south to Mexico, 

 but does not occur on the Pacific coast. There it is replaced by the following species : 



Bryant's Marsh Sparrow, Ammodramus sandwichensis bryanti Ridgw. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Walter E. Bryant, the discoverer of this variety, it is a common resident in 

 the salt marshes about San Francisco Bay. Near Oakland it is especially common in 

 winter in fields and along road-sides. The bird apparently prefers dry ground near salt 

 marshes for nesting sites, although it also breeds in the marsh grass in places not sub- 

 ject to overflow during excessively high tides. The fields where it takes up its haunts 

 are usually those more or less overgrown with grass and weeds, or pasture lands where 

 herds of cattle are grazing. The nests are placed on the ground, usually in a depression. 



NAMES: Savanna Sparrow, "Ground Sparrow." 



SCIENTIFIC NAMES: Fringilla savanna Wils. (1811). Passerculas savanna Bonap. (1838). AMMO- 

 DRAMUS SANDWICHENSIS SAVANNA Kidgw. (1885). 



DESCRIPTION: "Feathers of the upper part generally with a central streak of blackish-brown ; the streaks 

 of the back with a slight xufous suffusion laterally ; the feathers edged with gray, which is lightest 

 on the scapulars, and forms there two gray stripes. Crown with a broad median stripe of yellowish- 

 gray. A superciliary streak from the bill to the back of the head, eyelids, and edge of the elbow, 

 yellow, paler behind. A yellowish-white mandibular stripe curving behind the ear-coverts, and mar- 

 gined above and below by brown. The lower margin is a series of thickly crowded spots on the 

 sides of the throat, which are also found on the sides of the neck, across the upper part of the breast, 

 and on the sides of body, a dusky line back of the eye, making three on the side of head (including 

 the two mandibular). A few faint spots on the throat and chin. Rest of under-parts, white. Outer 

 tail-feathers and primaries edged with white." (B. B. & R.) Length, 5.17 inches; wing, 2.73; tail, 2.07. 



BELDING'S MARSH SPARROW. 



Ammodramus beldingi Ridgwav. 

 This is a common bird near the coast of southern California, especially in the 

 marshes between San Diego and National City. A nest found April 4, by Mr. L. Belding, 

 was near the beach just above high tide, in a dense growth of Salicornia, Airiplex, and 



