RIDGWAY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 59 



ening the flight this time to half that distance, repeating the man- 

 euver a number of times. On going to the place whence the bird 

 first started up I was not surprised to find the nest. 



That evening a specimen of the bird was shown to a gentle- 

 man by the name of Plimpton, residing at National City, who is 

 very well posted on birds generally. He was of the opinion that 

 they were the Western Savanna Sparrow {Amjnodramus sand- 

 wichensis alaudinus), but pronounced the nest a good find. I en- 

 tered them in my field book by that name, and should probably have 

 been satisfied to call them as such had not my friend Mr. H. K. 

 Coale, of Chicago, pointed out the dissimilarity existing between 

 them and certain specimens of Ammodramus sandxvichensis alaud- 

 inus in his cabinet. A skin was afterwards forwarded by Mr. Coale 

 to Mr. Robert Ridgway, of the National Museum, Washington, 

 D. C, for identification. It was returned bearing the name Passer- 

 cuius anthinus, which fact ought to set at rest all doubts regarding 

 identity. To an inquiry by Mr. Coale, about the bird's breeding 

 habits, he replies: 



" That as far as he knows the P. anthinus nest and eggs have 

 never been recorded, and birds are very rare." Hence these notes 

 at the request of Mr. Coale. 



The specimens, Nos. 249, 250 and 252 (author's collection), 

 consist of two males and one female. No appreciable difference 

 exists between the sexes, except that the males may be a trifle the 

 largest. A general description is as follows: 



The back, including crown, is of an ashy-brown color; the 

 ash predominating on the cervix, shading to a darker and slightly 

 yellowish-brown on the rump. This is streaked with a darker 

 brown, the streaks being broadest and thickest in the interscapular 

 region. A yellowish superciliary stripe passes from the nostrils 

 over the eye to a point a little beyond; there is a faint yellowish 

 suffusion around the auriculars and chin, and faint traces of yellow 

 in the coronal median stripe. Below, the ground color is of a dirty 

 brownish-white, the color being most nearly pure on the abdomen 

 and crissum. Breast, sides of neck, and malar region, marked 

 with sagittate marks of dark-brown; thickest on the breast, where 

 they form into lines. Flanks, sides of body, and under tail coverts, 

 striped with dark brown; stripes broadest on the flanks. Primaries, 

 secondaries, tertiaries and tail feathers are of a light brown, their 

 edges being bordered with a brownish-ash color, presenting a 

 bleached look, most noticeable on the tertiaries and rectrices; these 



