The Savanna Sparrows 



over this provident arrangement which Mother Nature has ordained. 

 But, really now, a canopy of indurated fiber upborne by a hundred sturdy 

 spears of grass — what is it but a fairy palace, if you will see it 

 so? Nature's humblest ministries are tenderest, and the uses of life 

 sanctify the lowliest means. 



No. 4le Bryant's Marsh Sparrow 



A. O. U. No. 542c. Passerculus sandwichensis bryanti Ridgway. 



Description. — "Similar to P. s. savanna, but smaller and darker, with more 

 slender bill; decidedly smaller and very much darker and browner than P. s. alaudinns, 

 with black dorsal streaks very much broader, the underparts much more heavily 

 streaked with black, and, in winter plumage, with the chest, sides, etc., strongly tinged 

 with brownish buff" (Ridgway). Also feet and legs much darker brown. Av. of 8 

 California-taken males (Bishop): wing 66.1 (2.60); tail 46.1 (1.81); bill 11 (.43); depth 

 at base 5.9 (.23); tarsus 21.9 (.86). 



Recognition Marks. — Warbler size; 12-rayed pattern of head; heavy streaking; 

 much darker and more heavily streaked on breast and sides than the Western Savanna 

 Sparrow, P. s. alaudinus; lighter and less heavily streaked than P. beldingi. 



Nesting. — Nest: Shows characters of foregoing or succeeding form, according 

 to situation. Eggs: 4 or 5; indistinguishable from those of other forms. Season: 

 April-June; two broods. 



Range of P. s. bryanti. — Common resident of California coast from Monterey 

 north to at least Humboldt Bay; largely but not exclusively confined to vicinity of 

 salt marshes. Irregularly south in winter, at least as far as Santa Barbara. 



Authorities. — Baird {Passerculus anthinus), Rept. Pac. R. R. Surv., vol. ix., 

 1858, p. 445; Ridgway, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., vol. vii., 1885, p. 517 (desc. of bryanti); 

 Wicks, Avifauna, vol. i., 1895, p. 27 (nesting) ; Grinnell, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 11, 

 1915, p. 114 (range; crit.); Squires, Condor, vol. xviii., 1916, p. 228 (on uplands); 

 Mailliard, J. and J. W., Condor, vol. xxii., 1920, pp. 63-66, 2 figs, (on hills of Marin Co.). 



THE CASE of the Bryant Marsh Sparrow is still open for investiga- 

 tion. It is so largely a matter for expert judgment that I propose to 

 present a brief anthology of current discussion; and pass all questions of 

 habit with the remark that Bryant's Marsh Sparrow of the lowlands is 

 essentially like its kinsman, P. beldingi, both in its attachment to the life 

 of the tidal marshes, especially salicornia, and in its sedentary character. 



"Common resident on the tidal marshes bordering Monterey, San 

 Francisco, Tomales and Humboldt Bays. The metropolis of this sub- 

 species in its most typical characters is the salicornia association of San 

 Francisco Bay and here in many places it is abundant. The Humboldt 

 Bay representatives (specimens in Mus. Vert. Zool.) are somewhat inter- 



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