189 



Within a half mile from the house there were certainly not less than a 

 thousand, and probably over two thousand, individuals. They could be 

 seen and heard on all sides all the time. The next day the numbers 

 remained the same, while the day following a walk over the same 

 ground revealed two birds only. Considering the winter bird to be 

 alaudimis, Mr. Bagsdale did not record savanna from Gainesville until 

 April 7 and the last May 14. 



Nearer the Mississippi they reached Pierce City, Mo., March 19, 

 and Saint Louis March 22; but this bird was ahead of his mates, for 

 less than half a dozen were seen before April 19. Des Moines, Iowa, 

 was reached April 23, and Lanesboro, Minn., on the last day of the 

 month. At Manhattan, Kans., directly north of Gainesville, it arrived 

 April 21. The Savanna Sparrow usually breeds from latitude 40° 

 northward, but Mr. Eidgway states that it breeds throughout Illi- 

 nois, and Mr. Nehrling has found it breeding at Pierce City, Mo. Dr. 

 Watson thinks that in former years he found it nesting at Ellis, Kans. 



In the spring of 1885 not a note on the Savanna Sparrow came from 

 any station east of the Mississippi Eiver. At Manhattan, Kans., the 

 first was seen April 1 ; Saint Louis, Mo., April 7; Grinnell, Iowa, April 

 22; Waukon, Iowa, May 4; Heron Lake, Minn., May 9; Huron, Dak., 

 May 4, and White Earth, Minn., May 16. In the fall of 18S5 the last 

 was seen at Grinnell, Iowa, September 27, and the first at Emporia, 

 Kans., October 10. 



542 b. Ammodramus sandwichensis alaudinus (Bp.). [193 &.] Western Savanna 



Sparrow. 



Common on the Great Plains and in western Manitoba. Mr. Eags- 

 dale regards this form as the winter resident at Gainesville, Tex., where 

 in 1884 it was most abundant February 26. By April 29 all had gone. 

 In western Texas Mr. Lloyd determined it to be a common resident. 

 Colonel Goss has taken it in western Kansas. 



545. Ammodramus bairdii (Aud.). [191.] B air cVs Bunting. 



Baird's Bunting breeds in western Manitoba, Dakota, and western 

 Minnesota. By what route it goes south is a question. Doctor Coues, 

 writing ten years ago, said that it was extremely abundant in Dakota 

 almost to the Eed Eiver of the North, and that all left in September. 

 Where did they go? The species is not known to occur in Kansas; 

 and if there is a Nebraska record I have failed to find it. Nevertheless, 

 we are bound to believe that it does occur in both these States. Mr. G. 

 H. Eagsdale ^hot one at Gainesville, Tex., April 24, 1884, and if it occurs 

 in central Texas and Dakota it must perforce occur in the intervening 

 country. At Caddo, Ind. Ter., it was not found, though I shot upwards 

 of fifty Savanna Sparrows in the vain hope that some one of them 

 would resolve itself into the wishecl-for Baird's. On March 31, among 

 a lot of Savannas, I heard one singing with the trill at the end which 



