334 
FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
Nest. — On ground in open situations, composed of dried grasses. Eggs: 
3 to 5, whitish, varying in tint, and spotted with reddish brown and lined 
with black. 
In North Dakota, Dr. Fisher has found the Baird sparrow common 
in “ low depressions of the prairie where the high grass has been left 
standing.” 
Subgenus Coturniculus. 
Tail weak, of narrow lanceolate feathers; wing short, with inner sec¬ 
ondaries reaching nearly to tip when closed, seventh secondary much the 
longest. 
546a. Ammodramus savannarum bimaculatus (Swains.). 
Western Grasshopper Sparrow. 
Adults in summer. — Under parts huffy on throat and sides, unmarked; 
upper parts reddish brown , black, gray, and buffy; crown with median 
buffy stripe between two blackish stripes; 
nuchal patch ash gray, marked with reddish 
brown ; feathers of back with black eye spots 
nicked with reddish brown ; edge of wing 
Fig. 423. yellow ; tail double rounded and feathers 
sharp pointed. Adults in winter: brighter colored, chest and sides sometimes 
indistinctly streaked with brown. Young: with little or no reddish brown 
on upper parts, the feathers being more conspicuously bordered with buffy 
and whitish; median crown stripe more ashy; lower parts entirely dull 
buffy whitish,Jchest distinctly streaked with dusky. Male: length (skins) 
4.20-5.10, wing 2.25-2.61, tail 1.69-2.02, bill .40-.46. Female: length 
(skins) 4.40-4.85, wing 2.39-2.51, tail 1.82-2.00, bill .40-.44. 
Distribution. — Breeds in the western United States from the Plains to 
the Pacific coast, from British Columbia, Dakota, and Montana south to 
southern California and Arizona; migrates to Cape St. Lucas, Lower Cali¬ 
fornia, and Central America. 
Nest. — On ground, bulky, with deep cavity, often more or less arched 
over on top, and composed of dried grasses. Eggs: 3 to 5, white, spotted, 
chiefly on larger end, with reddish brown, sometimes mixed with a few 
small black markings and touches of lilac gray. 
The western grasshopper sparrow lives in grassy fields, where it 
often sings from the top of a tall weed for an hour at a time. When 
startled, instead of flying, it drops down and runs off through the 
grass. Like most members of the genus Ammodramus, Dr. Judd 
says, it feeds much less on vegetable matter than most other spar¬ 
rows. “Insects form their staple diet, and of these, beetles, grass¬ 
hoppers, and caterpillars are the most important. As a destroyer 
of insect pests the grasshopper sparrow is most efficient.” 
547a. Ammodramus henslowii occidentalis Brewst. West¬ 
ern Henslow Sparrow. 
Adults. — Top of head and nape grayish olive, head with two broad 
stripes of black spots, nape more finely and sparsely spotted ; feathers of 
back with coarse median streaks of black, bordered with pale chestnut, 
changing to a broad grayish margin; under parts dull white, breast and 
