Chapter C: S. Paine, of East Bethel, Vt., found a nest of this species about (23)

They were introduced into Boston by the City Government in 1868. Two hundred birds were purchased in Germany, but unfortunately all died on their passage except about a score. These were set at liberty in June, but, weakened by their sea-voyage, several of them were found dead in the deer-park, and the rest disappeared. The following summer more were imported, but all died except ten. These were well cared for, and only released when in excellent condition. For some months nothing was seen of these birds, and the experiment was supposed to be a failure, when it was ascertained that they had betaken themselves to the vicinity of stables in the southern part of the city, had increased and multiplied in large numbers, reappearing in the winter to the number of one hundred and fifty. They were regularly fed by the city forester each day in the deer-park, and roosted at night in the thatch of the roofs of the buildings. Since then they have very largely increased. About twenty, that same summer, were set at liberty in Monument Square, Charlestown.

In 1869 about one thousand birds were imported, by the City Government, into Philadelphia. Fortunately they came in good condition, and being released early in May immediately separated into scattered parties and prepared for themselves new homes. Some appeared in Morristown and other distant towns in New Jersey. Others wandered to Germantown, and the remoter suburbs of Philadelphia, where they found the cherry-trees in full blossom, and where their exploits in stripping the blooms from the trees gave a not very favorable first impression of these new-comers.

It has been exceedingly interesting to watch the manners and habits of these strangers in their new homes. They have become quite tame, are fearless and gentle, and as they have been very kindly treated live in a condition of semi-domestication. At first they built their nests, and passed their winters, in New York, among the thick ivies that cover the walls of so many churches, in such cases building globular nests. As soon, however, as suitable boxes were prepared for them in sufficient quantities, these were taken possession of in preference to anything else.

At the time of their introduction the shade-trees in the parks and squares of New York, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Newark, and other places, were greatly infested with the larvæ of the measure-worms that destroyed their foliage. Since then these worms have almost entirely disappeared. A doubt has been expressed whether the Sparrows destroy these insects. That they eat them in the larvæ form I do not know, but to their destruction of the chrysalis, the moth, and the eggs, I can testify, having been eye-witness to the act.

Apprehensions have been expressed lest these new-comers may molest and drive away our own native birds. How this may be when the Sparrows become more numerous cannot now be determined, but so far they manifest no such disposition. Since their introduction into Boston the Chipping Sparrows appear to have increased, and to associate by preference with their European visitors, feeding with them unmolested. I have been unable to detect a single instance in which they have been molested, in any manner, by their larger companions. Their predatory aggressions, however, upon the rights of the common Robin have been noticed, and deserve mention. The Sparrows appear to be extravagantly fond of earthworms, but not able to hunt for them themselves. They have learned to watch the Robin as it forages for these worms, keeping around, at a respectful distance, and as soon as one, with much toil, has dragged a worm from its place of concealment, down swoops the bird and impudently carries it off. The poor bewildered and plundered Robin essays a late and vain attempt to protect its food. The Sparrow is too nimble, and the worm is gone before its rightful owner can turn to face the robber.

The Sparrows endure the severest of the winter weather without any apparent inconvenience, appearing as cheerful, contented, and noisy with the thermometer at zero as at any other time. They are quite fearless, especially in New York, running about under the feet of the passers-by with perfect indifference and confidence. In Boston I have noticed their nests in convenient places, a few feet above crowded sidewalks. In winter they come regularly about the houses to be fed.

The House Sparrow has also been introduced into Australia, where it has become acclimated, and was, at the last accounts, rapidly increasing in that quarter. It is likewise very common about Havana, Cuba.

In the Old World this bird has a widely extended area of distribution, and is resident wherever found. It is very abundant in the British Islands and throughout the northern and central portions of Europe. In Spain and in Italy it is replaced by two closely allied species or races. This bird, however, is also found in North Africa, in the Levant, at Trebizonde, and among the mountains of Nubia. Specimens have also been received from the Himalayas, from Nepaul, and the vicinity of Calcutta.

Both in Europe and in this country the Sparrows pair early in the season. I have known them sitting on their eggs, in Boston, in March. They are very prolific, have broods of five, six, and even seven at a time, three or four times in a season. They are full of life and animation, somewhat disposed to brief and noisy quarrels, which are always harmless.

Their great attachment and devotion to their young is dwelt upon by all English writers as quite remarkable. They evince a great partiality for warmth, and even in midsummer line their nests with all the feathers they can pick up. In New York it is a favorite amusement with the children to carry with them to the public parks quantities of feathers, which they throw, one by one, to the Sparrows, to witness their amusing contests for possession.

The eggs of this bird are oval in shape, pointed at one end, with a ground of a light ashen color, blotched, dotted, and streaked with various shades of ashy and dusky brown. They measure from .85 to .95 of an inch in length, and from .60 to .65 in breadth.

SUBFAMILY SPIZELLINÆ.—THE SPARROWS.

CHAR. Bill variable, usually almost straight; sometimes curved. Commissure generally nearly straight, or slightly concave. Upper mandible wider than lower. Nostrils exposed. Wings moderate; the outer primaries not much rounded. Tail variable. Feet large; tarsi mostly longer than the middle toe.

The species are usually small, and of dull color, though frequently handsomely marked. Nearly all are streaked on the back and crown, often on the belly. None of the United States species have any red, blue, or orange, and the yellow, when present, is as a superciliary streak, or on the elbow edge of the wing.

In the arrangement of this subfamily, as of the others belonging to the _Fringillidæ_, we do not profess to give anything like a natural system, but merely an attempt at a convenient artificial scheme by which the determination of the genera may be facilitated.

A. Tail small and short; considerably or decidedly shorter than the wings, owing either to the elongation of the wing or the shortening of the tail. Lateral toes shorter than the middle without its claw. Species streaked above and below. (Passerculeæ.)

_a._ Thickly streaked everywhere above, on the sides, and
across the breast. Wing pointed; longest primaries considerably
longer than the secondaries. Tail forked.

Centronyx. Hind claw very large; rather longer than its
digit. The hind toe and claw, together, as long as or longer
than the middle toe and claw. Other toes as in _Passerculus_.
Claws gently curved. Tertials shorter than the secondaries.
Tail forked, but the lateral feathers shorter.

Passerculus. Hind claw as long as its digit; the toe equal
to the middle one without its claw; lateral toes falling
considerably short of the middle claw. Wings very long; first
primary longest. Tertials as long as the primaries. Tail
forked; feathers acute.

Poocætes. Hind claw shorter than its digit; the whole toe
less than the middle toe without its claw. Lateral toes
nearly equal to the middle one, without its claw. Tertials
but little longer than secondaries. Tail stiffened, forked;
feathers acute, outer ones white.

_b._ Moderately streaked above, on the sides, and on the
breast, the latter sometimes unstreaked; the dorsal streaks
broader, the others fainter than in the last. Wings short,
reaching a little beyond the base of the tail. Not much
difference between the primaries and secondaries. Tail short,
graduated, and the feathers lanceolate, acute.

Coturniculus. Bill short; thick. Tertials almost equal to
the primaries; truncate at the end. Claws small, weak; hinder
one shorter than its digit. Outstretched feet not reaching
the tip of the tail. Tail-feathers not stiffened. (In one
species tail nearly equal to the wing.)

Ammodromus. Bill slender, small at base, and elongated.
Tertials not longer than the secondaries; rounded at the tip.
Claws large, hinder one equal to its digit. Outstretched toes
reaching considerably beyond the end of the stiffened, almost
scansorial tail.

B. Tail longer and broader; nearly or quite as long as, sometimes a very little longer than, the wings, which are rather lengthened. The primaries considerably longer than the secondaries. None of the species streaked beneath, and the back alone streaked above. (Spizelleæ.)

_a._ Tail rounded or slightly graduated.

Chondestes. Tail considerably graduated, not emarginated.
Lateral toes considerably shorter than the middle toe,
without its claw. Wings very long, decidedly longer than the
tail, reaching the middle of the tail. First quill longest.
Head striped. Back streaked. White beneath. A white blotch on
the end of the tail-feathers.

Zonotrichia. Tail moderately graduated. Wings moderate,
about as long as the tail, reaching about over the basal
fourth of the tail; first quill less than the second to
fourth. Feet large. Head striped with black and white, or
with brown and ochraceous. Back streaked.

Junco. Tail very nearly equal to the wings, slightly
emarginate, and decidedly rounded. Outer toe rather longer
than inner, reaching the middle claw. No streaks anywhere
except in young; black or ash-color above; belly white; with
or without a rufous back and sides. Outer tail-feathers
white.

Poospiza. Tail lengthened, slightly graduated; the feathers
unusually broad to the end. Bill slender. Wings about as long
as the tail, reaching but little beyond its external base.
Tertials broad, and, with the secondaries, rather lengthened.
Second to fifth quills nearly equal, and longest. Bill dark
lead-color. Tail black. Uniform ashy-brown above; white
beneath. Sides of head with stripes of black and white.

_b._ Tail decidedly forked; a little shorter than the wing,
sometimes a little longer.

Spizella. Size rather small. Wings long. Lower mandible
largest. Uniform beneath, or with a pectoral spot or the chin
black.

C. Tail lengthened and graduated; decidedly longer than the wings, which are very short, scarcely extending beyond the external base of the tail. Feet reaching but little beyond the middle of the tail. Species all streaked above; streaked or nearly unicolor beneath. No white on wings or tail. Outer lateral toe the longer. First quill not the shortest of the primaries. (Melospizeæ.)

Melospiza. Culmen and commissure nearly straight. Claws
stout; hinder one as large as its digit. Tail-feathers rather
broad. Body streaked beneath.

Peucæa. Culmen and commissure curved. Claws weak; hinder
one not much curved, decidedly shorter than its digit.
Tail-feathers narrow. Without streaks beneath, excepting a
narrow maxillary stripe.

D. Tail rather short, and much graduated; longer than the wings; the midrib more median. Culmen curved. Tarsus considerably longer than middle toe. Outer toe longer. But little difference in the length of the quills; the outer ones much rounded; even the second quill is shorter than any other primary except the first.

Embernagra. Color, olive-green above.

GENUS CENTRONYX, BAIRD.

_Centronyx_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 440. (Type, _Emberiza bairdi_,
AUD.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill elongated; the lower mandible smaller; outlines nearly straight. Tarsus lengthened, considerably exceeding the middle toe. Lateral toes equal, not reaching the base of the middle claw. Hind toe very large; the claw rather longer than its digit, and in its elongation resembling _Plectrophanes_, but more curved; the digit and claw together rather longer than the middle toe and claw. Wings very long, reaching beyond the middle of the tail, and beyond the end of the coverts. Tertials shorter than the primaries, and but little longer than the secondaries. Tail short, much less than from the carpal joint to end of secondaries; little more than two thirds the entire wing. It is slightly forked, and moderately rounded laterally; the feathers all acute. Color somewhat as in _Passerculus_.

This genus differs from _Passerculus_, as stated in the description of the species farther on. It would be taken for _Plectrophanes_ on account of its lengthened hind claw, which, however, is more curved than in that genus; the tarsi are much longer, the tertials less elongated, and the coloration different, though closely resembling that of the female _Plectrophanes_. But one species has thus far been recognized.

Centronyx bairdi, BAIRD.

BAIRD’S BUNTING.

_Emberiza bairdi_, AUD. Birds Am. VII, 1843, 359, pl. d.,
_Coturniculus bairdi_, BON. Syn. 1850, 481. _Centronyx bairdi_,
BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 441.

[Line drawing: _Centronyx bairdi, Baird._
1885]

SP. CHAR. Somewhat similar in general appearance to _Passerculus savanna_. Back grayish, streaked with dusky. Crown nearly covered by black streaks, but divided by a broad median band of brownish-yellow. Eyelids and a faint superciliary stripe yellowish-white. Beneath white, with a maxillary blackish stripe and some narrow streaks on the upper part of the breast, and sides of the throat and body. Outer edges and tips of tail-feathers white; the two outer feathers obsoletely white. Bend of wing white. Length, 4.75; wing, 2.80; tail, 2.20.

HAB. Mouth of the Yellowstone River. One specimen only known.

This species has somewhat of the general appearance of _Passerculus savanna_, but with important differences both of form and color. The bill is much longer, and more slender in proportion. The wings are quite unusually long; the primaries more than half an inch longer than the tertiaries; the first quill as long as the fourth, and but little less than the second and third. The tail is very short; the feathers narrow and pointed. The feet are large; the hind claw very long and considerably curved, as are the other claws generally.

The species was based by Mr. Audubon on a skin brought by him from the mouth of the Yellowstone River, in 1843, in rather defective and worn plumage. This has hitherto served as the basis of all the descriptions of the species which is justly considered one of the rarest in the North American fauna.

HABITS. In regard to the habits, distribution, or general history of this very rare species, but little is known, only one specimen having been met with. This was procured by Mr. Audubon’s party to the Yellowstone River, in Dakota, on the last day of July, 1843. That it is a resident where obtained, certainly during the breeding-season, is a natural inference from the circumstances of its capture. That it may be a common bird in certain other portions of the region, immediately north of Dakota, is quite probable. Its close habits, as described by Mr. Audubon, favor its escaping notice wherever it may exist.

The specimen was met with in a wet place, overgrown closely by a kind of slender rush-like grass, from the midst of which the notes of these birds were heard, and at first mistaken for those of the Marsh Wren. A search was immediately instituted for the singers, which Mr. Bell soon ascertained could not be the Wren in question, the notes being much softer and more prolonged. Much difficulty was encountered in the endeavor to raise them from the long close grass to which they closely confined themselves, and they were several times nearly trodden on before they would take wing, almost instantaneously realighting within a few steps, and running like mice through the grass. After a while two were shot while on the wing, and proved to be adult male and female. The party found this species quite abundant in all such situations, and there seems to have been no doubt that it was breeding.

GENUS PASSERCULUS, BONAP.

_Passerculus_, BONAP. Comp. List Birds, 1838. (Type, _Fringilla
savanna_.)

[Line drawing: _Passerculus savanna._
7108]

GEN. CHAR. Bill moderately conical; the lower mandible smaller; both outlines nearly straight. Tarsus about equal to the middle toe. Lateral toes about equal, their claws falling far short of the middle one. Hind toe much longer than the lateral ones, reaching as far as the middle of the middle claw; its claws moderately curved. Wings unusually long, reaching to the middle of the tail, and almost to the end of the upper coverts. The tertials nearly or quite as long as the primaries; the first primary longest. The tail is quite short, considerably shorter than the wings; as long as from the carpal joint to the end of the secondaries. It is emarginate, and slightly rounded; the feathers pointed and narrow.

The essential characters of this well-marked genus lie in the elongated wings, longer than the tail, the tertiaries equal to the primaries, the first quill almost longest. The legs are long, the outstretched toes reaching to the end of the tail; the lateral toe considerably shorter than the middle, which is not much longer than the hinder. The tail is short, narrow, and emarginate; the feathers acute.

Species and Varieties.

COMMON CHARACTERS. Above grayish-brown, beneath white; whole upper surface, as well as the breast and sides, streaked with dusky. A light superciliary stripe, and a whitish maxillary one, the latter bordered above and below by stripes of coalesced dusky streaks.

A. Bill small, the culmen slightly concave in the middle
portion; a median light stripe on the crown.

1. P. savanna. Superciliary stripe yellow anteriorly;
streaks on the back blackish, sharply defined.

_Throat and upper part of abdomen unstreaked; vertex-stripe without yellow tinge._

Bill .34 from forehead and .25 in depth at the base; wing,
2.85; tail, 2.30. Colors deep; outer surface of wing (in
spring) decidedly reddish. _Hab._ Eastern Province of North
America … var. _savanna_.

Bill, .32 and .20, or less; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.10. Colors
very pale; outer surface of wing (in spring) pale ashy.
_Hab._ Western Province of North America, except coast of
California, where replaced by var. _anthinus_ …
var. _alaudinus_.

Bill, .37 and .27, or considerably more; wing, 3.10; tail,
2.40. Colors as in _savanna_. _Hab._ Northwest coast of
North America … var. _sandwichensis_.

_Throat and upper part of abdomen streaked; vertex-stripe strongly tinged with yellow._

Bill, .33 and .19; wing, 2.50; tail, 1.90. Colors darker
than var. savanna, the ground-color more uniform, and the
black streaks heavier and more numerous. _Hab._ Coast of
California … var. _anthinus_.

2. P. princeps. Superciliary stripe white anteriorly;
streaks on the back sandy-brown, badly defined. Wing, 3.25;
tail, 2.60; bill, .45 and .23; tarsus, .95; middle toe, .80.
_Hab._ Eastern Massachusetts (northern regions in summer?).

B. Bill robust, the culmen arched; no median light stripe on
the crown. Superciliary stripe white anteriorly; streaks on the
back sandy-brown, obsolete.

3. P. rostratus.

Bill, .43 and .30; wing, 2.90; tail, 2.25. Ground-color
above fulvous-gray, beneath white; the streaks, above and
below, sandy-brown. Colors much as in P. _princeps_. _Hab._
Coast of California, to the mouth of the Colorado River;
Cape St. Lucas in winter … var. _rostratus_.

Bill, .33 and .22; wing, 2.55; tail, 2.00. Ground-color
above plumbeous-gray; beneath white; streaks
blackish-brown. Hab. Cape St. Lucas (resident?) …
var. _guttatus_.

A careful examination of the very large series of _Passerculus_ allied to _savanna_ in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution, recently made, brings us to the same conclusion as that reached in 1858, namely, that, granting a single species extending over the whole of North America, there are several geographical races in different regions. Thus, taking the eastern bird as the standard, with its dark colors, reddish wings, and deep yellow superciliary stripe, and the comparative or entire absence of spots on the lower part of breast, we have in the middle province, and to some extent in the western, a race rather smaller, with more attenuated and longer bill, and paler colors; the wings grayish, the yellow of head being scarcely appreciable (var. _alaudinus_). On the coast of California, another series of the size and proportions of the last, but with dark yellow superciliary stripe,—the vertex-stripe even yellowish,—dark colors, and the lower part of breast, as well as the throat, decidedly streaked, as well as the jugulum (var. _anthinus_); and finally on the northwest coast, from Puget Sound to Kodiak, a fourth race, much larger than typical _P. savanna_, but absolutely undistinguishable in color, proportion of bill, etc. (var. _sandwichensis_). _P. anthinus_ is not found north of California, but the other two of the western race may occur together at any point of the coast north, perhaps, of the Columbia River.

Passerculus savanna, BONAP.

SAVANNA SPARROW.

_Fringilla savanna_, WILSON, Am. Orn. III, 1811, 55, pl. xxii, f.
2.—IB. IV, 1811, 72, pl. xxxiv, f. 4.—AUD. Orn. Biog. II, 1834,
63; V, 1839, 516, pl. cix. _Passerculus savanna_, BON. List,
1838.—IB. Conspectus, 1850, 480.—CAB. Mus. Hein. 1851, 131.—BAIRD,
BIRDS N. Am. 1858, 442.—COUES, P. A. N. S. 1861, 223.—SAMUELS,
301. _Emberiza savanna_, AUD. Syn. 1839, 103.—IB. Birds Am. III,
1841, 68, pl. clx. ? _Fringilla hyemalis_, GM. I, 1788,
922.—LICHT. Verzeichniss, 1823, No. 250. Gmelin’s description,
based on Pennant Arctic Zoöl. II, 376 (winter Finch), applies
equally well to a large number of species. _Linaria savanna_,
RICHARDSON, List, 1837.

SP. CHAR. Feathers of the upper parts generally with a central streak of blackish-brown; the streaks of the back with a slight rufous 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 margined 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. Length, 5.50; wing, 2.70; tail, 2.10.

_Young._ Ground-color of the upper parts (except wings and tail) light ochraceous, more brownish on top of head, upper part of back, and on upper tail-coverts; the streaks blacker and more conspicuous than in the adult. Beneath with an ochraceous tinge anteriorly, the streaks broader, and deeper black, than in the adult, though less sharply defined. The infra-maxillary streak expanded into a broad blackish elongated blotch.

HAB. Eastern North America to the Missouri plains, and northwest to Alaska. Cuba, winter (CAB. JOUR. IV, 6).

Specimens vary considerably in size, color, and shape of bill, but the average is as described. Spring birds have the markings sharper and clearer, the dark streaks with little or no suffusion of rufous.

HABITS. The Savanna Sparrow is an abundant species throughout North America, from the Atlantic sea-board to the Great Plains. It is, however, everywhere much less common in the interior than nearer the shore. The Smithsonian specimens are from points as far south as Georgia and Louisiana, and as far west as the Black Hills of Wyoming. It passes north through Massachusetts, from the first to the middle of April, and some remain to breed in the eastern part of the State. Mr. Maynard speaks of it as a common summer resident. This, however, is true only of a few restricted maritime localities, but is not so of the entire eastern portion of the State. It occurs both in the salt marshes of Charles River and in the vicinity of Fresh Pond, but I could never trace it in any of the neighboring towns. It is occasionally met with in inland situations where we would not naturally look for it. In the summer of 1869, Mr. William Brewster found quite a colony of these birds in an open field near the Glen House, at the foot of Mt. Washington. They had nests with eggs the last of July and the first of August.

In Western Massachusetts, according to Mr. Allen, it rarely or never stops to breed. In Western Maine, Mr. Verrill mentions it as a common summer visitant, and as breeding there in the latter part of May. In the vicinity of Eastport, and in all the islands of the Grand Menan group, I found these Sparrows very abundant. They almost invariably built their nests in depressions on the edge or just under the projecting tops of high bluffs of land near the sea. They were by far the most abundant of the land-birds, and it was quite common to find their nests in close proximity one to another. They arrive there in April, and leave in September, passing slowly south more in reference to the abundance of their food than the severity of the season, until the weather becomes very severe, when they all disappear. They winter in the Southern States, from Virginia to Georgia, and are especially abundant in the Carolinas. Dr. Coues states that they were very common about Columbia from October to April, moving in large flocks and associating with other species. Wilson states that he met with this species, from Savannah to New York, in all the low country, and regarded it as resident in those places, but rarely found at a distance from the sea-shore. He found them especially numerous at Great Egg Harbor, N. J.

Dr. Coues, in his visit to Labrador, in 1860, found this Sparrow abundant in that region in low moist meadows and marshy tracts near the sea-shore, but never noticed it in any other situations. He frequently observed it there feeding on the beds of dried eel-grass along the rocky shores, searching for food in company with the Titlarks and small Sandpipers.

During my visits to the islands of the Bay of Fundy, in one of which I remained a number of days, I had a good opportunity to notice these birds. In many respects their habits undergo noticeable changes during the breeding-season. As they pass north or south in their migrations, they are not particularly shy or difficult to approach, but when they had nests they seemed to become particularly cautious and mistrustful. The male and female sat by turns upon their eggs, but generally one remained within hailing distance, and always gave promptly a signal of danger when the nest was approached, at which the other would glide from the nest, running off on the ground like a mouse. I found it impossible to identify by shooting the parent on the nest, and only accomplished its identification by means of snares. When once lost in the tall grass, it was impossible to find it again, or if it reappeared it was impossible to tell which of the many chirping Sparrows, all of them out of reach of shot, and keeping a sharp lookout on my movements, had any connection with the nest. This manœuvre was gone through with in every nest I found, but I soon learned to distinguish them without the need of gun or snare.

This Sparrow is eminently terrestrial, confining itself almost entirely to the ground, and rarely alighting on anything even so high as a fence. Though frequenting low moist grounds, its nest is always in a dry spot and usually somewhat elevated. The nest is almost always sunk into the ground, is made very simply and loosely of dry grasses, with a lining of softer materials of the same. I have never found any other material than this in the many nests I have examined, although nests of var. _alaudinus_, in the vicinity of Fort Anderson, are frequently lined with feathers or deers’ hair, according to MacFarlane.

The eggs, five or six in number, vary considerably in their appearance. In shape they are a rounded oval, one end being much more pointed than the other. They measure .68 by .55 of an inch. In some the ground-color, which is of a greenish-white, is plainly visible, being only partially covered by blotches of brown, shaded with red and purple. These blotches are more numerous about the larger end, becoming confluent and forming a corona. In others, the ground-color is entirely concealed by confluent ferruginous fine dots, over which are darker markings of brown and purple and a still darker ring of the same about the larger end.

Passerculus savanna, var. alaudinus, BONAP.

WESTERN SAVANNA SPARROW.

_Passerculus alaudinus_, BP. Comptes Rendus, XXXVII, Dec. 1853, 918,
California.—IB. Notes Ornithologiques Delattre, 1854, 18 (reprint
of preceding).—_Baird_, Birds N. Am. 1858, 446, pl. xlvi.—COOPER &
SUCKLEY, 197, pl. xxviii, f. 2.—ELLIOT, Illust. Am. B. III.—DALL &
BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 284 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
181. _Passerculus savanna_ and _P. anthinus_, DALL & BANNISTER,
Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, pp. 283, 284.

SP. CHAR. Similar to _P. savanna_, but smaller; the bill slenderer and more elongated. Little of yellow in the superciliary stripe (most distinct anteriorly); the rest of the head without any tinge of the same. General color much paler and grayer than in _P. savanna_. Breast with only a few spots. Length, 5.25; wing, 2.75; tail, 2.30.

HAB. Middle and Western Provinces of North America; south to Orizaba, north to Alaska (Kodiak) and the Arctic coast. Oaxaca (SCL. Oct.); Vera Cruz (winter, SUMICHRAST).

This western race of _P. savanna_ is smaller, considerably paler in general colors, the superciliary stripe with little yellow in it, and the bill more slender, and longer. In coloration, some Atlantic coast specimens often exhibit an approximation, especially in the pale tint of the superciliary stripe; but the bill is always decidedly more attenuated in _alaudinus_.

The Western Savanna Sparrow is a common species throughout the Western Province of North America, from the plains to California, and from Alaska to Mexico. In California it appears to be replaced along the Pacific coast by the variety _anthinus_, a quite different and very local form. In Alaska, specimens were obtained by the naturalists of the Russian Telegraph Expedition at various localities, chiefly in the interior, and on the Yukon it was obtained by Mr. Lockhart. Dr. Cooper found it at Fort Steilacoom, in Washington Territory, where it was in company with _P. sandwichensis_, in the wet meadows. In California this species inhabits chiefly, according to Dr. Cooper, the dry plains of the interior of the State. The statement of the occurrence of this form anywhere along the coast of California should be received with considerable doubt, since in the large series of these birds all specimens from this region are of the variety _anthinus_, an exclusively littoral type.

HABITS. The Western Savanna Sparrow was found throughout the Great Basin, by Mr. Ridgway, in all wet, grassy situations, in which preference it is like its eastern relative. It was very abundant at Carson City, inhabiting exclusively the meadows. At Salt Lake City it was also very abundant, frequenting the wet meadows near the Jordan.

This bird was also obtained at Sitka by Bischoff, and was found on the Yukon by Mr. Lockhart. It is the only species found in the Valley of the Mackenzie, up to the Arctic coast.

Dr. Cooper also met with it among the low meadows of Washington Territory, where they arrived in March, and remained until late in October. They were usually found among the grass, from which they rarely rise, except to sing their faint and lisping trill from a weed or some low bush. Mr. Ridgway represents this song as corresponding with the syllables _witz-witz-wih´-tzull_. This, he states, is uttered in a weak and lisping manner, as the bird perches on a bush beside the brook, or on a fence, or as it nestles among the grass on the ground.

Dr. Cooper speaks of them as only winter visitants in California, and there residing only on the dry interior plains, as far south as San Diego, where they remain in large flocks until April. He has never met with this bird during the summer months, though some are supposed to remain and breed in the high prairies. He did not meet with any about the summits of the Sierra Nevada, in September. They appeared to prefer the dry rolling prairies to marshes, though they were occasionally found in the latter.

This species is also a migratory visitant to the Department of Vera Cruz, Mexico, where they are said by Sumichrast to pass the winter.

Their nests are built upon the ground, and are composed almost entirely of the dry stems of grasses, and are lined with finer materials of the same. Their eggs measure .75 of an inch in length by .52 in breadth, have a greenish-white ground, over which are distributed numerous markings, spots, and blotches of various sizes, of a light purplish-brown and a deeper red-brown, confluent about the larger end, where they form a crown.

Near Fort Anderson nests were found in great numbers, no less than two hundred and four having been obtained during four summers in that locality. These nests were all taken on the ground, under low grass, in dry spots in a large marshy prairie, and it is stated that they were never found in any other situation or locality.

Passerculus savanna, var. sandwichensis, BAIRD.

NORTHWESTERN SAVANNA SPARROW.

_Emberiza sandwichensis_, GM. I, 1788, 875. _Emberiza arctica_,
LATHAM, Ind. Orn. I, 1790, 414. _Fringilla arctica_, VIGORS, Zoöl.
of Blossom, 1839, 20 (perhaps one of the smaller
species).—“BRANDT, Icon. Ross. 2, 6.” _Euspiza arctica_, BP.
Conspectus, 1850, 469. _Zonotrichia arctica_, FINSCH, 1872.
_Emberiza chrysops_, PALLAS, Zoög. Rosso-As. II, 1811, 45, tab.
xlviii, fig. 1 (Unalaska). _Sandwich Bunting_, LATH. Syn. II,
1783, 202. _Unalaska Bunting_, PENNANT, Arctic Zoöl. II, 363, 320,
No. 229 (not of p. 364, No. 233). _Passerculus sandwichensis_,
BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 444.—DALL & BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I,
1869, 284.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 180. _Passerculus savanna_, DALL &
BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 283.

SP. CHAR. Almost exactly like _P. savanna_, but half an inch longer, with much larger bill. Length, 6.12 inches; wing, 3.00; tail, 2.55. Bill above, .50; below, .36; gape, .56; depth, .27.

HAB. Northwestern coast from the Columbia River to Russian America.

Specimens of this race from Sitka are absolutely undistinguishable from eastern _P. savanna_ except in size; the colors and proportion of bill being the same. A young bird (from Kodiak) differs from that of _savanna_ in larger size, and a bright reddish-fulvous tinge to upper parts, and a deep yellowish-fulvous tinge on jugulum and along the sides.

HABITS. This variety is the northwest-coast form of the common Savanna Sparrow, and is found during the summer from Oregon to Alaska. Dr. Suckley states that he found this species an abundant spring visitor at Fort Steilacoom. Dr. Cooper, in his Zoology of Washington Territory, states it to be only a passenger through that section, migrating northward, at the end of April, in pairs, and not returning until the end of September. They come back in flocks, and frequent the shores and prairies along the sea-coast. Their plumage seems to be the same at all seasons. Nothing is known of their note. They are supposed to spend their winters in Southern Oregon and California, though their actual presence has not been detected in either State. They do not remain during the summer near the Columbia, but pass to the north, or to the interior plains east of the Cascade Range. Dr. Cooper states that their habits closely resemble those of _P. anthinus_.

Mr. Dall states that two specimens of this species were taken at Sitka by Mr. Bischoff.

Passerculus savanna, var. anthinus, BONAP.

CALIFORNIA SHORE SPARROW.

_Passerculus anthinus_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XXVII, Dec. 1853, 919,
Russian America.[115]—IB. Notes Ornith. Delattre, 1854, 19.—BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 445.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 183.

SP. CHAR. Similar to _P. savanna_, but smaller. Beneath tinged with reddish. Breast and upper part of belly thickly spotted with sharply defined sagittate brown spots, exhibiting a tendency to aggregation on the middle of the belly. Superciliary stripe and one in the middle of the crown decided greenish-yellow, the head generally tinged with the same, as also the back and sides of the neck. Under tail-coverts somewhat streaked. Length, 5.00; wing, 2.66; tail, 2.24.

HAB. Coast of California, near San Francisco; “Russian America, Kodiak” (BONAPARTE).

This is the most strongly marked of the several races of _P. savanna_, differing from all the others in several important respects. The markings beneath are more generally dispersed, extending back upon the lower part of the breast, and forward over the throat; the lower tail-coverts have distinct medial blackish streaks, though they are somewhat concealed. The median stripe on the crown is decidedly greenish-yellow, not pale ashy; the whitish edges to the interscapular feathers, so conspicuous in the other races, are more concealed, presenting a more uniformly brown surface above, with broader black stripes. The broad lateral stripes of the crown are deep olive or hair-brown, with narrow, sharply defined, intense black streaks, instead of pale grayish as in _alaudinus_ (spring dress), or light brown as in _savanna_ (spring), with broader, less deep, black streaks.

HABITS. The Shore Sparrow of California is said to be, to a remarkable degree, the peculiar marsh species of the Pacific coast of that State. Dr. Cooper states that he very rarely met with these birds out of the salt marshes, where they lie so close and run so stealthily among the weeds that they are flushed with difficulty. They rise only to fly a few rods, and drop again into their covert. They are not at all gregarious, except when migrating, and are found singly or by pairs. They are abundant about San Francisco in the winter, though Dr. Cooper is not sure that any are found so far south in the summer. Near San Diego, in February, they had already begun to utter their short and pleasant song, as they perched on the top of some tall weed. Dr. Cooper observed them in that neighborhood into April, but did not succeed in finding any of their nests, nor was he ever able to meet with this species at San Pedro in summer.

Dr. Coues speaks of (Ibis, 1866, p. 268) finding three species of the difficult group of _Passerculi_, and all of them very abundant, in Southern California in November. These were _P. rostratus_, _P. alaudinus_, and _P. anthinus_. The _anthinus_ seemed confined to the moist salt grass and sedgy weeds of the sea-shore itself. It was flushed with great difficulty, and then its flight was very rapid and irregular. It would alight again almost immediately, and run with great celerity among the roots of the thick grasses, and was therefore exceedingly difficult to procure. _P. alaudinus_ was common two or three miles away from the coast, but Dr. Coues did not find one mixing with _P. anthinus_. It was a brush and weed, rather than a grass, species, associating with _Anthus ludovicianus_ and _Zonotrichia coronata_.

Passerculus princeps, MAYNARD.

IPSWICH SPARROW.

_Centronyx bairdi_, MAYNARD, Naturalist’s Guide, 1870, 117,
frontispiece (Ipswich, Mass.). _Passerculus princeps_, MAYNARD,
American Naturalist, 1872.

SP. CHAR. Bill small, exactly the same in form and size as that of _Centronyx bairdi_; but proportionally smaller; tertials scarcely exceeding the secondaries; tail emarginate, the feathers acute, the intermediæ attenuated terminally. Outstretched feet reaching about half-way to the end of the tail. In color almost exactly like _P. rostratus_, but different in markings. Above light ashy, the dorsal feathers light sandy-brown centrally, producing an obsoletely spotted appearance; shafts of dorsal feathers black. Outer surface of the wings pale sandy-brown, the feathers darker centrally; tertials with their outer webs whitish, and with a conspicuous black central area. Crown becoming darker brown anteriorly, where it is divided by a rather indistinct line of ochraceous-white; an indistinct superciliary stripe, and a very conspicuous maxillary stripe of the same; the latter bordered above, from the rictus to the end of the auriculars, by a narrow stripe of dusky; lores and sub-orbital region like the superciliary stripe; auriculars pale brownish like the crown, bordered along the upper and lower edge with a dusky narrow stripe. Beneath white, slightly tinged with ashy on the flanks; sides of the throat, whole breast, sides, and flanks, with narrow streaks of sandy-brown, more blackish toward the shaft; abdomen, crissum, and lining of the wing, immaculate; throat with a few minute specks, but along each side bordered by a “bridle” of suffused streaks.

♂. (Collector’s No. 1,744, Ipswich, Mass. Dec. 4, 1868; C. J. Maynard.) Wing, 3.25; tail, 2.60; culmen, .45; tarsus, .95; middle toe, .80; hind claw, .40.

♀. (Collector’s No. 6,245, Ipswich, Oct. 15, 1871; C. J. M.) Wing, 2.90; tail, 2.40; culmen, .50; tarsus, .85; middle toe, .65; hind claw, .30.

(Collector’s No. 6,224, Ipswich, Oct. 14, 1871; C. J. M.) Wing, 3.00; tail, 2.30; culmen, .50; tarsus, .85; middle toe, .60; hind claw, .30.

The specimens described above were at first supposed to be _Centronyx bairdi_, having several points of resemblance to that species, a comparison with the type in Professor Baird’s collection at first failing to establish a difference, as it was in faded and much worn summer plumage, while the Massachusetts specimens were in perfect, blended fall dress, so that a satisfactory comparison was almost impossible. A more recent examination, however, with the advantage of two additional specimens of the Massachusetts bird, has fully convinced Mr. Maynard that his specimens are not _Centronyx bairdi_, and that, indeed, they are referrible in all respects to the genus _Passerculus_.

In carefully examining the type of _Centronyx bairdi_, it is seen that its characteristic features are the following: Outstretched feet reaching beyond the end of the tail; hind claw as long as its digit, and much curved;—whereas in Mr. Maynard’s specimens the outstretched feet reach to only about the middle of the tail, while the hind claw is much shorter than its digit, and only slightly curved. With a wing .10 to .45 of an inch longer, they have the tarsus not any longer, and proportionally more slender. In coloration they are still more different. The most striking feature in _C. bairdi_ is a broad and very conspicuous median stripe of ochraceous-buff on the crown, bordered on each side by an aggregation of black streaks, which form the predominating color of the lateral stripes; of this median stripe there is scarcely any trace in the specimens under consideration, while the crown generally is grayish-brown, with small dusky streaks; _C. bairdi_ has broad, conspicuous, black stripes on the back, while _P. princeps_ has obsolete sandy-brown ones; in _C. bairdi_ there are only a few small streaks of black across the jugulum and along the sides and flanks, while in _P. princeps_ the whole breast, as well as the sides and flanks, are thickly streaked with broader marks of sandy-brown.

In point of coloration, as well as in the feet, there is in reality a much closer resemblance to _Passerculus rostratus_; but in this the very different bill and different arrangement of markings are sufficient distinctive characters.

Upon the whole, therefore, there can be little doubt that the present birds are well entitled to the name which Mr. Maynard has given them; for after making all possible allowance for seasonal differences in coloration, we have found it impossible to reconcile them with the _C. bairdi_.

In this species there is a slight superficial resemblance to _Poocætes gramineus_; but upon comparison it will be found to be entirely different: thus, _P. gramineus_ lacks the median light stripe on the crown, has the lesser wing-coverts rufous and the lateral tail-feathers white, while the streaks are all blackish and the ground-color different; the generic details, too, are quite different.

HABITS. This species has been obtained only in Eastern Massachusetts, where, in the neighborhood of Ipswich, it was found among the sand-hills by the sea-shore. The place where the individuals taken were met with is a rather remarkable tract, three miles in length and nearly one in breadth. It is as treeless as the Great Plains, and as bleak and barren, with no vegetation except a scant growth of coarse grass. Mr. Maynard obtained his first specimen early in December, 1868. Although others were seen, yet this was all he was then able to obtain. He has since taken others in the same place and season. Nothing is known as to its habits. It uttered, as it rose, a short chirp of alarm.

Passerculus rostratus, BAIRD.

SAN DIEGO SPARROW.

_Emberiza rostrata_, CASSIN, Pr. A. N. Sc. VI, 1852, 348. _Ammodramus
rostratus_, CASSIN, Ill. I, 1855, 226, pl. xxxviii. _Passerculus
rostratus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 446.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
1870, 184.

SP. CHAR. Bill very long (.55 of an inch above). Whole upper parts and sides of head and neck pale brownish-gray (almost fulvous), nearly every feather with a darker central blotch, darkest along the shaft. A scarcely appreciable central stripe in the crown, an obscure yellowish-white superciliary, and a whitish maxillary one. Under parts pure white; streaked on the breast and the sides of throat and body with dark brown (the streak paler externally). Under tail-coverts unspotted white. Tail and wing feathers and wings margined with the color of the back; the edges of tertiaries rather paler. Length, 5.30; wing, 2.90; tail, 2.30.

HAB. Coast of California, south to Cape St. Lucas; mouth of Colorado River (DR. PALMER).

The bill of this species is very long and conical, the cutting edge nearly straight. The wings are rather long, the tertiaries nearly as long in the closed wing as the primaries; the second, third, and fourth quills longest, the first rather longer than the fifth. The tail is short and emarginate, the feathers narrow, acute, and moderately stiff. The tarsi are long; the claws little curved.

This species resembles the _Passerculus savanna_ rather more than any of the other sparrows with spotted breasts; the bill is, however, very much longer and larger, exceeding any of our American species of its size, the upper outline more convex. Its colors are much paler, and it lacks the yellow on the head and wing. The much shorter tail and entire absence of rufous distinguish it from the spotted _Melospizas_. In shape the bill is like that of _Ammodromus caudacutus_, but it is larger; the head lacks the yellow, etc.

In some specimens the streaks on the back are almost obsolete.

HABITS. So far as is known, this bird seems to have a somewhat restricted habitat, being apparently confined to the sea-coast of Southern California. There it was first met with by Dr. Heermann, in the neighborhood of San Diego, and was described by Mr. Cassin as an _Ammodromus_, with which genus of birds it seemed to have many peculiarities in common. Dr. Heermann first met with this bird in 1851, on the shores of the bay of San Diego, in company with other species, apparently in search of grass-seed. Afterwards, in the Pacific Railroad Survey, with Lieutenant Williamson, he again met with these birds in considerable numbers at Santa Barbara and San Pedro. In all the places in which he met with it he found it frequenting low sandy beaches, and the heavy sedge-grass which abounds on the shores. On the former it seemed to be feeding on marine insects and seeds thrown up by the tide, and in the latter to find places for easy and immediate concealment when alarmed or pursued. Naturally it appeared to be a quiet and unsuspicious bird. He heard it utter no other note than a short sharp chirp.

Dr. Cooper thinks this species has a much greater affinity to the _Ammodrami_ than to the _Passerculi_, both in its bill and claws, as well as in its habits. He found them very abundant, both at San Pedro and San Diego, at all seasons, and he does not think that they migrate at all from those localities. He found them frequenting the shores of the bays and the sea-beaches. They also came confidently and familiarly about the buildings near the water, feeding on any seeds or insects they could find. On the beach they run along the sand, in the rows of drifted sea-weeds, seeking their food, and rarely take to flight unless surprised, and then only fly a short distance. Dr. Cooper has never known them to alight on any bush, nor does he think that they have any song. The only note he has ever heard them utter is a short chirp. At San Pedro he saw them, in July, feeding their young, but he has never found a nest that he was certain belonged to this species.

Dr. Coues found this bird abundant in Southern California, where it kept among the thick weeds of the dry plain, and was much on the ground, where it ran as easily as a _Pipilo_, often flying up into the bushes and resting there quietly. They were to be seen also in great numbers sunning themselves and catching flies on the piles of lumber on the wharf, so tame as to be almost liable to be struck by a cane.

It is a winter resident at Cape St. Lucas, where Mr. Xantus found them abundant. They were not seen there in summer, though it is probable they reside on the shores in its neighborhood. Their nest and eggs remain unknown.

Passerculus rostratus, var. guttatus, LAWR.

ST. LUCAS SPARROW.

_Passerculus guttatus_, LAWRENCE, Ann. N. Y. Lyc. VIII, 1867,
473.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 185.

SP. CHAR. Above plumbeous-gray; the feathers of the back with dusky centres and paler edges; the top of head also streaked with dusky and with an almost inappreciable median stripe of lighter. Upper tail-coverts slightly darker in the centre. No rufous edgings to the feathers. Head with a pale yellowish-white band from bill over the eye; and a mandibular one, nearly white, bordered above and below by the dusky line of other _Passerculus_. Under parts white, thickly streaked on jugulum, breast, and flanks with dusky, faintly on under tail-coverts. Bill and legs rather dusky; iris brown. Length, 5.00; wing, 2.50; tail, 1.95; tarsus, .80; middle toe and claw, .75; bill above, .51; gape, .56; greatest height, .25.

HAB. Cape St. Lucas (Dec., 1859).

This bird, of which a single specimen only is so far known, is very closely related to _P. rostratus_, though very easily distinguished from it. It is considerably smaller than _rostratus_, the bill more slender, the upper parts much darker, being plumbeous, not sandy-colored; the stripes beneath darker; the bill and legs more dusky. These differences may not indicate a distinct species, but as the specimen here described differs entirely from all the specimens of a large number of _P. rostratus_, it is yet entitled to consideration as a marked variety,—probably the resident race at Cape St. Lucas, where the var. _rostratus_ is merely a winter visitor.

HABITS. The St. Lucas Finch is a new species, in regard to the habits of which nothing whatever is as yet known. It was obtained at San José, in Lower California, by Mr. John Xantus, in December, 1859. It was found in company with a flock of _Passerculus rostratus_, and the presumption is that its habits may resemble those of that little-known species.

GENUS POOCÆTES, BAIRD.

_Poocætes_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 447. (Type, _Fringilla
graminea_, GM.)

GEN. CHAR. Bill rather large; upper outline slightly decurved towards the end, lower straight; commissure slightly concave. Tarsus about equal to the middle toe; outer toe a little longer than the inner, its claw reaching to the concealed base of the middle claw; hind toe reaching to the middle of the middle claw. Wings unusually long, reaching to the middle of the tail as far as the coverts, and pointed; the primaries considerably longer than the secondaries, which are not much surpassed by the tertiaries; second and third quills longest; first little shorter, about equal to the fourth, shorter than the tail; the outer feathers scarcely shorter; the feathers rather stiff; each one acuminate and sharply pointed; the feathers broad nearly to the end, when they are obliquely truncate. Streaked with brown above everywhere; beneath, on the breast and sides. The lateral tail-feather is white. Shoulder chestnut-brown.

1. Passerculus guttatus. Cape St. Lucas, 26615.
2. “ princeps. Ipswich, Mass. (Type.)
3. Centronyx bairdii. Ft. Union, Dakota, 1885.
4. Coturniculus passerinus. Ga., 22405.
5. “ henslowi. ♀ S. Ill., 61191.
6. “ lecontei. Texas, 50222.
7. Ammodromus caudacutus. N. J., 609.
8. “ maritimus. Pa.
9. Zonotrichia leucophrys. ♂ _juv._, 817.
10. “ leucophrys. ♂ _ad._, Pa., 1506.
11. “ gambeli. ♂ _ad._, Nev., 53505.
12. “ “ ♂ _juv._, Nev., 53500.]

The essential character of the genus consists in the long and pointed wings, longer than the tail and without long tertials; and the rather stiff, forked tail, with its acute feathers. But one species is recognized at present.

Poocætes gramineus, BAIRD.

GRASS SPARROW; BAY-WINGED BUNTING.

Var. gramineus.

_Fringilla graminea_, GM. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 922.—AUD. Orn. Biog.
I, 1831, 473; V, 502, pl. xc. _Emberiza graminea_, WILSON, Am.
Orn. IV, 1811, 51, pl. xxxi, f. 5.—AUD. Syn. 1839, 102.—IB. Birds
Am. III, 1841, 65, pl. clix.—MAX. Cab. Jour. vi, 1858, 342.
_Fringilla_ (_Zonotrichia_) _graminea_, SWAINSON, F. B. Am. II,
1831, 254. _Zonotrichia graminea_, BON. List, 1838.—IB.
Conspectus, 1850, 478. _Poocætes gramineus_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 447.—SAMUELS, 303.

[Line drawing: _Poocætes gramineus_.
11123 ♀]