The Bird Book Part 74

[Ill.u.s.tration: Vesper Sparrow.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: right hand margin.]

Page 336

[Ill.u.s.tration 338: A. R. Spaid.

NEST AND EGGS OF VESPER SPARROW.]

Page 337

541. IPSWICH SPARROW. _Pa.s.serculus princeps._

Range.--Breeds on Sable Island, off Nova Scotia; winters on coast of South Atlantic States. This a large and pale colored form of the common Savannah Sparrow. Its nesting habits are similar to those of the latter and the eggs are marked the same but average larger. Size .80 .60.

542. ALEUTIAN SAVANNAH SPARROW. _Pa.s.serculus sandwichensis sandwichensis._

Range.--Breeds on the Alaskan coast; winters south to northern California.

A streaked Sparrow like the next but with the yellow superciliary line brighter and more extended. Its nesting habits are precisely like those of the next variety which is common and well known; the eggs are indistinguishable.

542a. SAVANNAH SPARROW. _Pa.s.serculus sandwichensis savanna._

Range.--North America east of the Plains, breeding from the Middle States north to Labrador and the Hudson Bay region.

Similar to the last but with the superciliary line paler and the yellow reduced to a spot on the lores. Their nests are hollows in the ground, lined with gra.s.ses and generally concealed by tufts of gra.s.s or weeds.

Their three to five eggs vary greatly in markings from finely and evenly dotted all over to very heavily blotched, the ground color being grayish white. Size .75 .55

542b. WESTERN SAVANNAH SPARROW. _Pa.s.serculus sandwichensis alaudinus._

Range.--Western North America from Alaska to Mexico.

A slightly paler form whose nesting habits and eggs do not differ from those of the last.

542c. BRYANT'S SPARROW. _Pa.s.serculus sandwichensis bryanti._

Range.--Salt marshes of California from San Francis...o...b..y south to Mexico.

Slightly darker and brighter than the eastern Savannah Sparrow and with a more slender bill. The eggs are not different from many specimens of savanna; they are light greenish white heavily blotched with various shades of brown and lavender. Size .75 .55.

543. Belding's Sparrow. _Pa.s.serculus beldingi._

Range.--Pacific coast marshes of southern California and southward.

This species is similar to the last but darker and more heavily streaked below. They breed abundantly in salt marshes, building their nests in the gra.s.s or patches of seaweed barely above the water, and making them of gra.s.s and weeds, lined with hair; the eggs are dull grayish white, boldly splashed, spotted and clouded with brown and lavender. Size .78 .55.

[Ill.u.s.tration 339: Grayish White.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Savannah Sparrow.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Grayish white.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Grayish white.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 542b--543.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: right hand margin.]

Page 338

544. LARGE-BILLED SPARROW. _Pa.s.serculus rostratus rostratus._

Range.--Coast of southern and Lower California.

Similar to the Savannah Sparrow but paler and grayer, without yellow lores and a larger and stouter bill. They are common in salt marshes, often in company with the last species and their nesting habits are similar to and the eggs not distinguished with certainty from those of the latter.

544a. SAN LUCAS SPARROW. _Pa.s.serculus rostratus guttatus._

Range.--Southern Lower California.

A slightly darker form of the preceding, having identical habits, and probably, eggs.

544c. SAN BENITO SPARROW. _Pa.s.serculus rostratus sanctorum._

Range.--Breeds on San Benito Islands; winters in southern Lower California.

The nesting habits and eggs of these very similar subspecies are identical.

545. BAIRD'S SPARROW. _Ammodramus bairdi_.

Range.--Plains, breeding from northern United States to the Saskatchewan; south in winter to the Mexican border.

These Sparrows breed abundantly on the plains of Dakota and northward, placing their nest in hollows on the ground in fields and along road sides. During June or July, they lay three to five dull whitish eggs, blotched, splashed and spotted with light shades of brown and gray. Size .80 .60.

546. GRa.s.sHOPPER SPARROW. _Ammodramus savannarum australis._

Range.--United States east of the Plains, breeding from the Gulf to Canada.

A stoutly built Sparrow marked on the upper parts peculiarly, like a quail; nape grayish and chestnut. These birds are common in dry fields and pastures, where their scarcely audible, gra.s.shopper-like song is heard during the heat of the day. Their nests are sunken in the ground and

arched over so that they are very difficult to find, especially as the bird will not flush until nearly trod upon. The four or five eggs, laid in June, are white, specked with reddish brown. Size .72 .55.

546a. WESTERN GRa.s.sHOPPER SPARROW. _Ammodramus savannarum bimaculatus_

Range.--West of the Plains from British Columbia to Mexico.