Part 70

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.

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 ♀]