299 NNCIIES, SPA ltltOWS, ETC. 
     
    
   
   
    
     It is an interesting species. discovered in 1868. and at first mistaken 
     
     for Baird's Sparrow ot' the far west, a species, by the way, that it re— 
     
     sembles very little. For many years nothing was known of its breed- 
     
     ing range. In 1884 some large eggs from Sable Island, Nova Scotia, 
     
     supposed to be of the Savanna Sparrow, were unearthed at the National 
     
     Museum, Washington, and later a sunnner specimen of the Ipswieh 
     
     Sparrow was obtained from this island. Ten years later I had the 
     
     pleasure of Visiting Sable Island and solving all the conjectures that 
     
     had become current regarding the Ipswich Sparrow’s summer home. 
     
     The bird proved to much resemble the Savanna Sparrow in breeding 
     
     habits, song, nest, and eggs. J. DWIGHT, JR. 
     
    
   
   
    
     5423. Ammodramus sandwichensis savanna ( Wile). SA— 
     
     VANNA Seamaow. A41.#A pale yellow mark over or before the eye and on 
     
     the bend of the wing; general tone of the upper parts brownish black, the 
     
     centers of the feathers black, margined first by rutous or oehraeeous-butf, then 
     
     by ashy; wings t'useous, the outer webs of the feathers margined with 0011er— 
     
     eeous«bufi'; tail t'useous, the outer web of the feathers margined with whit- 
     
     ish; under parts white, heavily streaked with bl ish and rut'ous, the breast 
     
     feathers tipped with wedge—shaped marks. L.,5rtls; \V.,2'ti:£; T., 2'01); B.,-4U. 
     
    

    
     Remarks—Fall specimens are more or less sutl'used with ochraeeous. 
     
    

    
     Range—Eastern North America; ln‘eeds from Missouri and northern 
     
     New Jersey north to Labrador and II udson llay ; and winters from southern 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
    
   
   
    
     Illinois and Virginia southward to Cuba and Mexieo. 
     
    

    
     \Vashington, abundant T. \'., Meh go to May 5; Oct. 14 to NOV.15; a 
     
     few winter. Sing Sing. etmnnon T. V ., Apl. 3 to May 13; Aug. 28 to Oct. 28. 
     
     Cambridge, abundant T. V., Apt: ()et. : breeds sparingly. 
     
    

    
     Abel. of grasses and sometimes moss, lined with finer grasses or hair, on 
     
     the ground. [Km/x, four to five, bluish white. thiekly marked, sometimes 
     
     heavily washed, with reddish brown or einnamonsTo’ x '56. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     This is essentially a bird of the fields and one of the most abun- 
     
     dant species of the Maritime Provinces of Canada—in fact, character- 
     
     istic of them. The roadsides abound with the birds bobbing up and 
     
     down on the fence posts and chipping vigorously at every passer- 
     
     by. Their boldness is tempered with a certain timidity that becomes 
     
     apparent when they are followed, for, dropping into the grass, they will 
     
     slip away with surprising rapidity. They have a startling way. some- 
     
     times, of springing up with a whirr of wings almost from under your 
     
     very feet as you cross the fields where they have been feeding. At 
     
     the southern limits of their breeding range they gather into irregularly 
     
     distributed, isolated colonies frequenting wet, boggy meadows, and ex- 
     
     hibit a shyness that is not shared by their northern brethren. In the 
     
     fall, young and old gather into bands and, joining with other species. 
     
     form an important part of the large flocks of migrating Sparrows that 
     
     fill the fields and hedgerows.