SAVANNAH SPARROW
Passerculus sandwichensis savanna (Wilson)
Description.—Smaller than English Sparrow. General appearance above, gray, considerably streaked, and with white underparts considerably streaked on breast and sides with black; line above eye pale yellow, not noticeable in field save at close range in ideal light; a blotch of blackish in middle of breast. Length: 5½ inches
Range in Pennsylvania.—A fairly common but not often recorded migrant, and a local and sometimes common summer resident, particularly in the central and northern counties, from early April to mid-October.
Nest.—A depression in the ground, in an open field, lined with grasses and other soft material. Eggs: 4 to 6, pale bluish or bluish green, irregularly and sometimes heavily spotted with brown.
Look for the Savannah Sparrow in spring and summer only in wide, open fields where the grass is short. Here a slight, buzzing, trilling song may be heard from a sparrow which is prominently streaked below, and which has much the appearance of a Song Sparrow, but does not bob its tail as it flies, nor seek cover in bushes. If the bird student will remember that this species is to be found only in wide fields, usually when there are no bushes, and that there are no prominently white outer tail-feathers, as in the Vesper Sparrow, he may find this little-known bird fairly common in his region. In fall it is found in weed-patches along roads or in bushy fields. (See illustration, [page 109].)
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW
Ammodramus savannarum australis Maynard
Other Names.—Yellow-winged Sparrow; Yellow-winged Bunting.
Description.—Smaller than English Sparrow. Tail-feathers rather short and pointed. Adult male: General color buffy brown, the upperparts streaked with black and margined with whitish, in characteristic pattern; bend of the wing yellow (this mark usually not evident in the field); forepart of superciliary line yellow, noticeable in good light in the field. Female: Similar, but duller. Length: 5½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A rather local summer resident throughout, from late April or early May to September 15. It is found only in more or less flat, wide meadows, not usually in marshy places, and never in woodlands.
Nest.—A depression in the ground beneath a clump of grass, lined with fine, dry grasses. Eggs: 4 or 5, white, spotted, chiefly around the larger end, with reddish brown.
Here is a bird which will more than likely pass unnoticed unless the fine, insect-like song is heard. Some bird students never realize that this species nests in their region, for they never hear this song, and they have not the patience to trail about after every little brown bird they see. The Grasshopper Sparrow’s song is dry, unmusical, and buzzing, and it seems a fitting accompaniment to hot midsummer fields which are covered with dust and upgrown with coarse weeds. The bird is almost never seen, save while it is singing from the top of a weed or from a fence-post. On the ground it disappears almost at once, for its colors are highly protective. The flight is fluttering and somewhat erratic. If the bird flushes from the grass, it usually does not alight near at hand, but zigzags to a far corner of the field and drops into the grass.
Grasshopper Sparrow
Henslow’s Sparrow
The smaller Henslow’s Sparrow (Nemospiza henslowii susurrans) has a greenish cast over the head and neck. This retiring, unmusical little bird occurs in Pennsylvania as a very rare and exceedingly local summer resident. Its ludicrously short song, chis-lick, is to be listened for in low meadows where the grass is thick and deep. Additional records of this species are very desirable.
The Nelson’s Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta nelsoni) occurs at Erie as a migrant, particularly in the fall.