Savanna Sparrow: Ammodramus sandwichensis savanna.
- Length:
- 5.50-6 inches.
- Male and Female:
- Above, back, wings, throat, and sides striped in various shades of brown and bronze. Yellowish stripe on crown and over eye, and yellowish wash around neck. Cheeks golden bronze. Below whitish. Bill dark above, light below; feet light flesh-coloured.
- Song:
- Described by Samuels as sweet and soft. "Chewee-chewitt-chewitt-chewitt-chewé-et-chewee !"
- Season:
- A common resident, on the salt-marshes all the year, whose migrating flocks arrive in April and leave in October.
- Breeds:
- From New England to Labrador and the Hudson's Bay Territory.
- Nest:
- A slight affair, sunken in the ground like the last species.
- fEggs:
- Also motley, like the last.
- Range:
- Eastern North America.
The Savanna Sparrow is a common resident, being found in the thickets bordering the salt-marshes as well as in the marshes themselves, where numbers remain even in severe weather, and, while it is abundant along the coast, it is proportionately rare in the interior. It is essentially a ground Sparrow (which is one of its local names); for, in addition to building on the ground, it limits its flight to low bushes. Its plumage is so streaked and mixed that it blends with the earth, — a great protection to the bird, but a condition which makes identification difficult. Keep in mind that its under parts are whiter than in other Sparrows.
I associate this Sparrow with early June walks through the marshes and upland meadows, when the wild flowers are calling "Come pick us"; when the beach plum's white plumes are fading with the iris, and the star-grass and yel low thistles are in bloom, and the tall blackberry bushes trace the tumble-down fences with their wands. Then you may see the Savanna Sparrow hurrying through the sand-grass, seeking the cover of bayberries, only to slip through and disappear. He will not indicate by the slightest hint which little circle of grass margins his home, barely separating the young from the earth itself. He will lead you
147
