r unsightly masses of straw protrude
from between the slats, and their droppings besmirch the buildings
below; they breed at all seasons of the year, eggs having often been
found in January, with several feet of snow on the ground and the
mercury below zero. The eggs number from four to eight in a set and from
four to eight sets a season; the eggs are whitish, spotted and blotched
with shades of gray and black. Size .88 x .60.

[Illustration 337: Whitish.]
[Illustration: McCown's Longspur.]
[Illustration: White.]
[Illustration: Vesper Sparrow.]
[Illustration: right hand margin.]

Page 336

[Illustration 338: A. R. Spaid.
NEST AND EGGS OF VESPER SPARROW.]

Page 337

541. IPSWICH SPARROW. _Passerculus 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 x .60.

542. ALEUTIAN SAVANNAH SPARROW. _Passerculus 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. _Passerculus 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 grasses and generally concealed by tufts of grass 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 x .55

542b. WESTERN SAVANNAH SPARROW. _Passerculus 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. _Passerculus sandwichensis bryanti._

Range.--Salt marshes of California from San Francisco Bay south to
Mexico.

Slightly darker and brighter than the eastern Savannah Sparrow and with
a more slender bill. The eggs are not different from