_Ammodramus savannarum australis. Case 7, Fig. 16_
A small, short-tailed Sparrow, without streaks on
the underparts and a back pattern which suggests
'feather scales.' L. 5-1/2.
_Range._ Eastern United States, nesting as far
north as southern Minnesota, and southern New
Hampshire; winters from southern Illinois and
North Carolina to the tropics. The Florida
Grasshopper Sparrow (_A. s. floridanus_) a
smaller, darker race, is resident in the Kissimmee
prairies of south central Florida.
Washington, very common S.R., Apl. 17-Nov. 20.
Ossining common S.R., Apl. 27-Oct. 23. Cambridge,
rare S.R., May 16-Sept. 1. N. Ohio, common S.R.,
Apl. 20-Sept. 20. Glen Ellyn, not common S.R., May
4-Sept. 13. SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 25-Sept.
6.
Grasshopper, he is called, because his unmusical little song, _pit-túck,
zee-e-e-e-e_, sung from a low perch, resembles the sound produced by
that insect. He is a common inhabitant of old fields, where sorrel and
daisies grow, and when flushed at one's feet darts away to drop suddenly
to the ground beyond. The 4-5, white, spotted eggs are laid in a ground
nest in late May or early June.