_Passerculus anthinus_, BONAP. Comptes Rendus, XXVII, Dec. 1853, 919,
Russian America.[115]—IB. Notes Ornith. Delattre, 1854, 19.—BAIRD,
Birds N. Am. 1858, p. 445.—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 183.
SP. CHAR. Similar to _P. savanna_, but smaller. Beneath tinged with
reddish. Breast and upper part of belly thickly spotted with sharply
defined sagittate brown spots, exhibiting a tendency to aggregation on
the middle of the belly. Superciliary stripe and one in the middle of
the crown decided greenish-yellow, the head generally tinged with the
same, as also the back and sides of the neck. Under tail-coverts
somewhat streaked. Length, 5.00; wing, 2.66; tail, 2.24.
HAB. Coast of California, near San Francisco; “Russian America,
Kodiak” (BONAPARTE).
This is the most strongly marked of the several races of _P. savanna_,
differing from all the others in several important respects. The
markings beneath are more generally dispersed, extending back upon the
lower part of the breast, and forward over the throat; the lower
tail-coverts have distinct medial blackish streaks, though they are
somewhat concealed. The median stripe on the crown is decidedly
greenish-yellow, not pale ashy; the whitish edges to the interscapular
feathers, so conspicuous in the other races, are more concealed,
presenting a more uniformly brown surface above, with broader black
stripes. The broad lateral stripes of the crown are deep olive or
hair-brown, with narrow, sharply defined, intense black streaks,
instead of pale grayish as in _alaudinus_ (spring dress), or light
brown as in _savanna_ (spring), with broader, less deep, black
streaks.
HABITS. The Shore Sparrow of California is said to be, to a remarkable
degree, the peculiar marsh species of the Pacific coast of that State.
Dr. Cooper states that he very rarely met with these birds out of the
salt marshes, where they lie so close and run so stealthily among the
weeds that they are flushed with difficulty. They rise only to fly a
few rods, and drop again into their covert. They are not at all
gregarious, except when migrating, and are found singly or by pairs.
They are abundant about San Francisco in the winter, though Dr. Cooper
is not sure that any are found so far south in the summer. Near San
Diego, in February, they had already begun to utter their short and
pleasant song, as they perched on the top of some tall weed. Dr.
Cooper observed them in that neighborhood into April, but did not
succeed in finding any of their nests, nor was he ever able to meet
with this species at San Pedro in summer.
Dr. Coues speaks of (Ibis, 1866, p. 268) finding three species of the
difficult group of _Passerculi_, and all of them very abundant, in
Southern California in November. These were _P. rostratus_, _P.
alaudinus_, and _P. anthinus_. The _anthinus_ seemed confined to the
moist salt grass and sedgy weeds of the sea-shore itself. It was
flushed with great difficulty, and then its flight was very rapid and
irregular. It would alight again almost immediately, and run with
great celerity among the roots of the thick grasses, and was therefore
exceedingly difficult to procure. _P. alaudinus_ was common two or
three miles away from the coast, but Dr. Coues did not find one mixing
with _P. anthinus_. It was a brush and weed, rather than a grass,
species, associating with _Anthus ludovicianus_ and _Zonotrichia
coronata_.
Passerculus princeps, MAYNARD.