PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM." 593

1800.

dusk,Jistrauge smallsparrowranaloug thegrouudbefore mc, uttering a long twittering songin aquiet,cheerfulway. Iexpecteda discovery, butfoundit

was

only

my

old friend thebaywing. Isubsequently heard this effusion a

number

oftimes; it islike asoftcontinuous whispering of extracts from his various other musical performances. It

was

a male; lengthC|, extent 11_; gizzard full ofgrain.

On

July 31, 1883, at

Humphrey's Lake

with

M.

G.,

we

noted a small bird that rose in theair siiiging a song like that of theEnglish Lark, but lesspowerful. Itsang

and

soaredtoa heightofabout40feet,then sank again to the grass. After an eager imrsuit it

was

secured

and

proved to be only aVesper Sparrow.

On August

4,1884,heardasparrow

making

acontinuous screeching noise. It proved abaywing. In its bill

was

a grasshopper,

and

its

gizzard

was

^full of insects. Three times this

week

have I heardthe

baywing

singingits air song from aloft. These are the only occasions noted this year,

and now

the species is not singing its ordinary song at all. Lastyear, as near asI renjember, it

was

the samely.

Like itseastern relative this bird has a habit of running

and

flying by turns on the path, or a fewfeet before one. I have watched the conceited littlecreature

when

it chanced to alight on thetrail,justin frontofatrain of over ahundred emigrant wagons, that, with a great herd of cattle and arabble of boys

and

dogs, under guidanceof noisy drivers

and mounted

outriders,presented a uiostformidable arrayhalf a mile in length,

and

the little

baywing

kept hoj)-hopping along in frontand watching backoverhis shoulder; orifthe leader approached him too closely, he

would

take a short flight

and

continueon the trail hopping,

and

seem all along to say "Catch

me

if

you

can,you folks

;

you are followinghard

and

I

am much

amused."

Then when

at last he

left the trail

and

thecrowd ])assed on, he

seemed

tocongratulatehim- self on having outwitted

them

so cunningly; orit

may

possibly have been that he thought he

was

the leader of thewholetrain, for I

have

alsoseen

him when

the train turnedofl:" atforks flit across thenarrow point of land

and

again resume his task of leadership,

much

after the fashion of

modern

newspapers and politiciansthat aresupposed to be theleaders ofpublic opinion.

Another

peculiarity of the speciesis itsfondness for

adust

bath. It will squirm

and

rustleitsijlumageand splash aboutin a dust heapfor half anhouratatime, evidentlyenjoyingithugely.

On

a small sandy^

spot

by

the house door I used daily to see from one to six baywings enjoying theirdry wash, but veryrarely any other species.

In

some

of its habits it presents a considerable difference to the eastern bird, beingin

my

opinion a

much more

accomplished songster, although superior opportunitiesforstudyingthis bird

may

have influ-

enced

my

preference for itsmusic.

During

the

mouths

of July

and August

he ceases his usual vesper song, and vents his feelings

m

a loud, wild, lark-like chant, which is

Proe.N. M. 90 38

594 THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA

THOMl'SON.

pouredforth as the bird rises Iiiiih ill the air.

An

^English frieud, on

firsthearing it cxchiinied that it was the voice of a real skylark, but

itprovedshorter

and

weaker.

The

bird beginstosing as he leaves the prairie,

and

sings

and

soars till he has reached a height of 50 or 60 feet,

when

heagain returnsto earth.

Thisairsong is notheard nearly asfrequentlyas thecotninon [)erch- ingsong isin its proper season, nor ha\e I heard both at the

same

time of year.

The

perchingsong alone isheard during

May

and June, and again afterthe fallmolt there is a renewal of the spring cliaut- ings

—

an aftermath of song

—

^{for the bird ceaseshis soaring lay}

^and

once

more

sings for tliesettingof thesun.

This hasan interesting bearingonthetheory that

mauy

speciesoften

become

perforce air singers on betaking themselvesto prairie life.

But

the songthat this species utters 4atein the

day

is its sweetest

if notits sui)reme eftbrt, at the time wlien the reddeningsun is uear- ing thehorizon when, asthe prairie farmers say, it casts no

shadow,

when, iu reality, the ground is all in shade of the low ridges to the west.

A

bird on theprairie is inthat shadow, but on springing

up

in theair the ruddy glowfalls on

him

as he^faces the setting sun

and

renew^s the song he sang for his rising.

So

springs and sings the Meadow-lark

and many

other ground birds,

and

having vented their feelings in this last goodnight, sink

down

into the night which is

already on theground. Then,as the skydarkens, the eastern colors

become

those of the west, aiul the east grows somber, the general acclamationdies away,but the

Bay

winged Bunting singsoncheerilyas ever,

and

is

commonly

leftto singalone in the gloaming loud asin the daytime, but seeming twice asloud.

The

peaceful notes are poured forthtill the whole prairie seemslulled

by

the sweetness of the strain.

This isthe vespersong

—

^{this is theVesper Bird.}

The little baywing {Poocwtes gramineas) is oue of the most familiar ofprairie birds,andnightly siugs a subdued kiud of vo8i)ersong as the sun goesdown. Its mostnotable)ieculiarity, however, isitshabit of Hittingalonga trailorpathwayin front ofan advancingwagon or person, alighting everyfew yards As it is but comparativelyrecent tliat there have been anyhuman ^trails over tlie prairies,it

seemsprobaljlethattiiis])roceedingisarelicof a habit acquiredby fcliebird of flit-

ting beforethebuffaloesalongthejiathsmadeby those animals. (Christy.) 187. Aminodramus sandwicheiisis alaudiiius. Western Savanna Sparrow.

Abundant summer

residenton theprairies. Breedsin profusionfrom

Pembina

westward, alongthe boundary to the Kockies ^(Cones).

One

from

Red

Eiver Settlement in Smithsonian Institution (Blakiston).

^\^innipeg:

Summer

resident; abundant (Hine). Portage la Prairie:

Common summer

resident (Nash), iied

Deer

River

and Manitoba House

(Maconn). Carberry^:

Abundant summer

resident; breedingin all prairies near Ifapid City, near Bartle, Silver Creek,

Eat

Portage, October (Thompson).

On June

18, 1882, within a few feetof astraw stackin the barnyard,

OL. xin,

1890. ]

PKOCEHDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 595

where horses aiul cattle are contiimally ruiiiiiiio- a\)out, I found the nestofa

Savanna

Sparrow,proteeteclonly byatuft ofprairie grass. It containedfiveeggs,

and

was

composed

of grass with a

meager

lining ofhorsehair, thewhole beingslightly sunk in theground.

June

29,

Kapid

Lity: All this s[)ring I have been puzzled

by

a pecu- liar simplelittle songthat

was

uttered

by

a small iusignificantlooking sparrow, which usuallyperched on the top of a low bush in a dry grassylocality. This afternoon I succeeded in shootiug one of these birdsinthe very act,

and was somewhat

surprised to find thatit

was

a

Savanna

Sparrow, abird that I

was

otherwise veryfamiliar with.

The

song is readilysuggested in

my

miiul

by

the phrase ^'-'tship etship-e- tshipe-screc-tship.''^

Soon afterarrivingit

may

be seenou neaily every littlewillow bush on theBig Plain, repeatingits shortditty, with the simple earnestness thatcharacterizes the Scrub Sparrows. Itsvoice is

much

sweeter than that of the Shattuck Bunting {Spizellapallida), butit

must

needsfinish with theinevitable "buzz."

The

songis shaped

somewhat

like ^^tshij)- e-tskip-e-tship-e-screefshij).''^ This is uttered for hours together with untiringdiligence,

and

yet withal a lack of

improvement

that would seem to explode theold adage, "Practice

makes

perfect."

This bird is remarkably shy, even in places where

man

is scarcely ever seen

.

188. Ammodraniusbairdii. Bair<l'sSparrow.

Abundant summer

resident throughout the Assiniboine Valley, wherever there are alkaline llats.

One

of the conimonestbirds,

and

doubtless breeding along the boundary on the prairies westward of

Pembina

Mouutain to

Mouse

River (Coues). Carberry, very rare;

Fingerboard, rare; Shoal Lake, west,

abundant;

also at Birtle

and

Shell Eiver(Thompson).

A

supposed specimenobtainedat

Moose

Mountain, July3, iSSO (Macoun).

On June

4,1884, near Shoal Lake, west, shot a

number

of Baird's Buuiings.

They

donot ausw^er to Ooues's description (1 Key).

The

crown is suffused with dull orange. Its song is verylike that of a

Savanna

Sparrow. In

many

parts oftheprairieswestof Birtlethere are low fiat alkaline stretches sparsely covered with long wiry grass.

Wherever

theland is ofthis character Baird's Buntingis sure to be a prominent if not the prevailing species. It is

now

in full song, and

Its peculiar notes areto be heard on all sides.

The

song

may

beren- dered trick-e-trick-e-trilc-ceeeechiky-le-roit, with a peculiar utterance that at once distinguishes it from the song of

Savanna

sparrows.

Another type of song with this species is like tiickctrick-c-trikee

^•.v-'j*-y*-'j*- 'y*-'!'-'K-'K- y*

June

22, Shell River country:

Here

thedryalkali bottoms are

more

frequent, and thebuntingis

numerous

in proportion.

June

24, Shoal Lake: Baird'sSparrowis

common

abouthere,

though