WESTERN GRASSHOPPER SPARROW Ammodramus savannarum bimaculatus Swainson

Field characters.—Decidedly smaller than Junco; tail small, shorter than body. Upper surface mixed black, tan, and chestnut; under surface unstreaked, buffy white head with a light stripe over each eye and another over crown, the three bounding two broader blackish stripes (pl. 8k). Keeps on ground where dodges about through grass and is extremely averse to being routed out. Voice: Not heard by us; said to be "grass hopper-like."

Occurrence.—Found in summer at Smith Creek, 6 miles east of Coulterville, June 6, 1915, June 16, 1916, and July 16, 1920. Inhabits grasslands. Non-flocking.

The Western Grasshopper Sparrow as a species is so reclusive and so local in its occurrence that we ourselves did not chance to encounter it in our work in the Yosemite region. We record it here on the basis of the experience of a resident of the region, Mr. Donald D. McLean, of Smith Creek, 6 miles east of Coulterville. The first specimen of the Western Grasshopper Sparrow taken by him was obtained on June 6, 1915, in a grassy meadow bordering Smith Creek. In 1916 he found the species represented there by a number of individuals, and on June 16 he succeeded in shooting two males. These three individuals were added to the collection of birds of the Yosemite section at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology. The bird taken in 1915 was found upon dissection to be in breeding condition and there is every likelihood that the species nested in the region in both seasons—in the latter year, in some numbers. The particular meadow which was inhabited by the birds was covered chiefly with a species of saw-grass.

In this instance we find illustrated one of the fascinations in the study of bird life, namely, the ever-present possibility of a new discovery. No amount of attention to any given region, even by persons of relatively large experience will exhaust its entire resources; something is always waiting for a subsequent diligent observer to seek out.