2:); l“lN(‘lll-IS, SPARROWS, ETC.

greatly to his surprise, he found it a common resident of the fields about his house, where, owing,r to his unfamiliarity with its notes and habits, its presence had been before unsuspected.

In the north you will geue'ally find it in old, dry daisy or sorrel fields; in the south it inhabits the broom sedge. It will not take wing until almost stepped upon; then. if bushes are near, it takes refuge in or under them, but out in the open field it flies rapidly some distance and drops to the ground.

Its usual perch, when singing. is a fence 'ail; and it does not often seek a more ele ‘ated position. Its fine, insectlike notes give it the name of Grasshopper Sparrow. They may be written pit-tack, zee-c-c—e-e-e—e-e-e. Under favo'able circumstances they can be heard by an attentive listener at a distance of two hundred and fifty feet, but the casual observer would pass within ten feet of a singing bird and be none the wiser.

547. Ammodramus henslowiiptml.) Ihzxsmw’s SPARROW. Ad. —'l'op and sides of the head and the nape dull, pale olive-grain, more buti'y in the fall; side of the crown black; nape finely sticaked with black; back rut'ons—brtm’n, the f-athers with narrow, central, wedge-shaped black streaks, and narrow ashy margins; bend ot'the wing pale yellow; wing—eovcrts much like the hack; tail-feathers very narrow and sharply pointed; middle feath— ers rut'ous-brown: the outer ones much the shortest; under parts white7 more or less washed with butty and streaked will; black on the breast and sides. )buug [Itflrat [Ilia/Luge have no spots on the breast. L., 5'00; \V., 2'20; T., 2'00; 1%., ‘42.

It’ez/mrluua'l‘lie peculiar olivaceous color of the head and nape. and the bright rutbusiln'own color of the back, wing-coverts, and middle tail-feathers are the best distinguishing marks of this species.

[fungus—Eastern North Amerie: ; breeds locally from Missouri and Vir- ginia northward to New Hampshire and southern Ontario; winters from about the southern limit of its breeding?r range to the, Gulf.

Washington, common S. K, ;\pl. 12 to Hot. Sing Sing, rare T. V., Oct, 5 to Oct. 1‘). (,‘ainbridge, very rare S. It.

Ala-f, ofqrass‘cs, sometimes lined with hairs. on the ground. Eli/{m four to five. grayish whitc, thickly and evenly speckled with pale rut'ousdirown, '77) x ‘ui.

During the summer this species seems to prefer wet meadows. but in the winter it inhabits the dry “ old fields ” grown with broom sedge. which are so common in the south. It has the secretive habits of the Grasshopper and Levonte's Sparrows, and takes wing only when forced to.

Mr. I’. L. .Iouy writes of its song: "Besides the eha‘acteristic notes of lee-icicle, they have quite a song,r which may be fairly represented by the syllables .sL's—r-r—rit-sril—srz’l, with the accent on the first and last