What Bird is That? Part 19

A sparrow-like bird, with reddish brown wings, a black or blackish breast, white, streaked underparts and a brownish back. L. 6.

_Range._ Nests in Arctic regions, wintering southward, rarely and irregularly in the Atlantic States, to New York (casually South Carolina) and more commonly in the Mississippi Valley to Ohio and Texas.

Was.h.i.+ngton, W.V. one instance, Dec. Ossining.

W.V., casual, Cambridge, one record. N. Ohio, tolerably common W.V., Nov. 15-Apl. 25. Glen Ellyn, common W.V., Oct. 16-May 16. SE. Minn., common W.V.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LAPLAND LONGSPUR.

Adult male in summer. In winter the throat and breast are mixed black and white.]

A rare visitor from the far North who, if we see it at all will probably be found in the company of Horned Larks or Snow Buntings. It is a browner bird than either of them, so while this is not a case of 'birds of a feather' it _is_ a case of birds of a long hind toe-nail, since all three are distinguished by having a toe-nail actually longer than its toe. All three are walkers, which means also that they are ground-birds rather than tree-birds, and the tracks they leave in the snow, or on the beach, distinguish them from other birds if not from each other.

VESPER SPARROW

_Pocetes gramineus gramineus. Case 4, Fig. 36; Case 5, Fig. 16_

Paler than any of our other field inhabiting Sparrows, except the Savannah, which is smaller; and differing from them all by having a reddish brown shoulder-patch and white outer tail-feathers. L. 6.

_Range._ Nests from North Carolina and Kentucky to Canada; winters from its southern nesting limits to the Gulf States.

Was.h.i.+ngton, P.R., very common T.V., less so in summer and winter. Ossining, tolerably common S.R., Apl. 2-Nov. 4. Cambridge, common S.R., Apl.

5-Oct. 25. N. Ohio, abundant S.R., Mch. 20-Nov. 7.

Glen Ellyn, fairly common S.R., Mch. 21-Oct. 25.

SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 1-Oct. 29.

A Sparrow of broad fields and plains whose song voices the spirit of open places. Neither words nor musical notation can describe it recognizably. It has somewhat the form of the Song Sparrow's song, just as the two birds resemble each other in form but are unlike in detail.

One must, therefore, first learn to know the bird--an easy matter, since it is common and can be readily identified by its white outer tail-feathers--and thereafter you will be the richer for a knowledge of this rarely appealing bit of bird music.

The nest, as one might suppose, is built on the ground, and the 4-5 whitish spotted eggs are laid early in May.

IPSWICH SPARROW

_Pa.s.serculus princeps_

With a general resemblance to the Savannah Sparrow (Case 5. Fig. 23) but larger, L. 6, and decidedly paler.

_Range._ Nests on Sable Island off Nova Scotia; winters south, along the coast, regularly to New Jersey; rarely to Georgia.

Cambridge, casual, two instances, Oct.

Few migratory birds have a more restricted breeding range than the Ipswich Sparrow. Confined to a sandbar island during the summer where it is never out of sight or sound of the sea, it seeks similar haunts during the winter when it is rarely found far from the immediate vicinity of the ocean. In general habits and nesting, it resembles the Savannah Sparrow, of which indeed, it is doubtless an island representative.

SAVANNAH SPARROW

_Pa.s.serculus sandwichensis savanna. Case 4, Fig. 47; Case 5, Fig. 23_

In general color slightly paler than the Vesper Sparrow; smaller than that species; no white tail-feathers; a touch of yellow before the eye and on the bend of the wing. L. 5.

_Range._ Nests from Long Island and northern Iowa to Canada; winters from southern New Jersey and southern Indiana southward to Mexico.

Was.h.i.+ngton, abundant T.V., Mch. 20-May 11; Sept.

21-Oct. 23; a few winter. Ossining, common T.V., Apl. 3-May 13; Aug. 28-Oct. 28. Cambridge, abundant T.V., Apl., Oct.; breeds sparingly. N.

Ohio, not common T.V., Mch. 20-May 12. Glen Ellyn, fairly plentiful S.R., Apl. 8-Oct. 20. SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 17-Oct. 23.

An abundant Sparrow known only to bird students. It prefers fields to door-yards; lives much on the ground, and its darting flight, followed by a sudden dive to cover, and insignificant song all combine to make it rather difficult of identification. It nests in May, laying 4-5 white, speckled eggs in a nest on the ground.

GRa.s.sHOPPER SPARROW

_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.

_Range._ Eastern United States, nesting as far north as southern Minnesota, and southern New Hamps.h.i.+re; winters from southern Illinois and North Carolina to the tropics. The Florida Gra.s.shopper Sparrow (_A. s. florida.n.u.s_) a smaller, darker race, is resident in the Kissimmee prairies of south central Florida.

Was.h.i.+ngton, 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.

Gra.s.shopper, he is called, because his unmusical little song, _pit-tuck, 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.

HENSLOW'S SPARROW

_Pa.s.serherbulus henslowi henslowi. Case 7, Fig. 17_

With the general proportions of the Gra.s.shopper Sparrow, but the underparts distinctly streaked and the nape olive. L. 5.

_Range._ Nests from southern Missouri and Virginia to central Minnesota and New Hamps.h.i.+re; winters in the Southern States.

Was.h.i.+ngton, common S.R., Apl. 10-Oct. 21.

Ossining, rare T.V., Oct. 5-Oct. 10. Cambridge, very rare S.R. N. Ohio, S.R., Glen Ellyn, not common S.R., May 8-Sept. 26. SE. Minn., common S.R.

Henslow's Sparrow lives in isolated and sometimes widely separated communities, frequenting wet meadows in summer, but visiting, also, dry fields in winter. It has the general habits of the Gra.s.shopper Sparrow and its notes are equally unmusical. The 4-5 grayish white, thickly speckled eggs are laid in a ground nest the latter half of May.

LECONTE'S SPARROW

_Pa.s.serherbulus lecontei. Case 7, Fig. 18_

The underparts are but slightly streaked, the crown is striped, and the nape reddish brown. L.

5.

_Range._ Nesting in the interior of North America from our border States, northward and east to Minnesota; migrates southward and south-eastward, and winters locally from South Carolina to Florida and Texas.