FAM. XIII. FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



125 



belly whitish and bend of wing yellow. The upper parts are 

 streaked with black, broAvn, ashy, and buff, and the blackish 

 crown has a buffy line through the center. There is an orange 

 dot in front of the eye. The tail feathers are very acute, and 

 their edges are decidedly lighter than the brown centers. This 

 bird is one of the quietest and most easily overlooked of our 

 common birds of the open fields. It takes its name from its 

 voice, which is much like that of some grasshoppers. It rarely 

 takes a higher position than that of the fences, and from such a 

 perch it usually does its singing. (Yellow-winged Sparrow.) 



Length, 5; wing, 2| (2J-2i) ; tail, IJ; tarsus, | ; cuhnen, j\. United 

 States from Plains eastward ; breeding from the Gulf States to Canada, 

 and wintering from Florida to Central America. The Western Grass- 

 hopper Sparrow (540". A. s. perpdUidus) has larger wings and tail, a 

 more slender bill, and is paler in color. Wing, 2h ; tail, 2. It is found 

 from the Plains westward. 



22. Henslow's Sparrow (547. Ammddramus hensldwii). — A 

 ground-living, sharp-tailed, brownish sparro-w, with the back, 

 breast, and sides very 

 much streaked with black, 

 brown, and buffy. The 

 bright brown on the back, 

 wings, and tail and the 

 olive tints of the head 

 are the plainest charac- 

 teristics of this rare, secre- 

 tive, weed-inhabiting bird 

 of the meadows or dry 

 fields. 



Length, 5; wing, 2^ (2-2^) ; tail, 2 ; tarsus, f ; culmen, f or a little 

 more. United States from the Plains eastward; breeding from the Gulf 

 States northward to southern Xew England and Ontario, and wintering 

 in the Gulf States. 



23. Leconte's Sparrow (548. Ammddramus lecdnteii). — A 

 sharp-tailed, streaky-backed, buffy-colored sparrow, with a 

 cream-colored streak along the center of the blackish crown ; 

 the breast is practically without streaks, but there are some 



Henslow's Sparrow 



