44 BIRDS OF FIELD, FOREST AND PARK 



blackish with a buff line through the center. 

 The line over the eye, lesser wing coverts and 

 shoulders are yellow. The whitish, unstreaked 

 breast and the gray outer tail feathers are marks 

 which easily distinguish it from the Savanna, 

 which is about the same in length, both being 

 slightly shorter than the Song Sparrow. Grass- 

 hopper Sparrows arrive in late April, range as 

 far north as central New England, and winter 

 from North Carolina to Cuba. The nest of grass 

 is on the ground. The four or five eggs are pure 

 white with spots and flecks of reddish brown. 



Sharp-tailed Sparrow. This is a common 

 summer visitor along the seashore from South 

 Carolina to New Hampshire. It inhabits tide- 

 water marshes overgrown with sedge-grass and 

 weeds, is rather shy and has a poor song. They 

 usually dwell in colonies. Dr. Dwight describes 

 its song as "tu-se-e-e-oop,^^ a wheezy and un- 

 pleasant strain. 



The upper parts are olive-gray in color, with 

 a brownish tinge on the crown, which has a blue- 

 gray line through the center. The cheeks are 

 buff and there is a line of the same color over 

 the eye. The breast and sides are buff streaked 

 with black. The bend of the wing is yellow. 

 The feathers of the tail are sharply pointed; 

 hence the name. It builds among the tussocks 

 a nest of coarse grass lined with fine grass. The 

 eggs are whitish, thickly spotted with brown. 

 These sparrows arrive in their summer range 

 in early May and stay till September. They are 

 slightly smaller than the Song Sparrow. 



Fox Sparrow. Not far behind the Robin, 



