Across the Fields. 



237 



claim the land again for forest, you may find a sparrow a little longer and 

 more delicately built than the Chipping Sparrow. Its general color, how- 

 ever, is more tawny above, and his reddish brown bill is 

 Field Sparrow. ^ marked feature. The bird is about five inches and three 



Spizella pusilla (Wils,). 



quarters in length. It has a reddish brown crown, and the 

 back is of a similar shade, the feathers being striped with finer lines of black 

 and edged with grayish brown. The rump is ash color. There are two whi- 

 tish wing bars on each wing. The sides of the face, back of the neck, a line 

 above the eye, and the upper throat are ash gray. The region about the 

 ears is reddish brown. The lower parts are white washed with buff on the 

 breast, sides, and flanks. The tail and wings are dusky, with whitish gray 

 and faint reddish edgings to the feathers. The sexes are alike, and imma- 

 ture birds are duller in general color, often having a narrow median line of 

 ash gray on the crown. 



FIELD SPARROW. 



The nest is placed on the ground or in low bushes. It is built of com- 

 paratively coarse plant fibre, some rootlets, and lined with finer material and 

 horse hairs. The eggs are bluish white, with reddish brown specks and 

 markings, principally at the larger end. They vary in number from three to 

 five, and are nearly seven tenths of an inch long and rather more than half 

 an inch in their other diameter. 



