THE FIELD SPARROW. 319 
ovate or ovoidal in form, and average about .73 by 56 inch 
in dimensions. 
SPIZELLA PUSILLA.— Bonaparte. 
The Field Sparrow. 
Fringilla pusilla, Wilson. Am. Orn., II. (1810) 121; Aud. Orn. Biog., II. (1834) 
299. 
Spizella pusilla, Bonaparte. List (1838). 
Fringilla juncorum, Nuttall. Man., I. (1832) 499. 6. (2d ed., 1840), 577. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Bill red; crown continuous rufous-red ; back somewhat similar, streaked with 
blackish; sides of head and neck (including a superciliary stripe) ashy; ear coverts 
rufous; beneath white, tinged with yellowish anteriorly ; tail feathers and quills 
faintly edged with white; two white bands across the wing coverts. 
This species is about the size of S. socialis, but is more rufous above; lacks the 
black forehead and eye-stripe; has chestnut ears instead of ash; has the bill red 
instead of black; lacks the clear ash of the rump; has a longer tail, &c. It is 
more like Monticola, but is much smaller; lacks the spot on the breast and the 
predominance of white on the wings, &c. The young have the breast and sides 
streaked. ’ 
Length, about five and seventy-five one hundredths inches; wing, two and thirty- 
four one hundredths inches. 
Hab. — Eastern North America to the Missouri River. 
This bird makes its appearance about the first week in 
April, ‘in Massachusetts, and soon scatters throughout New 
England. It prefers dry bushy pastures and low open 
woods, and is seldom found in the near vicinage of human 
habitations. 
The male sings during the season of incubation, and, 
indeed, through nearly all the summer: mounted on a low 
tree or fence-rail, he utters his pleasing yet plaintive ditty 
at early morning and evening, and, in dark and cloudy 
weather, through the whole day. The song is a peculiar 
warble, something like the syllables, ’te ’de de ’de ’de’de’de 
"ddd dr, uttered at first low, and rapidly increasing, and 
then decreasing in tone to a faint chatter, something like the 
twitter of the Chipping Sparrow. 
About the middle of May, the first nest is built. It is con 
structed of stalks of dried grass and fine twigs, is loosely 
put together, and placed usually on the ground beneath a 
