110 BIRDS OF SOUTH DAKOTA 
Sparrows, Grosbeaks, and others. Many of them are fine sing- 
ers, and some are beautiful in color. 
The Sparrows are modest colored birds and not always 
easily distinguished from each other. They are unpretentious 
in song and not remarkably interesting to study. We have them 
with us all the time, but not always the same species: some are 
annual residents, some winter residents, others summer resi- 
dents, but most are migrants. They are all of great value in de- 
stroying weed seeds, although, like practically all birds, they 
feed their young on insects. The English Sparrow is known to 
every child, and for this reason may be taken as the type and 
measure of them all, some being larger and some smaller; al- 
though the English Sparrow is utterly different in habits from 
all others. 
The Grosbeaks are a notable group in this family, much 
larger than most Sparrows, some of them gorgeously colored, 
and many noted for sweet song. They have thick, powerful bills 
for crushing seeds and opening cones. 
The Longspurs are distinctively birds of the open prairie. 
They are named from the unusual development of the hind toe 
and claw. The unpracticed observer would not distinguish them 
from Sparrows, to which they are closely related. 
514. Eventnc GrosBeak (Hesperiphona vespertina vespertina.) 
A winter resident in our State and not abundant. Similar 
in size to the well known Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Crown and 
tail black; upper part of wings white, lower part black; back 
and under parts dark yellow. Female dingy yellow, lighter be- 
low. The bill is thicker than in other Grosbeaks. 
515. Pine GrosBEAk (Pinicola enucleator leucura.) 
This bird is rare in the State as a winter resident. Mr. 
A. T. Solem, a keen bird observer of Union County, says, “In 
earlier years I saw it frequently, but rarely of late.”” Mr. Charles 
FE. McChesney also saw it at Fort Sisseton in 1898. 
It is about eight and one half inches in length. Male gray, 
ringed with rosy red but gray predominating on center of back, 
wings and under parts. Female gray and not tinged with red. 
