BIRDS OF FIELD AND GARDEN. SOU 



grass lands and cultivated fields. Many years ago, in West- 

 borough, I found two nests of this species while hoeing in 

 potato fields, and the birds were then conunon in a stretch 

 of fertik^ rolling fields and meadows east of Worcester. 



It is never found habitually in meadows, however, like that 

 closel}^ related species, Henslow's Sparrow ; for, while the 

 latter, so far as I have observed, always l)reeds in wet land, 

 the Grassho})per Sparrow breeds on the slopes near by. I 

 have never seen Henslow's Sparrow on the drier land ex- 

 cept near Amherst ; and the Grasshopper Sparrow is rarely 

 seen in wet spots, even wdiere the two species occupy the 

 same fields. While these two Sparrows are locally common, 

 neither of them is generally so. They reseml)le each other 

 so closely that it is rather difficult to distinguish them in the 

 field except by their notes and their habitat. The streaks 

 on the breast of the Henslow's Sparro^v will identify it when 

 they can be seen. The notes, however, are quite difi'erent. 

 The common note of the Henslow's Sparrow somewhat re- 

 sembles the syllable l^ee' chick- . When its nest is approached, 

 the bird Avill allow the observer to get within a few feet, as 

 it moves throuo-h the g'rass like a mouse, reiterating this note. 

 The ordinary notes of the Grasshopper Si)arrow are a c/u'rr, 

 like the note of an insect, and a sharp chick. The song, 

 which is often uttered from the top of a wall, a fence, or a 

 stone in the field, much resembles the stridulation of a long- 

 horned grasshopper, and gives the bird its name. The lay is 

 very weak, and often passes unnoticed, or is mistaken for the 

 song of some insect. Minot gives it as chic'-cJiic'-ct-see, with 

 the chief accent on the last and highest syllable, — a very 

 good descri})tion. 



The food of this bird while in Massachusetts is })robably 

 about seventy-five per cent, animal matter, largely insects. 

 This Sparrow is very destructive to cutworms, army worms, 

 wireworms, click beetles, weevils, and grassho})pers ; spiders, 

 myriapods, snails, and earthworms are eaten in small quanti- 

 ties. It eats no cultivated fruit, very little grain, and some 

 seeds of grasses and weeds. It takes fully forty times as 

 many injurious as beneficial insects, and is one of the most 

 useful birds of the fields. 



