188 BmDS OF Pennsylvania. 



Genus POOCiETES. Baird. 

 540. Poocaetes gramineus (Gmel.). 



Vesper Sparrow; Grass Finch; Bay-^vinged Bunting. 



{Plate S2, Fi(j. I.) 



Length, about G inches ; extent, about 10 inclies. 



JIab. — Eastern North America to the Phiins, from Nova Scotia and Ontario south- 

 ward ; breeds from Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri northward. 



The Bay-winged Bunting is a common summer resident in Penn- 

 sylvania, and during the winter months is quite frequently to be met 

 with in the southern portions of the State. This plainly attired 

 songster may readily be recognized from other of the Fringillidce by 

 the bright chestnut colored lesser-wing coverts and the white lateral 

 tail feathers, — the latter being most conspicuous when the bird is Hy- 

 ing. These birds inhabit chiefly dry pasture fields and meadows ; 

 they visit plowed grounds, and are frequently to be observed perched 

 on fence-rails in fields or along the roadsides, and as Nuttall remarks, 

 they are fond of dusting themselves and basking in dry places. Al- 

 though the Vesper Sparrow is mainly terrestrial in habits, he may 

 often be seen searching most industriously in apple trees for various 

 forms of insect-life. These birds, when not engaged in breeding, are 

 more or less gregarious and are often seen in company with other 

 sparrows. The nest, composed of dried grasses, is built in a depres- 

 sion in the ground. The top of the nest is generally on a level with 

 the hollow in which it rests; sometimes it is partly concealed by 

 overhanging grasses; eggs, four to five, grayish-white or rusty brown, 

 spotted, lined and blotched with brown and black ; about .83 of an 

 inch long and .60 of an inch wide. 



Bay-winged Buntings subsist principally on seeds of grasses, weeds 

 and other plants. During the summer they feed to a considerable ex- 

 tent on beetles, flies, spiders, earthworms, and various larvae ; they 

 likewise eat strawberries, mulberries, blackberries, and according to 

 Mr. Gentry, the fruit of the wild choke-cherry. The buds of apple, 

 beech and maple trees are also occasionally fed upon. 



Genus AMMODRAMUS. Swainson. 

 542«. Ammodramus sandwichensis savanna (Wils.). 



Savanna Sparro^v. 



Description. 



Feathers of tlie upper parts generally with a central streak of blackish-brown ; the 

 streaks of the back with a slight rufoussuflusion laterallj'^ ; the feathers edged with 

 gray, which is lightest on the scapulars; crown with a broad median stripe of yel- 

 iowish-gray ; a superciliary streak Irom the bill to the back of the head, eyelids, and 



