184 VESPER 8PARRUW. 



swamp or thicket will do for liim, but in g:reat broad fields 



lie is at home. If a roadway leads through his haunts, 



Vesper Sparrow, jou may often see him on the ground 



Foocmtes gramiueus. ahead of jou, and wlicu he flies the 



Plate XLI\. white feathers shown on either side of 



his tail will give you an excellent clew to his identity. 

 Probably he will fly on ahead a little way and alight 

 affain in the road, or a lono-er flioht may lead him to a 

 neighl)oring fence or the upper l)ranches of a more dis- 

 tant tree. It is from positions of this kind that he most 

 often sings. With him song is evidently a matter of im- 

 portance, lie can not, like many l)irds, sing between the 

 mouthfuls of a meal, but ascending to his perch he gives 

 perhaps half an hour entirely to music, resting motionless 

 between the intervals of each song. 



It is impossible to satisfactorily describe this song. 

 It resembles that of the Song Sparrow, but is finer and 

 wilder. It opens with one low note, followed by two 

 higher ones, while the Song Sj)arrow begins with three 

 notes, all of the same kind. 



The Vesper S]3arrow is migratory, coming to us with 

 the Field Sparrow early in April and remaining until 

 November. Its nest is placed on the ground, and the 

 bluish or jHukish white speckled eggs are laid early in 

 May. 



It is strange, is it not, that the only bird we all detest 



should also be the only one who insists on sharing our 



homes with us. The House or English 



ouse parrow, Sparrow, is a product of tlie times : a 



J\lsx, r (Inlllint/CHS. . . . 



remarkably keen-witted bird, who, like 

 a noxious weed, thrives and increases where a less hardy 

 species could not exist. 



This harsh-voiced little gamin soon detects and avoids 

 anything like a systematic attempt to entrap him, and, 

 being productive past all belief, seems likely to completely 



