74 



THE VESPER SPARROW. 



In the fields, the pastures and along the 

 roadsides of the Eastern United States 

 and the British Provinces may be found 

 the unobtrusive V'esper Sparrow (Poo- 

 caetes gramineus). It is also knoAvn by 

 other names such as the Bay-winged 

 Bunting or Sparrow, the Grass-Finch 

 and sometimes, though incorrectly, it is 

 called the Field Sparrow. The latter 

 name should only be applied to one of the 

 Chipping Sparrows (Spizella pusilla). 



The characteristics of the male and the 

 female are the same. The exposed part 

 of the outer and the tip of the second tail 

 feathers are white. This character is very 

 marked as the bird alights. The feath- 

 ers of the underside of the body are 

 usually yellowish-white and the tops of 

 the wings are a light chestnut-brown. It 

 does not seem to shun one's presence, but 

 will run along the side of the road, a short 

 distance ahead, occasionally stopping for 

 observation. 



The Vesper Sparrow builds its nest on 

 the ground without reference to any 

 special plant protection except that of 

 grass and other low herbage. The eggs 

 are usually four in number, the general 

 color of which is light gray marked, in a 

 variable manner, by dull reddish-brown 

 spots or blotches. 



When frightened from her nest the 

 mother-bird will endeavor to attract the 

 attention of the intruder by slowly flying 

 away and occasionally feigning injury by 

 falling. 



Mr. John Burroughs, in his little book, 

 "Wake Robin," writes in an admirable 

 manner of the song and habits of this lit- 

 tle bird. He says : "Have you heard the 

 song of the Field-Sparrow? If you have 

 lived in a pastoral country, with broad 

 upland pastures, you could hardly have 



missed him. Wilson, I believe, calls him 

 the Grass-Finch, and was evidently un- 

 acquainted with his pov/ers of song. The 

 two white lateral quills of his tail, and his 

 habit of running and skulking a few yards 

 in advance of you as you walk through 

 the fields, are sufficient to identify him. 

 Not in meadows or orchards, but in high, 

 breezy pasture grounds, will you look for 

 him. His song is most noticeable after 

 sundown, when other birds are silent, for 

 which reason he has been aptly called the 

 Vesper Sparrow. The farmer following 

 his team from the field at dusk catches 

 his sweetest strain. • His song is not so 

 brisk and varied as that of the Song-Spar- 

 row, being softer and wilder, sweeter and 

 more plaintive. Add the best parts of 

 the lay of the latter to the sweet vibrat- 

 ing chant of the Wood Sparrow (Spizella 

 pusilla), and you have the evening hymn 

 of the Vesper-bird — the poet of the plain 

 unadorned pastures. Go to those broad, 

 smooth, uplying fields, where the cattle 

 and sheep are grazing, and sit down on 

 one of the warm, clean stones, and listen 

 to this song. On every side, near and 

 remote, from out the short grass which 

 the herds are cropping, the strain rises. 

 Two or three long, silver notes of rest 

 and peace, ending in some subdued trills 

 or quavers, constitute each separate song. 

 Often you will catch only one or two of 

 the bars, the breeze having blown the 

 minor part away. Such unambitious, un- 

 conscious melody ! It is one of the most 

 characteristic sounds in Nature. The 

 grass, the stones, the stubble, the furrow, 

 the quiet herds, and the warm twilight 

 among the hills, are all subtly expressed 

 in this song ; this is what they are at least 

 capable of." 



