MEADOW SINGLES. 105 



the notes of no two species are exactly alike, so if 

 we will listen attentively to an occasional individual 

 song which comes to our ears from the border of 

 the field, we can at least be sure what kind of a 

 creature it is which sings. 



I must not omit to class among the meadow 

 singers the grasshopper sparrow, or yellow-winged 

 sparrow (Ammodramus Savannarum pas- 

 serinus\ sometimes wrongly called the 

 Savannah sparrow. 

 This bird has the re- 

 markable gift of imi- 

 tation to such a degree 

 that we can scarcely 



distinguish his zigging, Short- winged Locust. 



continuous note from 



that of the Orchelimum. His crown is black with a 

 stripe of light dull yellow through the center ; his 

 back is streaked with black, brown, red, and ashy 

 gray, and on his shoulders are edgings of yellow. 



The yellow-winged sparrow nests upon the 

 ground, and lays four or five gray-white eggs 



the outer surface of the wing covers. This method includes cer- 

 tain locusts or short-horned jumping grasshoppers. 



Fourth. By rubbing together the upper surface of the front 

 edge of the wings and the under surface of the wing covers. 

 This method includes the locusts which stridulate during flight. 



