SONG SPARROW. 



Melospiza fasciata. 



Char. Back streaked with black, bay, and ash; crown bay, streaked 

 with black and with two stripes of ash; wings grayish brown edged with 

 dull rufous ; tail grayish brown, with dark wavy cross-bars ; below, white ; 

 breast, sides of throat, and sides of body spotted with brown, the spots 

 forming a " patch " on the breast. Length 6 to 6J4 inches. 



Nest. In a field or open pasture, amid a tuft of grass or under a low 

 bush, sometimes fastened to bush or vine, occasionally placed in a cavity 

 in a tree ; composed of twigs, grass, roots, and leaves, lined with grass 

 and roots, or hair. 



Eggs. 3-7 (usually 4 or 5) ; dull white or with tint of green, blue, or 

 pink, thickly marked with several shades of brown ; occasionally un- 

 spotted ; 0.80 X 060. 



This familiar and almost domestic bird is one of the most 

 common and numerous Sparrows in the United States ; it is 

 also, with the Bluebird, which it seems to accompany, one 

 of the two earliest, sweetest, and most enduring warblers. 



