50 HOW TO STUDY BIRDS 



the crown. You think you know it because you can 

 distinguish it from the English sparrow ? Make sure 

 that you know it from the field sparrow, which is 

 common in the pasture and low scrub and has a dif- 

 ferent cast of reddish on his head and back, and a 

 pinkish bill, stouter than chippy's. 



In winter another sparrow of this genus comes 

 around the house to get weed-seeds in the garden, 

 the northern tree sparrow, which looks very much 

 like the field sparrow except that it has a distinguish- 

 ing dark mark on the center of its breast. At this 

 season its near relatives are far away south. The 

 song sparrow, with heavily streaked breast, often ap- 

 pears, usually in the shrubbery of the garden or along 

 the roadside. If there are dry open fields near-by, 

 especially with rather poor sandy soil and sparse 

 grass, the vesper sparrow ought to be found, easily 

 recognized by the outer tail-feathers showing white as 

 it flies. 



In some localities, especially near the coast or well 

 to the north, the savanna sparrow is the common 

 member of its family on the open ground about home. 

 It resembles the song sparrow, but its streaked breast 

 is not so heavily marked ; it is a trifle smaller and has 

 a yellowish stripe over each eye. Still another spe- 

 cies which is found in some places in the old fields is 

 the grasshopper sparrow, which has a weak song like 

 the strident fiddle of a grasshopper; it is shy and 

 hard to recognize, with its dull tints. Look it up in 

 the handbook. Thus we see that most of the spar- 



