212 WAKE-ROBIN 



voice is first heard. And can there be anything 

 more fresh and pleasing than this first simple strain 

 heard from the garden fence or a near hedge, on 

 some bright, still March morning? 



The field or vesper sparrow, called also grass 

 finch and bay-winged sparrow, a bird slightly 

 larger than the song sparrow and of a lighter gray 

 color, is abundant in all our upland fields and pas- 

 tures, and is a very sweet songster. It builds upon 

 the ground, without the slightest cover or protec- 

 tion, and also roosts there. Walking through the 

 fields at dusk, I frequently start them up almost 

 beneath my feet. When disturbed by day, they fly 

 with a quick, sharp movement, showing two white 

 quills in the tail. The traveler along the coun- 

 try roads disturbs them earthing their wings in the 

 soft dry earth, or sees them skulking and flitting 

 along the fences in front of him. They run in 

 the furrow in advance of the team, or perch upon 

 the stones a few rods off. They sing much after 

 sundown, hence the aptness of the name vesper 

 sparrow, which a recent writer, Wilson Flagg, has 

 bestowed upon them. 



In the meadows and low, wet lands the savanna 

 sparrow is met with, and may be known by its fine, 

 insect-like song; in the swamp, the swamp sparrow. 



The fox sparrow, the largest and handsomest spe- 

 cies of this family, comes to us in the fall, from 

 the North, where it breeds. Likewise the tree or 

 Canada sparrow, and the white-crowned and white- 

 throated sparrows. 



