GRASSHOPPER SPARROW. 



3rd. Scherzo Op39 



Sostenuto. CHOPIN. 



He sings from sunrise to sunset with a sweetness and joy 

 at once inspiring and beautiful. He is not unsociable for 

 it is his habit to remain in the road hopping or flying just 

 ahead of you at a safe distance, showing the white feather 

 as his tail spreads in flight if you get too near. 



Grasshopper 

 Sparrow 



Coturniculus 



savanarum 



passerinus 



L. 5.20 inches 



May ist 



Of all the common sparrows this is the 

 one whose notes are pitched so high that 

 they are indistinguishable to many ears, 

 and the bird is passed by unnoticed. Tone- 

 deafness may not be as common as color- 

 blindness, but it nevertheless exists, and 

 the person thus afflicted, in nine cases out of ten, will 

 tell you he does not hear the Grasshopper Sparrow sing 

 when he is doing so twenty or thirty feet away I This 

 is the common huffish toned bird of the Atlantic sea- 

 board,* with a mixed brown, black, and buff back, and a 

 sepia brown crown marked in the centre by a pale buff 

 line ; back of the neck ruddy brown ; region in front of 

 the eye burnt orange, and over the eye grayish buff ; the 

 bend of the wing is bright yellow, the primaries sepia, and 

 the shoulders yellowish olive ; the tail feathers are gray- 

 brown and pointed ; under parts brownish buff, gener- 

 ally without streaks, and fading to a dull white below. 

 Female similarly marked. The coloring of this Sparrow 

 is peculiarly protective, and its habit of skulking in the 

 tall grass makes recognition difficult, but a quick glance 

 may detect the yellow at the wing bend and the pointed 

 character of the tail feathers ; these marks are all that are 

 necessary for its identification. The nest is formed of 



* Common near the coast of New Jersey, and southern New York, 

 and in eastern Pennsylvania. 



