SPIZELLA PUSILLA. 97 



SPIZELLA PUSILLA. 

 Field Sparrow. 



Spizella pusilla BON., List, 1838. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Si-. Cn. Form, nit her slender. Size, medium. Tongue, horny, provided with the terminal, hair-like fibers. Keel, 

 lower tlmn that ofxorialis, hut tlie ooraeoids are longer. Upper mandible, slightly curved. 



COLOR. Ai/ull in summer . Upper portion of body, including outer edges of wing feathers, and spot on the sides of the 

 head, reddish-brown, palest on the rum]). There is an indication of an ashy collar. The wings and tail are brown with the 

 inner eil^es df the feathers of the latter, ashy. Tips of wing coverts, forming bars, white. Under portions, dirty-white, 

 with the maxillaries, breast, side* and flanks tinged with rufous. Ear coverts, ashy. Bill, red. Feet, pale-brown. 



Adult in winter. The reddish-brown alxivc is over-washed with dusky. There is more rufous below, where the white 

 is (Hirer, but the white bars of the wings are inclined to be reddish. 



Youny. In this stage the crown shows traces of ashy, and the feathers of the back are edged with it. The bill is dus- 

 ky, especially mi the upper mandible. 



Yininy of the year in autumn. Are very dusky above, but with the outer edges of the wing feathers broadly margined 

 with reddish: even the ashy edgings of the tail are replaced by it. The entire under portions, including under tail coverts, 

 are -iii^i-d with rufous, brightest on the sides, throat and breast. 



X'Xtiinys. Are similar to the above, but are streaked below, on all portions, excepting the abdomen. The sexes are 

 similar in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Specimens vary a very little in the shade of reddish-brown. The ashy collar is sometimes quite prominent, extending 

 across the m>ck, and there is an indication nf a median line, of the same color, extending from the bill to the occiput. 



Readily known, when adult, by the rufous color above, and by the general suffusion of rufous in the younger stages. 

 Pi-trihuti-d, while breeding, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, between the latitudes of the White Mount- 

 ains and South Carolina. Winters from the Carolinas to Middle Florida. 



DIMENSIONS. 



-\\erage measurements of fifteen specimens. Length, 5'60; stretch, 8' 15; wing, 2*55; tail, 2*45; bill, '38; tarsus, '73. 

 Longest specimen, S'OS; greatest extent of wing, 8-50; longest wing, 2'75; tail, 2'60; bill, '40; tarsus, -73. Shortest speci- 

 men, .V2~>; smallest extent of wing, 7'75; shortest wing, 2- 12; tail, 2'20; bill, '35; tarsus, '65. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Nests, placed in low bushes or on the ground. They are loosely constructed , being composed of fine grasses and weeds, 

 lined with grass and horse hair. Dimensions; external diameter, 3'50, internal, 2~50. External depth, 1-75, internal, I'OO. 



Ey</s, four or five in number, oval in form, bluish-white in color, spotted, and blotched with reddish-brown and lilac. 

 Dimensions, from '61 x '50 to '70 x '55. 



HABITS. 



By the middle of April, when spring has fairly opened, when the warm, south wind 

 i umes in gentle puffs that scarcely move the autumnal leaves which are still clinging to 

 the oaks, the peculiar song of the Field Sparrow may be heard coming from the low ce- 

 dars which grow along steep, gravelly hill-sides or on barren tracts of land. This lay is 

 one of the sweetest that I ever heard. It consists of eight or ten notes which commence 

 low, gradually growing louder, then become softer, when a series of more distinct chirps 

 arc given, and the perl'ormaiice ends abruptly. The first part of the song is exceedingly 

 fine, hut the latter portion is not as pleasing and the sudden termination is somewhat disap- 

 pointing. The bird while singing is perched on some elevated situation, and seems to en- 

 ter into the business in hand with all his might. 



These melodious strains are so striking that they produce a favorable impression even 



BIRDS OF FLORIDA. 13 



