DESCRIPTIVE LIST 237 



This little sparrow has been recorded in North Carolina only from Raleigh west- 

 ward to the mountains, and does not seem to be common anywhere. Being an 

 inhabitant of upland grass-fields, a State so lacking in pastures as North Caro- 

 lina furnishes scant inducements for it to remain long with us. So far it has been 

 found breeding only at Weaverville, Buncombe County (Cairns); Blantyre, 

 Transylvania County (C. S. Brimley); Franklin, Macon County (Brewster, 1885); 

 Greensboro (Armfield); and Raleigh (S. C. Bruner). Sherman and C. S. Brimley 

 observed it in May, 1908, near Andrews, Cherokee County. 



At Raleigh it occurs from April until mid-August, and H. H. and C. S. Brimley 

 have taken specimens here on March 25 and October 22 also. At Weaverville 

 Cairns recorded it as arriving on April 18 for two consecutive years. 



FIG. 186. GEASSHOPPER SPARROW. 



The nest is built on the ground, and Bruner describes two nests, which he found 

 at Raleigh in 1908, and which contained young birds, as being " rather large inside 

 and quite flimsily constructed of grass." One was placed in a depression in the 

 ground and the other was tucked under the edge of a clod. Both were in old fields. 

 The eggs are of a clear white ground-color, spotted more or less thickly with pale 

 reddish brown, chiefly about the larger end. Size about .75 x .55. 



The Grasshopper Sparrow, also known as the Yellow- winged Sparrow, is a stout, 

 plump little bird with almost ridiculously short wings and tail. Its song, from 

 which it derives its name, is so exactly like that of some kinds of grasshoppers that 

 it requires a practised ear to detect the difference. 



Genus Passerherbulus (Mayn.) 



This genus contains a number of small field- and marsh-haunting sparrows, mostly 

 with more or less stiffened tail-feathers, and with the tail graduated, the central 

 feathers longer than the outermost ones. 



Several species occur in our State, one of these being represented by two or three 

 subspecies. 



KEY TO SPECIES 



1. Crown with a distinct median stripe. See 2. 



1. Crown without a distinct median light stripe. See 3. 



2. Breast unstreaked. Leconte's Sparrow. 

 2. Breast streaked. Henslow's Sparrow. 



