THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 157 



The food of the birds consists of grass seeds and the 

 larvae of insects. 



Sparrow, Menslow's. Length, five inches; extent, 

 seven inches; bill, two-fifths of an inch; head, top and 

 sides, olive green; sides of crown, black; back and wings, 

 chestnut brown, the feathers with black streaks and gray 

 edges; below, white, breast and sides tinged with buff and 

 spotted with black; tail, brown and gray; long wing 

 feathers, dull brown; bend of wing, yellow. 



The birds nest on the ground, the nest being built of 

 grasses, sometimes lined with hair. The eggs are either 

 four or five in number, of a soiled white, with brown 

 spots, and three- fourths by three-fifths of an inch in size. 



The birds breed in the eastern United States as far 

 northward as central New Jersey, but are rather rare in 

 this state, occurring mainly in cranberry bogs near the 

 coast. 



Their song is a tre-wick, ssrrt, ssrrt. 



Their food consists of seeds of grasses and the larvae of 

 insects. 



Sparrow, Ipswich. Length, six and a quarter inches ; 

 extent, nine inches; bill, two-fifths of an inch, brown; 

 head and back, light brownish -gray, streaked with brown, 

 a spot of yellow before the eye and a white line over the 

 eye; breast and belly, white, streaked with brown; tail, 

 grayish brown, the feathers margined with light gray; 

 long wing feathers, brown, edged with gray and with a 

 spot of yellow at the bend; feet, brown. The nest is a 

 mere depression in the ground; the eggs are four or five 

 in number, pale green, with brown spots. The bird 

 breeds in Nova Scotia and spends the winter southward 

 as far as Virginia. It is occasionally found along the 

 sand dunes of the New Jersey coast. Its song is weak 

 and halting and generally confined to a sharp chirp. 



