92 Gbe TOarbler 



about our homes, and the greatest care should be taken to protect it. Its 

 food consists partly of weed seed and partly of noxious insec:s. 



The Field Sparrow 



(Spi sella pusilld) 



A DELIGHTFUL bird is the Field Sparrow, about the size of the Chip- 

 ping Sparrow, but within the city limits not nearly so abundant. It 

 "breeds regularly in the Borough of Queens and is found in vacant or waste 

 land, partly wooded. The bird arrives early from the South and its cheer- 

 ful song is one of the very first to be heard, often as early as the end of 

 March. He is a presistent as well as a delightful songster, generally deliver- 

 ing his song from the topmost branches of some half grown tree or large 

 shrub; also from telegraph wires. This bird has the longest season of song 

 of any which breed within the city limits, excepting only the Song Sparrow. 

 The sino-ino- season, which commences upon its arrival from the South, say 

 April ist, continues well into September. 



The Field Sparrow builds its nest of dried grasses and rootlets and it is 

 usually placed in a thick clump of bushes, wild rose and briar being favor- 

 ites, a foot or more from the ground. I have found nests, however, built 

 upon the ground under sheltering tufts of dried grass and also in small 

 cedar trees as much as six feet up. The eggs are of a grayish color thickly 

 spotted, and four is the usual number. In 1902, however, I examined some 

 dozen nests on Long Island all of which had three eggs or three young birds; 

 not a single one I found that year contained as many as four, while the next 

 year all the nests in the same locality contained four eggs or four young 

 birds, — not one that I saw had less. Like most other Sparrows this species 

 is largely a seed eater though insects form a considerable portion of its diet. 



Vesper Sparrow 



(PooccBtes gramineus) 



THIS bird is often mistaken for the Song Sparrow. Its song is similar, 

 but easily distinguished when one becomes familiar with both. In size 

 and coloration there is much similarity between the birds, but their habits are 

 materially different. About New York the bird is much more abundant 

 than the Song Sparrow and occurs in goodly numbers within the city limits. 

 Among the fields of the Borough of Queens it is particularly abundant. Its 

 food habits are similar to those of the Song Sparrow. 



The Vesper Sparrow or Grass Finch is essentially a ground bird, living, 

 feeding and nesting in pastures, fields and vacant lots. Its song is slightly 

 less pleasing than that of the Song Sparrow, and may be heard late after- 



