THE FIELD SPARROW. 



(Spizella pusilla.) 



A bubble of music floats 



The slope of the hillside over; 

 A little wandering sparrow's notes ; 



And the bloom of yarrow and clover, 

 And the smell of sweet-fern and the bayberry 

 leaf, 



On his ripple of song are stealing; 

 For he is a chartered thief, 



The wealth of the fields revealing. 



— Lucy Larcom, "The Field Sparrow." 



The Field Sparrow is the smallest of 

 our sparrows and is quite easily distin- 

 guished from the other species by its 

 reddish bill. The common name is mis- 

 leading, and perhaps it would be more 

 appropriate to call this bird the Bush 

 Sparrow, a name by which it is fre- 

 quently known. Instead of the field it 

 seems to prefer the pasture, with its 

 weeds and bushes. It will also frequent 

 the shrubby thickets that follow the re- 

 moval of a forest. This shy bird has a 

 somewhat extensive range, which in- 

 cludes the eastern United States and 

 Southern Canada. It passes the winter 

 months chiefly in those states south of 

 the Ohio river. 



The Field Sparrow when frightened 

 does not retreat to the cover of foliage, 

 as does the Song Sparrow, but flies to an 

 exposed position on top of bush or low 

 tree, where it can watch and await de- 

 velopments. In the fall they frequently 

 gather in small flocks. If disturbed all 

 will fly to the nearest bushes, and in 

 perching will cluster close together. 



The Field Sparrow is all the more in- 

 teresting because of its shyness. Mr. 

 Keyser speaks of it as "a captivating lit- 

 tle bird, graceful of 'form and sweet of 

 voice, singing his cheerful trills from ear- 

 ly spring until far past midsummer. The 

 song makes me think of a silver thread 

 running through a woof of golden sun- 

 shine, carried forward by a swinging 

 shuttle of pearl." Mr. Chapman says : 

 "There is something winning in his ap- 

 pearance ; he seems such a gentle, inno- 



cent, dove-like little bird. His song is in 

 keeping with his character, being an un- 

 usually clear, plaintive whistle, sweeter to 

 the lover of birds' songs than the voice of 

 the most gifted songstress." It is not 

 possible to describe the song in words, 

 for it varies greatly. No two birds seem 

 to have the same song and the same bird 

 may vary its song. Locality also seems 

 to affect its character. It is the sweetest 

 at the going down of the sun and in the 

 early twilight. To hear it then, in the 

 absence of all other sounds, is indeed 

 soul inspiring. 



Its delicate nest, too, becomes the love- 

 ly character of this little bird. This 

 small house is usually placed near the 

 ground in a low shrub, or on the ground 

 where 'it is well protected by tall grasses. 

 The nests are not usually found near 

 fence rows, but rather in " less public 

 places, on hillsides and nearer the center 

 of the field. When possible, a thorny 

 bush is chosen. The nest is constructed 

 of fine grasses and very fine roots loosely 

 woven together and lined with finer 

 grasses, hair and the delicate bark fibers. 



Writing of the finding of a Field Spar- 

 row's nest near the top of a hill, some 

 one has said : "How 'beautiful for situa- 

 tion' is this tiny cottage on the hill ! Here 

 the feathered poets may sit on their leafy 

 verandas, look down into the green val- 

 leys and compose verses on the pastoral 

 attractions of Nature. One is almost 

 tempted to spin a romance about the 

 happy couple." 



155 



