NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 301 



will be able to identify this little bird in hand. The edge of the wing 

 is conspicuously yellow ; the lesser wing coverts and line over eye are 

 yellowish. A common bird in the meadows and clover fields of East- 

 ern United States, nesting in May and June. It is a bird of retiring 

 habits, generally keeping in the tall grass, on the ground, and not 

 usually seen only when flushed. Its flight is zig-zag. Sometimes it 

 will mount a stump or weed-stalk, and sing at short intervals for hours 

 at a time a peculiar, monotonous song, which has been aptly compared 

 to that of a grasshopper — hence its common name. 



The nest is placed on or rather sunken in the ground, and con- 

 cealed by a thick tussock of grass. 



The eggs are four or five in number, generally four. They have no 

 resemblance to the eggs of the Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Savannah 

 Sparrow, or Grass Finch, having a clear, white ground-color, with a 

 moderate polish, spotted more or less thickly with pale reddish-brown, 

 chiefly and sometimes wholly at the larger end. Mr. Poling says he 

 has found fresh eggs in Illinois as early as April 20 and as late as 

 August 12. Two broods are often reared. A set of four eggs in my 

 cabinet, taken by Mr. J. E. Gould, on June 14, in Franklin county, 

 Ohio, exhibits the following respective measurements : .77X.55, .77 x 

 .56, .79X.56, .81X.55; the sizes of a set of five taken May 16 by the 

 same collector are . Sox. 59, .79X.59, .79X.59, .78X.57, .77X.57. A set 

 of four from Marshall county, Kansas, taken May 30, gives the follow- 

 ing dimensions : .70 x .54, .70 x .56, .71 x .54, .72 x .55. 



546a. Ammodramus savannarum perpallidus Ridgw. [198a.] 



'Western Grasshopper Sparronr. 



Hab. Western United States from the Great Plains to the Pacific, south over table-lands of Mexico. 



The nesting and eggs of this paler and grayer form of the Yellow- 

 winged Sparrow, which is found in the dry, western regions, are the 

 same as those of the Eastern bird. Eggs, .75 x .57. 



547. Ammodramus henslowii (Aud.) [199.] 



Heuslovr's Sparronr. 



Hab. Eastern United States, north to Ontario and Southern New England, west to the edge of the 

 Plains, winters in the Gulf States. 



Henslow's Grasshopper Sparrow or Bunting is not, on the whole, 

 an abundant species in Eastern United States, being found common 

 only in restricted localities. It is given as a rare summer resident in 

 portions of Southern New England. Breeds abundantly in the meadows 

 about Washington, D. C. Mr. Shick found Henslow's Yellow-winged 

 Sparrow breeding in the vicinity of Sea Isle City, New Jersey. Farther 

 west it seems to be common in various sections. It may be found 

 breeding in Southern and Western Ohio, as it is stated by Dr. Brayton 



