14 WAKE-ROBIN 
Notwithstanding the disparity in size and color, 
the black-billed species has certain peculiarities that 
remind one of the passenger pigeon. His eye, with 
its red circle, the shape of his head, and his 
motions on alighting and taking flight, quickly sug- 
gest the resemblance; though in grace and speed, 
when on the wing, he is far inferior. His tail 
seems disproportionately long, like that of the red 
thrush, and his flight among the trees is very still, 
contrasting strongly with the honest clatter of the 
robin or pigeon. 
Have you heard the song of the field sparrow? 
If you have lived in a pastoral country with broad 
upland pastures, you could hardly have missed 
him. Wilson, I believe, calls him the grass finch, 
and was evidently unacquainted with his powers of 
song. ‘The two white lateral quills in his tail, and 
his habit of running and skulking a few yards in 
advance of you as you walk through the fields, are 
sufficient to identify him. Not in meadows or 
orchards, but in high, breezy pasture-grounds, will 
you look for him. His song is most noticeable 
after sundown, when other birds are silent; for 
which reason he has been aptly called the vesper 
sparrow. The farmer following his team from the 
field at dusk catches his sweetest strain. His song 
is not so brisk and varied as that of the song spar- 
row, being softer and wilder, sweeter and more 
plaintive. Add the best parts of the lay of the 
latter to the sweet vibrating chant of the wood 
sparrow, and you have the evening hymn of the 
