302 



USEFUL BIRDS. 



times as early as the latter part of March, but usually delays 

 its coming until April. It frequents bushy pastures and 

 worn-out fields, or dry, sandy sprout lands. On its first 

 appearance it seeks the shelter afforded by a wooded or bushy 



southerly slope, and for- 

 ages from the underbrush 

 out into the fields. 



The song of the Field 

 Sparrow is one of the 

 sweetest sounds in na- 

 ture. It is a fine, clear 

 strain, opening with a 

 few modulated notes, and 

 ending in a pensive di- 

 minuendo trill, as clear as 

 the sound of a bell. It 

 is a characteristic sound 

 of the dry upland, when 

 the still, warm June day 

 sleeps upon the hills, and 

 shimmering heat waves 

 rise from the warm turf. 

 The bird has also a series 

 of Sparrow-like chirps 

 and twitters, but nothing 

 to compare with its song, which, though varied, is usually 

 the same in character in all parts of Massachusetts. Dr. 

 J. A. Allen says that the song of the males in Florida is 

 very different from that of the northern birds. 



The Field Sparrow is generally shyer than the Song Spar- 

 row or the Chipping Sparrow, and is usually found more 

 away from the farm buildings, and in the open field, pastures, 

 or " scrub." It quite often alights on trees to sing or feed. 

 I have found it feeding on cankerworms, tent caterpillars, 

 and the caterpillars of the brown-tail moth. It is therefore 

 of some value in woodland and orchard. It is seldom seen in 

 the garden except when ripe weeds are to be found ; but it is 

 more often found in cornfields and potato fields, and Gentry 

 says that it eats cabbage worms. It is useful in the fields, 



Fig. 133. 



-Field Sparrow, one-half natural 

 size. 



