PERCHING BIRD.^ 



540. Vesper SpAunow. Fooecetes 

 gramineiis gramiiteus. 



Range. — Eastern United States, breeding from 

 Virginia and Missouri north to Manitoba and 

 New Brunswi<;lf; winters in tlie soutliern half 

 of tlie United States. 



A streaiced grayisli, buffy 



and white bird distinguished 



by its chestnut shoulders and 



white outer tail feathers. 



They are abundant birds in 



eastern fields where tlieir 



loud piping whistle is known 



to many frequenters of weedy 

 pastures. They btiild on the ground, either 

 in grassy or cultivated fields, lining the hollow 

 scantily with grasses. Their four or five eggs 

 are usually laid in May or June; they are dull 

 whitish, blotched and splashed with light 

 brown and lavender tints; size .80 x .60. 



540a. Western Vesper Sparrow. Pocecetes gramincus confiiiis. 



Range. — This paler variety is found in North America west of tlie Plains and 

 south of Saskatchewan. 



Its nesting habits are like those of the preceding and,.the eggs are indistin- 

 guishable. 



Whitish 



.0 fob. Oricgon Vesper Sparrow. Poacetes grdinincufi affi'ni.s. 



A browner variety found on the coast of Oregon and northern California. 



Its nesting habits are like tliose of the eastern bird and the eggs 



averaging a trifle smaller. .. ., ^ ^ , t, 



' - - -• rax.st 



similar but 



Vesper Sparrow 



-;<■ -;<■ * English Sparrow. 

 domcsticus. 

 These birds, which Avere imported from 

 Europe, have increased so rapidly that they 

 have overrun the cities and villages of the coun- 

 try and are doing inestimable damage both by 

 driving out native insect 

 eating birds and by their ^^T''^^\.^ 



own destructiveness. They 

 nest in all sorts of places 

 but preferably behind 

 blinds, where their un- 

 sightly masses of straw 

 protrude from between the ^' '^'''■ 



slats, and their droppings besmirch the build- 

 ings below; they breed at all seasons of the 

 year, eggs having often been found in January, 

 with several feet of snow on the ground and 

 the mercury below zero. The eggs number from 

 four to eight in a set and from four to eight 

 sets a season ; the eggs are whitish, spotted 

 and blotched with shades of gray and black. 

 Size .88 -x .60. 



335 



