The Field Sparrow {Spizeiia pusUia) 



By I. N. Mitchell 



Description. — Adults: Crown dull chestnut with a slight admixture of 

 ashy gray ; auriculars bordered with chestnut ; nape gray ; feathers of back rufous 

 with black central streaks and buffy edgings ; wings dusky, the primaries edged 

 with whitish and the rest with rufous, the middle and greater coverts tipped 

 with white, forming two inconspicuous bars ; tail fuscous ; below ashy gray, un- 

 marked save for slight brownish suffusion of breast and flanks; bill pale reddish; 

 feet pale. Length 5.25-5.75 (133.3-146.1); wing 2.57 (65.3); tail 2.05 (67.3); 

 bill .36 (9.1). 



Recognition Marks. — Warbler size; crown not bright chestnut; bill uniform 

 pale reddish ; unmarked below. This bird has few positive marks, and is oftenest 

 "sensed," or determined by elimination. 



Nest, in low bushes or on the ground, a neat but simple structure of dried 

 grasses, sometimes, but rarely, lined with horse-hairs. Eggs, 3-5. white, bluish- 

 or pinkish-white, with numerous small spots of reddish brown, generally dis- 

 tributed or gathered loosely about larger end. Av. size, 70 x .51 (17.8 x 13). 



Range. — Eastern United States and southern Canada, west lo the Plains, 

 south to the Gulf States and Texas. Breeds from South Carolina, southern 

 Illinois, and Kansas northward. 



OF plainer appearance even than the Chipping Sparrow, this humble way- 

 side bird excels in song. Its trill is generically related to that of the other bird, 

 but its notes are purest music. Tew, tew, teiv, — the first three or four notes come 

 full and clear, but then comes a rapid accelerando through which they swiftly 

 pass into a delicious trill, and so fade out. The tones are tender and sweet, and 

 possess a subtle spiritual quality which lifts them out of the realm of common 

 things. One never quite gets over wondering at the excessive plainness of the 

 singer in contrast w^ith the exalted sentiment he utters. It is as though a clod 

 took voice and a soul escaped in song. 



Within certain pretty clearly defined limits the Field Sparrow's song is 

 capable of great individual variation. Thus it becomes comparatively easy to 

 distinguish a half dozen birds in a field by their songs alone. In some the open- 

 ing notes are prolonged, as, Heezv, he-ezv, he-ezv, he-ew, hew, hew, hew, heheeeeee. 

 In others they are distinctly doubled and have the accent transferred to the second 

 syllable, Tu-eet , tu-eet , tii-eet , tii-ect , iveet, zi'eet, ivect, tr. One individual 

 heard in August differed from all others in the neighborhood in having such a 

 double note, Cher-ie, cher-ie, cher-ie, tew, tew, etc. The following spring the 

 singer returned to the same station, and two others about a hundred yards away 

 developed the same peculiarity. It is fair to suppose that these last were children 

 of the first. 



A bushy pasture or undergrowth flanking the woods affords a suitable ref- 



628 



