POCECETES GRAMINEUS. 
103 
GENUS VIII. POCECETES. THE BAY-WINGED SPARROWS. 
Gen. Ch. Bill, quite thick but pointed. Wings, longer than the tail, which is considerably forked, but with the outer 
feathers slightly shortened. Tertiaries, about equal in length to the secondaries. Sternum, proportionately narrower than 
that of Passerculus, with the keel higher, and the coracoids shorter. Size, medium. 
The shoulders are prominently marked with chestnut, and the outer tail feathers are white. There is no yellow super¬ 
ciliary line. All the species are streaked above and below. 
POCECETES GRAMINEUS. 
Bay-winged Sparrow. 
Pooceetes gramineus Baird. Birds N. A.; 1858, 447. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, robust. Size, large. Tongue, very thin and horny, bifid at the extremity but without the terminal 
cilia. Sternum, as given above. 
Color. Adult in summer. Yellowish-rufous above, streaked everywhere but more broadly on the back, with dark- 
brown. Wings and tail, dark-brown, with the outer edges of all the feathers yellowish-rufous. Shoulders, chestnut. 
There are two whitish wing bars. Beneath, including under wing coverts, yellowish-white, streaked on the throat, breast, 
sides, and flanks, with dark-brown. Outer webs of two outer tail feathers, terminal portion of inner webs, and a small spot 
on next pair, pure white. Bill, brown, lighter on lower mandible. Feet, brown. 
Adult in winter. Quite similar to the above, but there is a tinge of yellowish-rufous across the breast and on the sides 
and flanks. The streakings above are broader. 
Young. In this stage there is a general suffusion of yellowish-rufous above and below, while the white of the tail is 
restricted to the outer feathers. The chestnut of the shoulders is streaked with dusky. 
Nestlings. Are finely streaked on all portions excepting abdomen and under tail coverts with dusky. The shoulders 
show but little chestnut and there is but a slight indication of wing bars which are rufous. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
There is a general uniformity of color but occasionally there will be fewer streaks below when they will be narrower. 
The throat is sometimes white, when the streakings form maxillary lines. Known from all other sparrows by the white 
of the tail combined with the-streakings above and below. Distributed in summer across the Continent, from the latitude 
of Pennsylvania, north at least to that of Canada. Winters from the latitude of Virginia, south to Middle Florida. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of twenty specimens. Length, 6"29; stretch, 10*64; wing, 3*22; tail, 2*42; bill, *85; tarsus, 
•55. Longest specimen, 6‘67; greatest extent of wing, 11*15; longest wing, 3*43; tail, 2'70; bill, '88; tarsus, *60. Shortest 
specimen, 5'50; smallest extent of wing, 10*25; shortest wing, 3’00; tail, 2-30; bill, ‘80; tarsus, *50. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed on the ground. They are slight structures, composed of dried grass. Dimensions; external diameter, 
3*00, internal, 2*50. External depth, 2*00, internal, 1*80. 
Eggs, oval in form, ashy-white in color, spotted, blotched, and lined, with black, brown, and umber. The lines are 
irregular in shape and are usually darker than the other markings. Dimensions, from *70 x *55 to *76 x *60. 
HABITS. 
By the middle of March, when the icy covering which has enshrouded the earth all 
winter is commencing to yield before the solvent rays of a genial sun, and the glittering 
surface is checkered with ever widening spots and patches, the song of the Bay-winged 
Sparrow can be heard. At first there are but one or two, but they soon increase in number 
and make the air of the early spring morning vocal with their fine melodies. This lay is 
not unlike that of the Song Sparrow, or at least the first few notes are quite similar, but 
the termination is entirely different, being a kind of disconnected warble, yet the effect is 
wonderfully pleasing. 
This species like the Savannah is extremely fond of the grassy sections but does not 
