Vesper Sparrow 
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which run rapidly into a trill before they die 
away. Others reverse the time and diminish 
the measures toward the close. However sung, 
the song, which makes the uplands tuneful all 
day and every day from April to August, does 
not vary its quality, which is as fine as the 
vesper sparrow’s. 
Hatched in a bush, and almost never seen 
apart from one, this humble little bird might 
well be called the bush sparrow. 
VESPER SPARROW 
To name this little dingy sparrow that haunts 
the open fields and dusty roadsides, you must 
notice the white feather on each side of his tail 
as he spreads it and flies before you to alight 
upon a fence. Like the song sparrow, this 
cousin has some fine dark streaks on his throat 
and breast. If you get near enough you will 
notice that his wing eoverts, which are a bright 
chestnut brown, make the rest of his sparrow 
plumage look particularly pale and dull. Some 
people call him the bay-winged bunting ; others, 
the grass finch, because he nests, like the 
meadow-lark and many other foolish birds, on 
the ground where mice, snakes, mowing ma- 
chines and cats often make sad havoc of his 
young family. 
