_Pooecetes gramineus gramineus. Case 4, Fig. 36; Case 5, Fig. 16_
Paler than any of our other field inhabiting
Sparrows, except the Savannah, which is smaller;
and differing from them all by having a reddish
brown shoulder-patch and white outer
tail-feathers. L. 6.
_Range._ Nests from North Carolina and Kentucky to
Canada; winters from its southern nesting limits
to the Gulf States.
Washington, P.R., very common T.V., less so in
summer and winter. Ossining, tolerably common
S.R., Apl. 2-Nov. 4. Cambridge, common S.R., Apl.
5-Oct. 25. N. Ohio, abundant S.R., Mch. 20-Nov. 7.
Glen Ellyn, fairly common S.R., Mch. 21-Oct. 25.
SE. Minn., common S.R., Apl. 1-Oct. 29.
A Sparrow of broad fields and plains whose song voices the spirit of
open places. Neither words nor musical notation can describe it
recognizably. It has somewhat the form of the Song Sparrow's song, just
as the two birds resemble each other in form but are unlike in detail.
One must, therefore, first learn to know the bird--an easy matter, since
it is common and can be readily identified by its white outer
tail-feathers--and thereafter you will be the richer for a knowledge of
this rarely appealing bit of bird music.
The nest, as one might suppose, is built on the ground, and the 4-5
whitish spotted eggs are laid early in May.