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Range (Eastern North America breeds) (XIX)

Eastern North America; breeds from the Gulf States northward to Massachusetts and Minnesota; winters from North Carolina to Cuba. Washington, very common S. R., Apl. 15 to Oct. 25. Sing Sing, common S. R., Apl. 27 to Oct. 23. Cambridge, rare S. R., May 15 to (?). Nest, of grasses, sometimes lined with hairs, on the ground. Eggs, four to five, white, distinctly spotted and speckled with rufous, 73 x 54. Few common birds may be more easily overlooked than the Yellowwinged Sparrow. Its terrestrial habits and weak notes place it among the birds that you are not likely to find unless you know how and where to look for them. I remember once introducing this bird and its song to a visiting ornithological friend. On returning to his home, FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. greatly to his surprise, he found it a common resident of the fields about his house, where, owing to his unfamiliarity with its notes and habits, its presence had been before unsuspected.

In the north you will generally find it in old, dry daisy or sorrel fields; in the south it inhabits the broom sedge. It will not take wing until almost stepped upon; then, if bushes are near, it takes refuge in or under them, but out in the open field it flies rapidly some distance and drops to the ground.

Its usual perch, when singing, is a fence rail; and it does not often seek a more elevated position. Its fine, insectlike notes give it the name of Grasshopper Sparrow. They may be written pit-túck, zee-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e. Under favorable circumstances they can be heard by an attentive listener at a distance of two hundred and fifty feet, but the casual observer would pass within ten feet of a singing bird and be none the wiser. 547. Ammodramus henslowii (Aud.). HENSLOW'S SPARROW. Ad. -Top and sides of the head and the nape dull, pale olive-green, more buffy in the fall; side of the crown black; nape finely streaked with black; back rufous-brown, the feathers with narrow, central, wedge-shaped black streaks, and narrow ashy margins; bend of the wing pale yellow; wing-coverts much like the back; tail-feathers very narrow and sharply pointed; middle feathers rufous-brown; the outer ones much the shortest; under parts white, more or less washed with buffy and streaked with black on the breast and sides. Young in first plumage have no spots on the breast. L., 5.00; W., 2-20; T., 2.00; B., 42.