228 C O N N E C T I C U T W A R B L E R .
moderate length ; tarsus slender, compressed, scutellate before, sharp behind
; toes free, the lateral equal, the hind one not much stronger; claws
arched, slender, much compressed, acute.
Plumage soft and blended, with little gloss; wings rather short, the
first and second quills longest; tail of moderate length, rounded, and
emarginate.
Bill light-brown on the ridge and tips, flesh-coloured beneath. Iris hazel.
Legs pale flesh-coloured. The general colour above is rich olive-green,
the concealed parts of the quills and tail dusky-brown; eye margined
with a ring of yellowish-white; throat ash-grey, the rest of the under
parts dull greenish-yellow, excepting the sides, under the wings, which
are olive-green.
Length 5% inches, extent of wings 8 ; bill along the ridge j 4
5 , along
the edge f *3 ; tarsus
Adult Female, Plate CXXXVIII, Fig. 2.
The Female resembles the male in the upper parts, but the throat is
greenish-yellow, and the rest of the under parts somewhat less richly
coloured than those of the male.
GENTIANA SAPONARIA, Willd. Sp. P I . vol. i. p. 138«. Pursh. Fl. Araer. Sept. vol. i.
p. 185.—PENTANDRIA DIGYNIA, Linn. GENTIANE^E, JUSS.
Stem round, smooth ; leaves oblongo-lanceolate, three nerved; flowers
sessile, tufted, terminal and axillar; corolla quinquefid, campanulate,
ventricose, with the divisions obtuse, the internal plaits with toothed segments.
It grows in meadows and woods, from Canada to Carolina,
flowering in August and September.
( 22Í) -)
THE F I E L D SPARROW.
FRINGILLA PUSILLA, WILS.
P L A T E C X X X I X . ADULT.
T H I S diminutive and elegant species of Finch may certainly be ranked
among our constant residents, numerous individuals remaining during
the winter within the limits of the Union. In Louisiana and the countries
along the Mississippi, as far as Kentucky, and in all the Southern
States, as far as Maryland, they are to be found in the coldest weather.
In South Carolina they are met with along every hedge-row and in every
briar-patch, as well as in the old fields slightly covered with tall slender
grasses, on the seeds of which they chiefly subsist during the inclement
season. Loose flocks, sometimes of forty or fifty, are seen hopping along
the sandy roads, picking up particles of gravel. On the least alarm, they
all take to wing, and alight on the nearest bushes, but the next moment
return to the ground. They leave the south as early as March, move
northwards asthe season advances, and appear in the States of New York
and Pennsylvania, about the middle of April.
The song,of the Field Sparrow is remarkable, although not fine. It
trills its notes like a young Canary Bird, and now and then emits emphatical,
though not very distinct sounds of some length. One accustomed
to distinguish the notes of different birds can easily recognise the song of
this species; but the description of it, I confess, I am unable to accomplish,
so at- least as to afford you any tolerable idea of it.
It is a social and peaceable bird. When the breeding season is at
hand they disperse, move off in pairs, and throw themselves into old pasture
grounds, overgrown with low bushes, on the tops of which the males
may be heard practising their vocal powers. They usually breed on the
ground, at the foot of a small bush or rank-weed; but I have also found
several of their nests on the lower branches of trees, a foot or two from
the ground. The nest is simple, formed chiefly of fine dry grasses, in
some instances scantily lined with horse-hair or delicate fibrous roots,
much resembling hair. The eggs are from four to six, of a light ferruginous
tint, produced by the blending of small dots of that colour. So
prolific is this species, that I have observed a pair raise three broods in