Putnam patriot., 1909-07-02
Birds of Connecticut.
 ps <. ". tpIfAN.
ETllaJ Aaie'e )
TIE SONG SPARROW.

| 1hs song sparrow fr one 0i our fofn-
 nonest birds. aDd is seen in orchards, by roadsides, in swafap., ihiekeis, near ponds-=iB fael, nearly everywhere eS- eept in the deep woods.
 He i. ope of tho most gifted song sters Of the spaffoss, but he Is 70 free with his sweet, tender refrain, singing # all the day long and continuing in Voice far into tbe Fall, that ii some times becomes tifcsenle. let thefe is nothing more welcome than the strains from The ffst song sparrow in the spring. He has Three common call notes. rather musical "chink, simi- lar to one of the Robins uotes, faint ilspiug note, and fine, very faint 'ehip.n
 Ihe Song sparrow, ike the Wren, loves To scuttle through erannies in the walt, out of sight, and then feappeaf ip some wholly unexpected place where, after some nervous twitehings of his Tail and his "ebink" call note, he flies with A whir Of his rounded wings to thicket nearby.
 He nests on the ground or his home may be placed Tn bushes fl short dis tance from it. The eggs are whitish, nearly round, and marked, not very heavily, with chocolate and lilac. His home, like the occupant, may be found near houses, in open fields, orchards, thickets, bnt not in the woods.
 A few of these birds usually winter; and you may count on seeing him by the middle or last Of February, fl not sooner.
 THE FIELD SPARROW.
 The Field Sparrow k much less com mon than the song Sparrow, and k more shy, mol being common about the house. but keeping to bushy pastures, which seem to he, almost exclusively, his faeoute habitat.
 The song consists oi three ar four clear, sweet, rather high noles, follow. ed by a tfill. all on about the same pitch. He often sings at dark.
 The nest Is placed on the ground, or in n small bush. The eggs are whitish, marked with brown.
 He k due the first week in April. Length about SIX inches. Upper parts brown and black. underneath grayish white, not streaked. The brown bill helps To distinguish II from lhe Chip ping Sparrow, which has a black bill, and which in plumage IL rather closely resembles.
 THE vEsPEn SPARROW. The Vespef Sparrow song differs from that of the Field Sparrows, in that IL k much more complicated, more fin ished, and instead of being all On the same pitch, begins low down on the scale with the first note, the two or three notes following, each being slight | ly louder and higher in time than the one preceding, until on the highest the
 song breaks Into trills and qnavers
 which gradually die away into silence. I IL k sung very moderately aud tender 1 iy and furnishes one of our best bits of
 bird music. The Nesper, as his name I implies, loves to sing al dusk.
 Most of his time Is spent on or near
 the ground, and he k common in our | fields where trees are not plenty, ano l in ploNed land. Ills usual place for l delivering his song k on the wall or l fa ha ht.h Ia 1 placed on the ground in pastures, blow ed land or mowings. It Is placed gen
 crafty in depression tn the ground, so that the top of the nest Is level with | the earth around il.
 l The eggs are rather long and thickly l moitled and spotted with brown. The | white feathers in the tail, conspicuous In flight, give away the name of this | hifd AhaNe, hfoNnish stfeakei with | black; below, whitish streaked with
 black and brown on breast and sides.
 Reddish brown ou wings. length about siN inches.
 | March gath k the date of his arrival. | onieeiNa SPARROW. The Chipping sparrow, CT Chip Bird, is a iaaliliaf friend to nearly every one, reaching here by April dth, Rnt his | insignificant, high, unmusical tfill k not as familiar to a great many pass ing unnotieed. or taken for the buzz of an insect He makes up In quantity what he lacks In quality, singing et midday when most birds are not in voice, and sometimes even in the mid de of the night.
 He Is seen nearly everswhere except in the woods, but Is nt eommon except human habitationss
 The nest Is placed la apple trees, vines and in savins. IL Is lined gen. eraliy with, hofsehait. The eggs are bluish grerh and marked with brown or blaeks
 issueth five and half in ches, crown lchestnut, tack brown, gray and black,
 underneath gfayish white, bill black. | rug GeAssHorrEa SPARROW.
 The high Insect like "kee c eee,"
 which Is this sparrows poor endeavor ct song, gives the bird it's name. This
 Is often prolonged into a rapid lwitIer- ing, as if he were interrupted in the middle of his performance and were | ss~ni.tinr aiaut il