. Michigan bird life : a list of all the bird species known to occur in the State together with an outline of their classification and an account of the life history of each species, with special reference to its relation to agriculture ... . in a general way. Its habit of singing from before sunset until dark has given the appro-priate name of Vesper Sparrow, but it also sings freely at all hours of theday, even in the middle of the hottest days. It is restricted mainly to the open country and is the characteristicbird of pastures, fields, roadsides and lanes, being ahvays recognizable bythe
. Michigan bird life : a list of all the bird species known to occur in the State together with an outline of their classification and an account of the life history of each species, with special reference to its relation to agriculture ... . in a general way. Its habit of singing from before sunset until dark has given the appro-priate name of Vesper Sparrow, but it also sings freely at all hours of theday, even in the middle of the hottest days. It is restricted mainly to the open country and is the characteristicbird of pastures, fields, roadsides and lanes, being ahvays recognizable bythe white tail-feathers, which show conspicuously as the bird flies most often perches on a fence or a stone when singing, but frequentlysings from the bare ground, and occasionally from the top of a tree. The nest is made of weed-stalks and grasses of various kinds, sunk in ahollow scratched in the ground, and often with its upper edge nearly flushwith the surface. The eggs ai-e three to five, most often four, and arebluish or pinkish white spotted with brown and purplish, and frequentlywith a few dots or fine lines of lilack. They average .81 by .60 inches. Probably two broods are reared l)y the great majoiity of the birds, and. Plate XLVir. Vesper an original drawing by P. A. Taverner. LAND BlliDS. 491 not infrequently three. We have a set of eggs from Montcalm countytaken July 18, 1883, and another from Kalamazoo county taken July 26,1890, both by Westnedge. The food consists mainly of grass-seeds and weed-seeds, but insects aretaken freely, particularly grasshoppers. TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. Adult (sexes alike): Upper parts brownish-gray, streaked with darker brown or blackish,tlie streaks narrower and sharper on the head (without median Hght stripe) and neck,broader and more diffuse on the back, almost wanting on the rump; under parts whitish,washed with buff across the breast and along the sides, these parts also streaked with brownor blackish, the streaks
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidmichiganbird, bookyear1912
