SPARROW (AS. spcarwa, spearewa, Goth. sparwa, OHG. sparo, spare-c, sparling; connect ed with OPruss. sperglas, spurglas, sparrow, and probably ultimately with Eng. spur, spurn). A small bird of the finch family generally with dull plumage and slight powers of song, feeding on the ground or among under brush or weeds, and nesting in bushes or low trees or on the ground. Originally the name be longed specifically to the common European spar row (see HOUSE SPARROW) . but now has been inaccurately extended to include certain war blers, weaver-birds, and others. Of American spar rows probably the most familiar is the common chipping sparrow (see °HIPPY), a small grayish bird. The field-sparrow (Spizella pusilla) is a very similar species, which occurs throughout the Eastern United States in summer, distin guished by its brighter rufous color and flesh colored bill. A third species of this genus, the tree-sparrow (Spizella monticola), occurs in the United States only in winter, breeding in La brador and the Hudson Bay region. It is con siderably larger than the chippy and has a con spicuous black spot on the grayish-white breast. Next to the chippy the best known American sparrow is probably the song-sparrow (Melospiza melodia or cincrea), which in some one of ibs varieties ranges throughout practically the whole of North America. It is between six and seven inches in length, the general shade of the upper surface brown, of the under surface dirty white, but everywhere more or less streaked with black or rufous brown, the streaks on the centre of the breast tending to form one large characteris tic blotch. This is one of the earliest spring songsters in the Northern States, and its refrain, although not extended, is remarkably clear and sweet. Its nest is composed of grasses, rootlets, and the like, lined with fine grasses and long hairs, and is frequently placed on the ground. The eggs are very variable in color and form, the ground shade ranging from nearly white to deep blue thickly marked with reddish brown. Two broods are often raised in a season. Two other species of Melospiza range through Eastern North America, the swamp-sparrow (Nelospizo Georgiana) and Lincoln's sparrow (Melospiza Lincolni). They resemble the song-sparrow in appearance, but are much more shy and retiring in their habits. Some twenty or thirty other birds are called sparrows in the United States, among which the vesper-sparrow (Poomtes gramineus), the savannah sparrows of the genus Ammodra mils (which also includes the sharp-tailed and seaside sparrows), the crowned sparrows of the Zonotrichia, the wood-sparrows or sum mer finches of the genus Peucvea, and the large fox-sparrow (q.v.) are especially worthy of men tion, while the sage-sparrows ( Amphispiza) and the lark-sparrows (Chondestcs grammacus) are characteristic Western forms. The former group
includes the black-throated sparrow (Amphispiza bilincuta), found on the Western plains. The vesper sparrow is often called grass-finch or bay-winged bunting, but its more common name has reference to its fondness for singing late in the afternoon. It is essentially a ground-loving species, feeding and nesting only on the ground. The outer tail feathers of each side are white and are exposed by the bird when it flies. Ammodramus in cludes upward of a dozen species, widely dis tributed, but popularly little known, on account of their retiring habits. They are chiefly shy, elusive little birds of fresh and salt marshes. The crown-sparrows are large, handsome birds, of which the common white-throated Peabody-bird (Zonotrichia albicollis) is the best known. The conspicuous black and white and sometimes golden-yellow markings on the head make the crown-sparrows conspicuous among their more plainly colored relatives. The wood-sparrows are a group of Southwestern and Mexican species of medium or rather small size, with short rounded wings, one species of which, known as Bachman's finch or the pine-woods sparrow (Peucea cesti rails), occurs in the South Atlantic States, espe cially Florida, and is noted as a very superior songster ; a variety of this species, the oak-woods or Bachman's sparrow, is found in the Missis sippi Valley as far north as Illinois. The lark sparrow is notable for the fact that, unlike other sparrows, the sexes are very unlike in color; while the female is streaked grayish brown, the male is black with a large white patch on the wings. This is a prairie species abundant on the central plains, ranging eastward to Illinois, and occasionally, as a straggler, to the Atlantic Coast. Consult Ridgway, Birds of North and Middle America, part i. (Washington, 1001), and authorities there cited. See Plate of FAMILIAR SPARROWS; and Colored Plate of Eons OF SONG BIRDS.
Any of several distinct species of small hawks, whose prey consists chiefly of sparrows and other small birds, insects, and mice. In America the name is uni versally given to Falco sparscrius, a handsome little falcon less than a foot long. It is very courageous and very active, and lives largely on mice and insects. It is rufous above, barred with black; most of the head is slaty blue, and underneath it is bully. It breeds from Florida to Hudson Bay, and winters from New Jer sey southward, and is everywhere one of the commonest species of hawk. It nests in a hole in a tree and lays from three to seven creamy or reddish eggs, finely marked with darker tints.
The Old World sparrow-hawk (Accipiter nisus) is very similar, and has often been trained for the purposes of falconry, to take land-rails, partridges, and similar game. See FALCON; FAL CONRY; and Plate of EAGLES AND HAWKS.