Page:Ornithological biography, or an account of the habits of the birds of the United States of America, vol 2.djvu/267

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FIELD SPARROW.
231


Bill reddish-brown or cinnamon-colour. Iris chestnut. Feet pale yellowish-brown. Upper part of the head chestnut ; anterior portion of the back and scapulars of the same tint, but marked with blackish-brown spots, the middle part of each feather being of that colour ; sides of the neck pale bluish-grey, and a line of the same over the eye ; rump and tail yellowish-grey, the inner webs of the latter light-brown ; quills and coverts blackish-brown, margined with whitish, the two rows of coverts slightly tipped with brownish-white ; the under parts are greyish-white ; the sides of the neck and fore part of the breast tinged with chestnut.

Length 6 inches^ extent of Avings 8 ; bill along the back j, along the edge ^%.

The Female is rather less, and somewhat duller beneath, but in other respects is precisely similar.

Calopogon pulchellus, Brown — Cymbidium pulchellum, Willd. Sp. PI. vol. iv. p. 105. Pursh, FL Amer. Sept. vol. ii. p. 592. — Gynandria Monandria, Linn. Orchide^, Juss.

Root tuberous, of an oblong form ; radical leaves linear-lanceolate, nerved ; scape few-flowered ; lip at the back clawed, the inside bearded ; five distinct petals of a light purplish-red. It grows in sandy soils from Maine to the Floridas ; I have not observed it in the more Southern or Western States.

The Dwarf Huckle-berry.

Vaccinium tenellum, Willd. Sp. PI. vol. ii. p. 353. Pursh, Flor. Amer. Sept. vol. i. p. 289 Decandria Monogynia, Linn. Eric^, Juss.

The branches angular, green ; leaves sessile, ovato-lanceolate, mucronate, serrulate, glossy on both sides ; flowers in sessile clusters ; corolla ovate. This plant grows in most of the lands of the Middle and Eastern Districts, both in woods and in open places. Its berries are eaten by various birds, as well as by children.