field sparrow

American  

noun

1. a common North American finch, Spizella pusilla, found in brushy pasturelands.

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Etymology

Origin of field sparrow

An Americanism dating back to 1800–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

field sparrow

I’ve gone whole winters without seeing a field sparrow in the New Orleans vicinity.

From New York Times ● Mar. 22, 2012

Sitting clumsily on a big stump, a big baby cowbird, well able to shift for himself, shamelessly takes food from his little field sparrow foster-mother, scarcely more than half his size.

From Some Summer Days in Iowa by Lazell, Frederick John

The tree sparrow, song sparrow, chipping sparrow, field sparrow and snowbird or junco are all great weed-seed destroyers.

From Checking the Waste A Study in Conservation by Gregory, Mary Huston

The sharp chip! chip! is characteristic of the “chippy,” but the sweet, dripping song of the field sparrow is charming.

From The Log of the Sun A Chronicle of Nature's Year by Beebe, William

He varies his tune freely, but always within a pretty narrow compass; as is true, also, of the field sparrow, with whom, as I soon came to feel, he has not a little in common.

From A Florida Sketch-Book by Torrey, Bradford