vesper sparrow

American  

noun

1. a common finch, Pooecetes gramineus, of fields and pastures in North America, noted for its evening song.

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Etymology

Origin of vesper sparrow

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vesper sparrow

I read such a word the other morning when I perceived, when watching a young but fully fledged junco, or snowbird, that its markings Were like those of the vesper sparrow.

From Under the Maples by John Burroughs

What was especially interesting was that the lark had "singled out with affection" one of our native birds, and the one that most resembled its kind, namely, the vesper sparrow, or grass finch.

From The Writings of John Burroughs — Volume 05: Pepacton by John Burroughs

And the young junco shows, in its striped appearance of breast and back, and the20 lateral white quills in the tail, its kinship to the grass finch or vesper sparrow.

From Under the Maples by John Burroughs

The hemp-stalks bend so low under the weight of their plumes, that were a vesper sparrow to alight on one for his evening hymn, it would go with him to the ground.

From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 1 by Lucia Isabella Gilbert Runkle

The soft, mellow flute of the veery fills a place in the chorus of the woods that the song of the vesper sparrow fills in the chorus of the fields.

From Wake-Robin by John Burroughs

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