Family Fringillidce- - Sparrow. 1 1 1 



cording to Brewer, "with two high notes, then fall- 

 ing rapidly, and ending with a low, sweet warble." 

 The song usually begins in late March, but may 

 occasionally be heard in November or December. 



57. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW 

 PEABODY BIRD 



(Zonotrichia a Ib i col I is . ) 



Male : upper parts streaked with brown, black and flaxen ; head 

 with longitudinal black and white stripes and a yellow spot 

 in front of each eye ; under parts dark gray, often obscurely 

 streaked; throat pure white; wings with two white bars; tail 

 long, brown. Beak conical, dark ; feet horn-color. Bird about 

 the size of the English sparrow. Female : similar but with 

 duller colors, and the stripes of the head brown and white, in- 

 stead of black and white. 



THE white-throated sparrow comes to us in April, 

 and leaves in Mav for the north, and on his south- 



^ 



ward return spends the month of October with us. 

 During migration they are usually seen in small 

 flocks in the neighborhood of low bushes and 

 shrubs. They spend a great deal of time on the 

 ground, where their large size and rather fearless 

 disposition render them conspicuous. 



The white-throat nests in northern New England, 

 and at a few points in Massachusetts ; the nest is 

 usually placed on the ground, in or near a swamp, 

 though sometimes it is built in bushes. 



