150 NEW-YORK FAUNA BIRDS. 



THE SONG SPARROW. 



FrINGILLA MELODIA. 



PLATE LXVIII. FIG. 156. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Fringilla melodia. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 2, p. 125, fig. 4. 



F. ( Spiza) id. Bonatarte, Ann. Lye. N. Y. Vol. 2, p. 108. Nottall, Man. Orn. Vol. 1, p. 486. Audubon, 



folio, pi. 25. 

 Emberizaid. Rich. & Swainson, F. B. A. Vol.2, p. 252. Kirtlakd, Zool. Ohio, p. 164. Peabody, Birds 



of Mass. p. 323. Auddbon, Birds of Am. Vol. 3, p. 147, pi. 189. 

 Song Finch. Giraud, Buds of Long island, p. 121. 



Characteristics. Crown chesnut, with three longitudinal bluish bands. Breast and flanks 

 streaked with oblong spots of blackish brown. First quill shorter than 

 the second. Tail rounded. Length, six inches. 



Description. Hind toe and .claw of equal length. Bill very robust. Third and fourth 

 quills longest. Tail rounded, 1*6 longer than the tips of the closed wings; the feathers 

 pointed. 



Color. Above streaked with red and brown. Crown minutely streaked with black. Line 

 over the eye reddish white ; a dark stripe behind the eye. Chin whitish ash, bordered on 

 each side with deep rufous or dusky : another similarly colored line above this, including a 

 light rufous space. Belly and vent white, immaculate. Tail with obsolete dusky bars. 

 Female, smaller, and tail more dusky. 



Length, 6" 2 -6' 5. Spread of wings, 8 - 5. 



This little Sparrow is, with the Bluebird, the earliest harbinger of spring. Indeed, I have 

 reason to believe that a few spend the entire winter in the Atlantic district of this State. 

 Dr. Brewer supposes that two species may hr.ve been confounded under one name. The 

 first, or the one figured by Wilson, with the spots generally distributed over the breast, builds 

 its nest in low shrubs a few feet from the ground ; the eggs so thickly spotted with brown, 

 that the white ground is scarcely apparent. The other variety, or that figured by Audubon, 

 has the breast less spotted, but a large confluent black blotch on its centre ; builds its nest 

 on the ground ; the eggs smaller, and the ground color distinct light green, with the spots 

 most crowded at the larger end. This sparrow breeds throughout all the Atlantic States, 

 and has been noticed by Kirtland in Ohio, but does not appear to be so common in the 

 interior. Its chief food consists of insects. It ranges from the 30th to the 50th parallel. 



