THE WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW 



Finch Family — Fringillidce 



Length: Nearly 7 inches; a little larger than the white- 

 throated sparrow. 



Male and Female: Crown white, bordered on each side by a 

 broad black stripe that extends from bill in front 

 of the eye; a broad white stripe borders each black 

 stripe; a narrow line of black borders the white. 

 No yellow on head or wing like that of the white- 

 throated sparrow. Cheeks, neck, throat, and under 

 parts gray; belly white, sides buff; back, wings, and 

 tail brown; back streaked; wings with two white 

 bars. 



Song: A sweet whistled strain. 



Habitat: Thickets, woods, and fields. 



Bange: Breeds in Canada, the mountains of New Mexico, Col- 

 orado, Wyoming, and Montana, and thence to the 

 Pacific Coast; winters in the southern half of the 

 United States and in northern Mexico. 



THE White-crowned Sparrow is considered by some 

 admirers to be the handsomest member of the spar- 

 row tribe. It is not widely known in the East, and is 

 sometimes confused with the white-throat. The gray 

 throat of the white-crown and the absence of yellow on the 

 wing and near the eye, distinguish it from the white-throat. 

 In Bulletin 513 of the Biological Survey occurs this 

 description of the white-crown: "This beautiful sparrow 

 is much more numerous in the western than in the eastern 

 States, where indeed it is rather rare. In the East it is 



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