Sparrow WESTERN BIRDS 



Valleys (sometimes farther north) to central Texas and 

 northern Florida ; casual on the coast of southern Alaska 

 and in California. 



The prevailing color of upper parts is rufous brown, 

 the feathers margined with cinnamon-brown, with wings 

 and tail brighter; bluish-slate about the head; under parts 

 white thickly marked with arrow-heads and long dashes 

 of rufous and black; lower mandible yellowish. The 

 young have the colors duller and markings less distinct. 

 The birds are over seven inches long. 



They are lovers of damp thickets and roadside shrub- 

 bery, seldom straying far from brush or tall weed 

 growths. Usually there are several of them about, they 

 seeming to prefer small, loose flocks, as well as being 

 fond of the companionship of Juncos and White-throated 

 Sparrows. In their fondness for damp, leafy places and 

 their a|?ility to make the leaves fly as with quick jumps 

 they scratch among them, they are not unlike their 

 cousin Towhees — birds that make about as much noise 

 as a barnyard fowl. 



In musical ability, however, the Towhee must take 

 a back seat as this big red Sparrow, though having a 

 feeble tseep note, is a marvelous songster. The notes 

 are full, rich, and somewhat plaintive, but bubble forth 

 with spontaneous abandon, and when heard from many 

 throats at the sunset hour, it is a never-to-be-forgotten 

 chorus. 



GENUS PASSERELLA : WESTERN FOX 

 SPARROWS. 



FAMILY— FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



We turn with a sigh from the one bird of the east to 

 the seven subspecies given in the A. 0. U. Check List 



198 



