476 HISTORY OF THE 



leaves and stemlets of the same. Eggs four or five, .75x.55; 

 pale bluish to greenish white, specked, spotted and blotched 

 with lilac and various shades of yellowish to reddish brown, 

 thickest about the larger end. They vary greatly in size, and 

 in depth of coloration, some sparingly and others profusely 

 marked. Measurements as high as .80x. 57 are given. A set 

 of four eggs, collected June 11th, 1878, at Pewaukee, Wiscon- 

 sin, from a nest on a bog in Pewaukee Lake, are, in dimensions, 

 only: ,70x.54, .70x.55, .70x.55, .71x.54; in form, oval to 

 ovate. 



Genus PASSERELLA Swainson. 



•'Body stout. Bill couical, not notched, the outlines straight; the two jaws 

 of equal depth; roof of upper mandible deeply excavated, and vaulted; not 

 knobbed. Tarsus scarcely longer than the middle toe; outer toe little longer 

 than the inner, its claw reaching to the middle of the central one. Hind toe 

 about equal to the inner lateral; the claws all long, and moderately curved only; 

 the posterior rather longer than the middle, and equal to its toe. Wings long, 

 pointed, reaching to the middle of the tail; the tertials scarcely longer than the 

 secondaries; second and third quills longest; first equal to the fifth. Tail very 

 nearly even, scarcely longer than the wing. Inner claw contained scarcely one 

 and a half times in its toe proper. Color: Rufous or slaty; obsoletely streaked 

 or uniform above; thickly spotted with triangular blotches beneath." 



Passerella iliaca (Mekr.). 



FOX SPARROW. 

 PLATE XXrX. 



Winter sojourner; abundant in the eastern part of the State, 

 rare in the western portion. Leave in March; return in Octo- 

 ber. 



B. 374. R. 235. C. 282. G. 117, 238. U. 585. 



Habitat. Eastern North America; west to the plains and 



Alaska; north to or near the Arctic regions; winters from the 



southern portion of the Middle States southward to the Gulf 



coast; breeds from the Gulf of St, Lawrence and Labrador to 



Alaska. 



Sp. Chae. "General aspect of upper parts foxy red, the ground color and 

 the sides of neck being ashy; the interscapular feathers each with a large blotch 

 of fox red; this color glossing to the top of head and nape — sometimes faintly, 

 sometimes more distinctly; the rump unmarked; the upper coverts and surface 

 of the tail continuous fox red. Two narrow white bands on the wing. Beneath, 

 with under tail coverts and axillars, clear white, the sides of head and of throat, 



