458 HISTORY OF THE 



of the trees, and their flights are low and short, except in mi- 

 gration. 



Their song is composed of clear, sweet, plaintive notes, that 

 sound much like, "Pee, pea, pea, peabody, peabody, peabody," 

 and for this reason are generally known as the "Peabody 

 Bird." During the early breeding season they sing almost con- 

 tinually, and as their song is unvarying in tone and make-up, it 

 soon becomes rather tiresome. 



Their nests are usually placed upon the ground, under fallen 

 branches or at the roots of trees, occasionally on low bushes; a 

 rather large, compact structure, composed chiefly of coarse 

 grasses, interwoven with stems of the same, weeds and rootlets, 

 and lined with horse hairs, fine grasses, and sometimes with a 

 few feathers. Eggs four or five, varying in size from .80x. 61 

 to .87x. 65. They also vary in color, from being profusely 

 spotted and blotched to sparingly and finely dotted witli burnt 

 sienna, dark brown and lilac; in form, oval. 



Genus SPIZELLA Bonaparte. 

 "Bill conical, the outlines slightly curved; the lower mandible decidedly- 

 larger than the upper; the commissure gently sinuated; the roof of the mouth 

 not knobbed. Feet slender; tarsus rather longer than middle toe; the hind toe 

 a little longer than the outer lateral, which slightly exceeds the inner; the outer 

 claw reaching the base of the middle one, and half as long as its toe. Claws 

 moderately curved. Tertiaries and secondaries nearly equal; wing somewhat 

 pointed, reaching not quite to the middle of the tail. Fii-st quill a little shorter 

 than the second and equal to the fifth; third longest. Tail rather long, moder- 

 ately forked, and devaricated at the tip; the feathers rather narrow. Back 

 streaked; rump and beneath immaculate. Young streaked beneath." 



Spizella monticola (Gmel.). 



TREE SPARROW. 

 PLATE XXVIII. 



A winter sojourner; abundant in the eastern portion of the 

 State. Leave the last of March to first of April; begin to re- 

 turn in October. 



B. 357. R. 210. C. 268. G. 106, 227. TJ. 559. 



Habitat. Eastern North America; north to the Arctic regions; 

 west to the edge of the Great Plains; south in winter to the 

 Southern States; breeding in Labrador and the region about 

 Hudson's Bay. 



