FINCHES. 



225 



Rump and tail, unmarked ; latter of a vague grayish brown, 

 rump, ashy-tinted. Wings with two white bars, which are 

 not prominent, and a yellow edge. 5 , with less pure and 

 defined colors than the male.* 



6. The nest is built on or near the ground, in woodland 



Fig. 9. White-throated Sparrow. (^) 



or sometimes pastures, and generally resembles that of the 

 Snow-bird or Song Sparrow. The first set of four or fivef 

 eggs is laid in New Hampshire about the first of June, a sec- 

 ond often coming later. The eggs average .85 X .65 of an 

 inch, and are grayish white, finely marked and clouded with 

 a dark brown. Paler types also exist, resembling some eggs 

 of the Song Sparrow. 



c. The White-throated Sparrow is one of the largest, 

 handsomest, and most charmingly musical, of all the New 

 England Sj)arrows.^^ These birds habitually pass the winter 



* A few females are quite as richly 

 colored as the mature males. — W. B. 



t Sets of five eggs are very uncom- 

 mon. — W. B. 



"^8 Since I have begun this article 

 with the use of the singular number, I 

 will here quote an explanation of why, 

 in ornithological writings, it has been 

 objected to, in reference to birds. ' ' It 

 necessitates the general use of either 

 the pronoun she (which is not custom- 

 ary, except in sometimes speaking of a 

 bird of prey), or the pronoun he (which 

 hardly generalizes to a sufficient extent 



one's remarks when applied to a species, 

 and which sometimes causes an unin- 

 tentional apparent distinction between 

 the male and female or their habits), 

 or the pronoun it, which is the worst 

 of all. For to speak of animated birds 

 as its and whiches, to any one who has 

 studied them and regards them as 

 friends, is as unpleasant as it would be 

 to hear an acquaintance referred to by 

 the neuter. By the use of the singular, 

 better expressions can sometimes be 

 formed than by that of the plural, and 

 the use of the pronouns he and she is 



