Z. ALBICOLLLS, WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 153 



field, and thus continue alternately sallying forth aud retreating during 

 the greater part of the day. At the approach of niglit they utter a 

 sharper aud shriller note, consistiug of a siugle twit, repeated in smart 

 succession by the whole gioup, and continuing until the first booting of 

 some owl frightens them into silence. Yet, oiten during fine nigiits, I 

 have heard the little creatures emit, here and there, a twit, as if to assure 

 each otber that ' all's well.' " 



The musical abilities of this pretty Sparrow, to which Audubon so 

 feelingly alludes, are of a high order, thougli the song is rather notable 

 for its limpid sweetness than for i^ower and brilliancy. An attemi)t is 

 made to express the sound in the name commonly given to the species, 

 in some sections, "Peabodybird." It seems to say, pee-cvhodij, a' body, 

 a'bodi), a/body, beginning clear, high, and loud, with prolongujg of the 

 first syllable; then rising still higher and shortly accenting the second 

 note; then trilling the remainder with a falling inflexion and decreasing 

 •volume; this latter part l>eing repeated tliree or four times, the a' still 

 accented, but with diminishing emphasis. 1 think it might be readily 

 written in musical notes, but I am unable to do so. 



Audubon does not appear to have known the nest and eggs of this 

 bird, since he copies Eichardsou's account. It builds on the ground, 

 usually among bushes, in various situations ; the nest is made of dried 

 grass, weed-stems, and moss, lined with thready rootlets or very tine 

 grasses. The eggs are four or five in number, measuring, on an 

 average, nine-tenths of an inch long by three-fifths, or a little more, in 

 breadth, and are dull-whitish, with spots and splashes of surface-brown 

 and similar shell-markings of neutral-tint. It breeds in the latter part 

 of May aud in June; I do not know whether more than one brood is 

 reared each season. 



Tlie change of plumage of the head of this species offers an interesting 

 l)oint, apparently not yet determined. Only the male, it appears, gets 

 the pure black of the crown, and only during the breeding season. 

 Though I hav'e shot great numbers in the fall, I do not recollect that I 

 ever got one at that season in perfect head-feathering, so that it becomes 

 probable that the breeding livery is put off' with a late summer moult. 

 And even in S[)ring, in the Middle States, the number of brown-headed, 

 or, at any rate, of imperfectly black-crowned individuals, is out of all 

 proi)ortion to those in breeding dress. I used to take a few such iu 

 May, just before they moved off, but they were rarities. This circum- 

 stance may be accounted for by Mr. Allen's observation, that the male 

 does not attain its mature colors until the second spring. '' The young 

 males," he observes, "sing e(pially well with the adults, and probably 

 breed in this plumage. Observing many bir<ls singing in the garb of 

 the female drew my attention to the subject, and dissection showed 

 them invariably to be males. This accounts for the great i)roportion of 

 birils in the livery of the female, both in spring and fall, otten ol)scrved." 

 These remarks may bear as well upon other species of the same genus. 

 I am not aware that other writeis liave iiidicatcd that the female of this 

 species is songless; I was certainly myself unaware of the fact, if, 

 indeed, it be so. 



The eggs of Zonotrichia albirollis, and of In(Coj>hry.s, with its varieties, 

 are not «listinguishable Irom each other. They are of the same general 

 character as tlioseof Melonplza — heavy marking, in interminable variety, 

 with different reddish and darker brown shades, upon a dull, i)alo 

 greetiish or grayish ground. These markings may be large blotches, 

 or mere marbling in tine points; at the Unit of the egg the reddish 

 coloration is freipiently lu'arly uniform. 



