1396 U.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 23 7 part 3 



Merrem's type specimen from "North America" no longer exists, 

 but Oberholser (1946) restricted the type locality to the Province of 

 Quebec, in the heart of the breeding range of the eastern race. Merrem 

 seemingly derived the name iliaca from an earlier (1766) Linnaean 

 name for the redwing, in reference to the fox sparrow's superficial 

 resemblance to a thrush. Various other specific names that have been 

 given the bird, such as the Latin ferruginea and rufa and the English 

 ferruginous, fox-colored, and fox, all emphasize a single feature, the 

 rufous or reddish-brown color of the red fox in summer pelage that 

 characterizes the eastern fox sparrow. 



Spring. — The eastern fox sparrows leave their winter haunts in 

 the southeastern states in late February or early March. Although 

 numbers follow the Mississippi Valley and some move northward 

 through the mideastern states, their best defined migratory route 

 appears to lie along the Atlantic Coast. From birds banded in 

 Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania from 

 1924 through 1956 the banding office at Patuxent, Maryland, has 

 had 53 recoveries, 13 of them in North Carolina, and 13 in New- 

 foundland and adjacent St. Pierre et Miquelon (Robbins, MS.) 

 Thus about half the total recoveries were divided almost equally between 

 Newfoundland and nearby islands, known to support an exceptionally 

 large summer population of fox sparrows, and North Carolina where 

 banding returns indicate large concentrations winter. 



In the southern part, the winter range migration is leisurely with 

 frequent halts. From February to the end of April the birds move 

 gradually toward their summer haunts, feeding among the ground 

 litter as they go. Shy by nature, in their usual breeding and winter- 

 ing grounds they prefer thick cover where danger of discovery is 

 least and they can quickly fade from view if disturbed. During 

 migration, however, they often scratch for food among the dead 

 leaves littering the ground in rather open hardwoods where there is 

 little or no ground cover. Here they habitually seek safety by flying 

 up to a high perch where they may remain immobile until the intruder 

 has passed. You may have excellent if brief views of them in their 

 tree perches, but once on the wing again they quickly disappear in 

 steady flight. 



John T. Nichols (1925) mentions the tendency of wintering fox 

 sparrows to remain aloof in family parties or neighborly groups and 

 notes: "The habits of the fox sparrow are such that there is little 

 chance of confusing early migrants with wintering buds, the latter 

 stick so closely to their particular bit of cover." Charles L. Whittle 

 (1926) observes that in New Hampshire the birds "arrive in spring 

 migration in little groups, usually of eight to twelve birds, which 

 apparently remain together until migration is resumed." 



