56 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



few leaves ; lined with fine grass and feathers. Eggs : 

 4 or 5, pale bluish green, heavily speckled with chestnut 

 or umber-brown. 



Distribution. — Northern North .'Vmerica ; breeding 

 from Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, Anticosti Island, 

 Newfoundland, northern Maine, Province of Quebec, 



etc., northward and northwestward to valley of Lower 

 .Anderson River, Kowak River, and Bering seacoast of 

 Alaska (north of the Alaska peninsula) ; south in 

 winter to northern Florida and westward to middle 

 Texas, and eastern base of Rocky Mountains; occa- 

 sional on southern coast of Alaska during migration. 



This is not only one of the laigest, but is the 

 handsomest and withal perhaps the most charac- 

 teristic of the American Sparrows. Most of the 

 members of this very large family are modestly 

 garbed, and furthermore there is so much simi- 

 larity in their plumage, that sometimes it takes 

 a sharp eye and acute observation to distinguish 

 one species from another. But " Foxy " may 



at once, and often with such vigor as to make a 

 considerable commotion in the dry leaves. 

 Another peculiarity of the bird is shown when a 

 flock of them are disturbed while feeding on the 

 ground. Under these conditions, instead of seek- 

 ing concealment in the brush (as their relatives 

 are likely to do), these Sparrows generally fly to 

 the low branches of the nearest trees where they 



Drawing by R. I. Brasher 



FOX SPARROW (5 nat. size) 

 A handsome bird whose sweet whistle is all too infrequently heard 



readily be identified not only by his size, but by 

 his rich tawny coloring (like that of a fox in his 

 summer pelage), as well as by certain of his 

 mannerisms, and by his fine song. It should be 

 remeinbered, too, that though he is frequently 

 seen in many regions which he traverses in his 

 migrations, he is essentially a migrant as far as 

 the United States are concerned. His real home 

 — that is, the regions in which he breeds — is 

 in the great forests of Canada. In the general 

 latitude of New York and New England, he 

 tarries, in his northward journey, from the 

 middle of March to the end of April, and in 

 his southward passage, from about the middle of 

 October to the end of November. During these 

 visits he is likely to be found both in open woods 

 and in bushes skirting fields. 



When feeding on the ground one of his man- 

 nerisms is his habit of scratching with both feet 



are apt to remain in plain sight, and whence 

 they return in a few minutes to the ground, if 

 they are not much frightened. 



" Foxy's " song — most frequently heard in 

 the United States in spring — is one of the finest 

 of Sparrow ditties. It is a series of whistled 

 notes in descending intervals, and somewhat re- 

 sembles the lay of the Vesper Sparrow, though 

 the tone is much mellower and sweeter than the 

 Vesper's. Furthermore its technique is distinc- 

 tive in that the notes are very prettily slurred 

 together like those of the warbling birds. The 

 song is to be heard in the United States when 

 the birds are foraging in little flocks, but even 

 then altogether too infrequently ; for many a 

 bird-lover has never heard it at all. 



The food of the Fox Sparrow consists of 14 

 per cent, animal matter and 86 per cent, vege- 

 table. 



