FRINGILLID.E: FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS. 



435 



Fig. 289. — Tree Sparrow. 



Sparrow. Winter Chip-bird. Winter Chippy. Arctic Chipper. Adult $ 9 : Bill 

 black above, yellow below ; legs brown ; toes black. No black on forehead ; crown chestnut 

 (in winter specimens the feathers 



usually skirled with gray), bor- V- 



dered by a grayish-white super- 

 ciliary and loral line ; a postocular 

 chestnut stripe over auriculars, and 

 some vague chestnut marks on 

 cheeks ; sides of head and neck 

 otherwise ashy-gray. Below, im- 

 purely whitish, tinged with ashy an- 

 teriorly, washed with pale brownish 

 posteriorly, middle of breast with 

 an obscure dusky blotch. Middle 

 of back boldly streaked with black, 

 bay, and flaxen ; middle and greater 

 wing-coverts black, edged with bay 

 and tipped with white, forming 

 two conspicuous cross-bars; inner 

 secondaries similarly variegated ; 

 other quills and tail-feathers plain 

 dusky, with pale or whitish edges. Remarkably constant in coloration ; sexes indistinguish- 

 able, and young very similar, the chief variation being in the veiling of the cap with gray. 

 There is a very early streaky stage, however, as in other species. A handsome sparrow, the 

 largest of the genus. Length 5.80-6.20, usually 6.00 ; extent 8.75-9.75, usually 9.25; wing 

 and tail 2.7.5-3.10. Ea.stern N. Am., northerly, W. to the Plains, S. in winter to the Caro- 

 linas, Kentucky, Kansas, and corresponding latitudes. Abundant in the U. S. in winter, 

 flocking in shrubbery; breeds N. of the U. S. and E. of the Rocky IMts., even to the Arctic 

 coast. Nest in low bushes or on ground, loosely constructed of bark-strips, weeds, and grasses, 

 warmly lined with feathers. Eggs 4-6 or even 7, 0.75 x 0.55, pale green, minutely and regu- 

 larly sprinkled with reddish-browu spots. 



S. m. ochra'cea. (Lat. ochracea, of an ochrey color.) Western Tree Sparrow. Like 

 the last; paler above, with sparser, sharper, and narrower dorsal streaks; sides and throat 



more ochraceous. Western N. Am., from the 

 Dakotas and Kansas to the Pacific; breeds in 

 Alaska, and extends S. in winter to Texas, New 

 Mexico, and Arizona. Brewst. Bull. Nutt. 

 Oruith. Club, Oct. 1882, p. 228 ; Coues, Key, 

 3d and 4th eds. 1887-90, p. 875; Ridgw. Man. 

 1887, p. 418; A. 0. U. Lists, 1st and 2d eds. 

 1886-95, No. 559 a. 



S. socia'lis. (Lat. socialis, given to society, 

 sociable. Figs. 288, 290.) Social Sparrow. 

 Chipping Sparrow. Chip-bird or Chippy. 

 IIair-biri). Adult ^ 9 '■ Rill black ; feet pale ; 

 crown chestnut; extreme forehead black, usually 

 divided by a pale line; a grayish-white super- 

 ciliary line; below this a blackish stripe through 

 eye and over auriculars ; lores dusky. Below, a variable shade of pale ash, nearly uniform 

 and entirely unmarked ; back streaked with black, dull bay and grayish-brown ; inner seconda- 



Fio. 290. — Chippiiig-Sparrow, reduced. (Sheppard 

 del. Nichols sc.) 



