SONG-SPARKOWS. 



121 



White-shouldered Lark Bunting* (Calamcspiia 

 hicolor). 



Above and below sooty black ; a broad band including 

 the outermost row of lessor, and the median win^-covcrts 

 white; outer margins of fli.^hts anil teil-feathers also 

 white; beak pale bine, upper nuuidible dusky along 

 ridge; feet reddish-brown. Female above brown with 

 darKcr streaks ; ends of greiiter wing-eoverts broadly 

 fulvous-white ; centre of crown more ashy ; outer tail- 

 feathers with an increasing white spot on inner web ; 

 below white sparsely spotted and streaked with black 

 on the breast and sides; region round eye, a faint streak 

 above it, and a crescent at back of ear -coverts, whitish ; 

 centre of throat almost unspotted, but a mottled black 

 streak at the sides separating it from the crescentic 

 whitish streak. Habitat, interior plains of North 

 America. 



J. G. Cooper (" Orn. CaJif.," p. 226) says :—" This 

 interesting .species spends its time on the ground, a.s.««- 

 ciating in large flocks, and, according to Nutt^ll, is one 

 of the s"weetest songsters of the prairie. The nest is 

 buiilt among the gras.^, and the eggs are of a beautiful 

 blue, sometimes with a few red spot*;," 



The name ('. birnhir being very characteristic of the 

 male, and having been generally used from 1837 to 1885, 

 I see little use in aJtering it. 



Three e.\amples of this Bunting were acquired by the 

 Ixjndon Zoological Gardens in 1901. 



We next come to the group of Buntings to which the 

 nopular name of " Song Sparrow " has been applied 

 (much to the di.igust of our American friends ; and ,yet 

 if SpizcUa may be called " Chipping Sparrow," why 

 may not Zonotrirhia be called "Song Sparrow '">. Our 

 friends want us to use their jxvpular names. t 



Although not gorgeous in colouring, or even remark- 

 able for their vocal acquirements, the Song-Sparrows 

 are very pretty, easily tamed, and interesting from the 

 fact that they scratch in the seed-pan after the manner 

 of fowls. 



White-throated Song-Sp arrow (Zonotric/tia 

 alhicflUis). 



Above chestnut streaked with black on neck and 

 mantle, the latter with paler spots at end of outer webs ; 

 lower back and rump ashy-brown ; iipper tail-coverts 

 reddish-brown edged with ashy; lesser wing-coverts 

 dull chestnut with ashy margins ; median and greater 

 coverts blackish with reddish-brown edges and whitu 

 tips, the innermost feathers chestnut with black centres ; 

 flights .and tail-feathers dark brown with pale margins, 

 the secondaries and central tail-feathers wdth chestnut 

 borders ; crown with a central longitudinal white streak, 

 bounded on each side by a broad black strioe ; a broad 

 white eyebrow stripe, yellow above the lores, which are 

 ashy, as also are the feathers below the eye and the 

 ear-coverts ; the latter with white shaft lines, separated 

 by a black line from the cheeks ; this line widens above 

 the hinder ear-coverts, where there is a small whiti.sh 

 spot ; cheeks and throat white : remainder of under 

 parts grey fading into white on the abdomen ; sides of 

 hreast streaked with chestnut, lower flanks brown with 

 Indications of bl,-ickish streaks; thighs somewhat 

 olivaceous; under tail-coverts buffi.sh, streaked with 

 lirown and partly white-tipped ; axillaries and under 

 wing-coverts whitish stained with greenish-yellow ; 



• Ridpway calls this species " Lark-Buntinp ," and ChondeRtfS 

 he calls " Lark-Sparrow." but there can be no doubt that both 

 are Buntings: he rejects the specific name bicolor as not of 

 Liniijcus, a<loptingr metanocorys instead. 



t It would be more correct to call them Sonff-Buntings ; but 

 we cannot call one bird a " White-crowned Sparrow " to suit 

 the North Americans, and another Chineolo Sonsr-Sparrow to 

 suit the residents in the South ; we must have uniformity. 



flights dusky with inner webs ashy ; upper mandible 

 dusky, lower bluish-grey, lilaceous at base ; feet pale 

 brown; irides brown. Female duller; the black stripes 

 on crown brownish, the central streak and hinder 

 portion of eyebrow stripe greyish or buiHsh and duller 

 above the lores; the white on throat more restricted, 

 sometimes fle<-ked with du.sky and separated by a dusky 

 streak from the cheeks; grey of breast duller, the sides 

 generally more or less streaked with dusky. Habitat, 

 Eastern United States to latitude 65 deg. N., west to 

 Dakota; breeds from New England and other Northern 

 States northward, and winters from Middle States 

 southward (sec. Coues) ; accidental in Europe. 



According to Gentry this bird appeans towards the end 

 of April in Eastern Pemisylv.ajiia in comp.iny with 

 Z. hurophryx, and occurs in moist and out of the way 

 spots and is not very shy. Its song is loud and toineful 

 and consists of twelve i)ot.e8 which are uttered 

 monotonously from early morning to latt evening. Its 

 food consists of .seeds of grasses and weeds and various 

 kinds of insects. According to Dr. Brewer it breeds 

 singly in the north-western parts of Massachusetts and 

 very abundantly in the British provinces. Jolin Richard- 

 .son found a nest on 4-th June which was constructed of 

 grass and lined with hair <TJid feathers, and another with 

 vegetable wool ; in. other respects it resembles its 

 relatives (cf. Russ, " FremdI. Stubenv.," Vol. I., p. 466). 



Russ tells us that occasion.dly one sees the bird at all 

 dealers, but only a few specimens. In 1874 many pairs 

 were imported by Mr. Schoebel, three of which reached 

 his birdroom, but apparently they were all diseased and 

 soon died. 



Well, that state of things is not likely to recur, but 

 our Zoological Gardens acquired three specimens of this 

 species by exchange in 1907 ; they had exhibited the 

 species before. 



Whtte-etebrowed Song-Sparrow {Zonotrichia 

 leucophryx). 

 Above ashy-brown, ashy on neck and mantle; back 

 and mantle with chestnut centres and ashy margins to 

 the feathers, lower back and rump brown ; lesser wing- 

 ooverts ashy; median and greater coverts blackish with 

 pale brown outer edges and a white terminal spot, the 

 innermost greater coverts reddish externally ; upper tail- 

 coverts and tail-feathers brown, ashy at edges, the outer 

 fea>ther paler and fringed with whitish towards the tip ; 

 crown with a broad longitudinal central white streak, 

 bounded on each side by a broad stripe of black meeting 

 across the forehead; abro.ad white eyebrowstripe running 

 to the nape, bounded below by a, narro^v black stripe 

 running above the lores and from behind the eye to the 

 nape; cheeks, ear-coverts and sides of neck ashy-grey; 

 under surface ashy-grey, the chin and centre of abdomen 

 whitish ; flanks brownish ; under tail-ooverts pale 

 cinnamon huffish; thighs dusky at back; axillaries and 

 under wing-coverts pale ashy with brownish txases; 

 flights below dusky with ashy inner edges; beak reddish- 

 orange, tipped brown ; feet pale brown ; irides reddish- 

 broivn. Female "ui^^aJly with the median crown-stripe 

 rather narrower and greyer, the occipital portion, and 

 also the supra-auricular stripe, distinctly grey" 

 (Ridgway). Habitat, North America, especially eastern, 

 .and rather northerly ; west to the Rocky Mountains ; 

 north to Greenland; south to Cape St. Lucas; winters 

 in Mexico (Sharpe). 



J. G. Cooper (" Omith. Calif.." p. 197) says:— "This 

 very close ally of Z. Gambelii is well known in the 

 Eastern United States as a Southern migrant; in the 

 spring bree<iing abimdantly in Ijabrador and the shores 

 of Hudson's Bay. The habits and song are very similar 

 to those of Z. Gambelii, and the mode of nesting almost 



