FOX SPARROW AND GROUNB-FIXCH. 



129 



blotched and spotted with purplish-brown, chiefly at 

 ihe large end ; their size 0.62 by 0.82 inch. The 

 ground colour is paler and spots darker than those of 

 Z. ifambili). ajkl the whole colouring much darker than 

 those of M. fa/lax. This was probably an old neet 

 used for a second brood. 



" I found anotlier similar nest, also with four eggs, 

 in a thicket, si.\ feet up, as late as July 10th, doubtless 

 a second brood." 



Russ says that tlus spscies ds not quite so rare in 

 the trade an its allies and at times several specimens or 

 pairs are imported by all the principal dealers who in- 

 troduce Njrtli American birds into the market. He re- 

 commends anyone who wi.shes to get satisfaction from 

 this "Sparrow" to keep it by itself in a small cage, 

 where he c,-in hear it industriously singing its un- 

 doubtedly iileasing .song. It is quite possible that 

 specimens of this bird may yet be imported from 

 Mexico : as a cage-bird well-known on the Continent I 

 could not well omit it. 



Fox Sparrow {Passerclla iliaca). 



Above variable ; either olive-grey with the crown 

 more or less tinged with chestnut, the back and 

 scapulars bix>adly streaked with the sarme, a.iid the lower 

 Tump and upper tail-coverts reddish chestnut ; or nearly 

 uniform reddish chestnut; wings dusky brown; wing- 

 coverts chestnut, slightly pajer at tips; inner webs of 

 flights .and tail-feathers paler than the outer webs, those 

 of secondaries slightly reddish ; inner webs of tail- 

 feathers dusky brown ; sides of head chestnut above 

 ear-covert.s and sides of neck varied with greyish-olive ; 

 below white, the sides of throat, chest and flanks 

 broadly streaked with reddish chestnut ; beak dark 

 brown, bl.ax'k at tip, yellow at base of lower mandible; 

 feet flesh-coloured ; irides deep brown. Female not 

 quite so strongly marked, especially on the head ; the 

 markings below darker, blackish on brea.s.t and flanks. 

 Hab. , East'M'u N. America., west to tlie plains and 

 Alaska (valley of the Yukon to the Pacific), from the 

 Arctic coast south to the Gulf States. Breeds north 

 of the United States, v.-inters chiefly south of the Poto- 

 mac and Ohio rivers (A. 0. U. Check-List). 



In the " Ornithologist and Oologist," Vol. IX., p. 22, 

 Mr. Averill write.s : — "The Fox Sparrow {Pcisserella 

 ilinca) is so early n bird in .spring and so late in its 

 autumn migration that its occurrence in New Entrland 

 in winter is nothing very strange, yet in view of the 

 fact that the latest work on New England ornithology 

 (Coues and Stearns) says that we have no information of 

 the bird in winter within our limits, it may int_^re.st 

 the readers of the ''0. and 0." to know that I took a 

 specimen in Bridgeport. Conn., on the 29th of last 

 December. The week preceding had Iwen notable for 

 low temperature and deep snow, but this day was mild 

 and pleasajit, and a warm .south wind induced me lo 

 explore a patch of red cedar trees by the bank of a 

 salt creek. It was here I shot the bird, which on dis 

 section proved to be a male. The gizzard contained 

 fragments of seeds which were kindly identified bv 

 Prof. D. C. Eaton of Yale College as seeds of the red 

 cedar." Prof. W. W. Cooke in tliie following volume 

 of the same publication has some interesting notes on 

 the migrations of this species in the Mississippi Vallev 

 (Vol. X., pp. 130, 131). 



Mv library affords me no information respecting the 

 nidification of this species; but it is not very likely 

 that the bird will come into the hands of any of my 

 readers. althou<rh two specimens reached the' London 

 Zoological Gardens in 1901. It might possibly be 

 brought home by Arctic explorers but it is not 

 probable. 



Red-byed Grouxd-Fin-ch (Pipllo erythrophthalmufi). 



Above bhick ; upper tail-coverts with rufescent fringes 

 at the tips; flights with broad white borders; three 

 outer tail fcatheis increasingly white at tho tips from 

 within outw.ards ; chin and throat black like the rest of 

 the he.id ; breast and abdomen white, thighs with the 

 bases of the leathers Miick ; sides and flankis chestnut, 

 the sides of chest with a few dusky &iK>t.s; under tail 

 coverts pale fawn colour ; under wing coverts and 

 axillaries white, with a p.-itch of brown near outer 

 edge of wing; flights below dusky, tho edge of inner 

 web ashy; bejik black; feet pale yellowish-brown; 

 irides bright red. Female with <hocolate on upper sur- 

 face of body in place of black, two central tail feathers 

 also cl«xx>late; the four outer tail feathers white tipi^ed, 

 instead of three; wings brown, insteail of liliek. the 

 primaries white at base of outer web, and the outer 

 ones with a sm.all white marking toward."! the tip; inner 

 .secondaries fringed with reddi.sh, also with a bro,Td 

 white patch on outer wob; chestnut on sides of body 

 heXow paler than in the male. Hab., Eastern United 

 States and Southern Canada westwards to the plains. 



Said to be abundant in Eastern Pennsylvania in the 

 spring, arriving in April in flocks, which soon separate 

 into single pairs; it affects thick scrub, grass-covereil 

 plains, and moist copses, and one sees it also in a few 

 remote localities, such as in bushes in frequented roads, 

 and here it seems by no means timid. Few of its rela- 

 tives remain so constantly on the ground as the " Ground 

 Robin " (whence the name) ; it oidy -perches nccasionallv 

 u|X)n a low bush, and never upon high trees. Like all 

 its near relatives it indulges in an extraoixlina.rr fcml- 

 like scratching. If in calm weather one hears the dry 

 dust in the wood scattering, this is caused by its move- 

 ments while industriously seeking food under the black- 

 beiTy creepers and hollies by the hour together. Its 

 flight is low, rustling and undulating. On the earth it 

 moves very actively, ininning and hopping. The mono- 

 tnnou.s call-note sounds loudly l-orcet ; when alarmed it 

 litters the sharp shrUl cry r/n'-iriii/: thrice repeated. 

 Its song may be rendered in the following svllables: 

 t'w/iit-t' ivitre-tP-tf. Its food consists of seeds^ hemes, 

 and varicus insects. Towards the middle of May pairing 

 commences, .and nesting in the last third of the month. 

 The nest is placed on the ground at the margins of 

 thieket.s, among the large quantities of leaves which 

 cover the latter and in a bush. It is industriously built 

 in ii. few days by both members of the pair; consists 

 externally of leaves, stalks and thin twins; internally of 

 fibres and bast, and is lined with fine rootlets and 

 larch needles. The eggs, generally four, are round 

 ovals, the grooind colaur dingy whitish, marked with 

 pale blown dots and spots, chiefly on the broader end. 

 jiicubation lasts thirteen days: after about fourteen days 

 the young de-sert' the nest, and then about ten days later 

 they are able to look after themselves; nevertheless 

 they remain together with their jxirents in fa.mi lies until 

 their departure in the middle of October. Every year 

 ihey produce only one brood. 



I have translated the above from Russ's " Fremdliind- 

 ischen Stubenvogel, Vol. I., pp. 479. 480; he quotes 

 from Gentry. Russ says: — " Fmm time to time this 

 largest and ma.st stately of all Bunting-Sparrows' 

 apjicars in the market, and on account of its di.stinctive 

 size and colouring and its pleasing appearance it always 

 finds ready purch.isers. It is a favourite in bird rooms, 

 and is, moreover, not rare in zoological gardens." He 



* Wh.T not " Son»-Sparrows "? I take it that all the Sparrow- 

 like Buntings having the Wh.TcIah-like habit of scratching after 

 the manner of fowls must be nearly related. 



