FRINGILLID^ — THE FINCHES. 7 



more care and neatness of interweaving. The eggs are usually five in num- 

 ber, of an oblong-oval shape. The ground is a whitish clay-color, marked 

 more or less fully with blotches of a ferruginous-brown. In some these 

 markings are few, and arranged only about the larger end. In others they 

 are generally diffused, and impart a deep ferruginous color to the whole egg, 

 and disguise or conceal the ground. They vary also in size, — in length 

 from .70 to .63 of an inch, and in breadth from .52 to .50. Their usual size 



is .70 by .52. 



Two nests of this bird taken in Lynn, Mass., by Mr. George 0. Welch, are 

 characteristic of their usual style in architecture. One of these has a diam- 

 eter of four and a height of two and a half inches. Its base, as well as the 

 great mass of its periphery, is made of a very loose intertwining of mi- 

 nute stems of vegetables and dry grasses. The ends of these project from the 

 exterior of the nest at the upper rim, and present a very peculiar appearance, 

 as of an enclosure of palisades. The interior is lined with horsehair. The 

 other is made of similar materials, of a less rigid character and closer tex- 

 ture. Its rim presents the same peculiarities of projecting ends, arranged 

 like a fence above the nest itself. Its dimensions also are about the same. It 

 is, however, much more compactly constructed, with thicker walls and a less 

 open network of dry grasses, and stiff wiry stems of dried plants intermixed 

 with a few pine leaves. The whole is very carefully and warmly lined 

 with horsehair and the softer fur of small quadrupeds. These nests con- 

 tained, one three, and the other four eggs. 



Spizella socialis, Bonap. 



CHIPPING SPARROW ; CHIPPY. 



Fringilla socialis, Wilson, Am. Orn. II, 1810, 127, pi. xvi, f. 5. — Aud. Orn. Biog. II, 

 1834, 21 ; V, 517, pi. civ. Spizella socialis, Bon. List, 1838. ^Ib. Conspectus, 1850, 

 480. '— Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 473. —Cooper & Suckley, 203. —Samuels, 320. 

 Embcriza socialis, AuD. Syii. 1839. - Ib. Birds Am. Ill, 1841, 80, pi. clxv. Spinites 

 socialis, Cabanis, Mus. Hein. 1851, 133. 



• Sp. Char. Rump, back of neck, and sides of neck and head, ashy. Interscapular 

 region with black streaks, margined with pale rufous. Crown continuous and uniform 

 chestnut. Forehead black, separated in the middle by white. A white streak over the 

 eye to nape, and a black one from the base of the bill through and behind the eye. Lores 

 dusky. Under parts unspotted whitish, tinged with ashy on the sides and across the 

 upper breast. Tail-feathers and primaries edged with paler, not white. Two narrow 

 white bands across the wing-coverts. Bill black. Length, 5.75; wing, nearly 3.00; tail, 

 2.50 (or less). 



Young. Immature birds and frequently the adult females with the cap streaked with 

 blackish lines, the chestnut neaily or sometimes quite wanting. Birds of the year streaked 

 beneath and on rump. 



The color of bill varies ; sometimes entirely black throughout, sometimes very light (but 

 never reddish as in S. pusilla), with all intermediate stages. There is usually, however, a 



