SONG-BIRDS. Fox Sparrow 



ously until August, and after moulting lias an intermittent 

 period of song before it leaves in October. 



Fox Sparrow : Passerella iliaca, 



Plate V. Fig. 16. 



Length: 6.50-7.25 inches. 



JIale and Female : The largest and reddest of the Sparroios, the size 

 of the Hermit Thrush. Above red-brown, varying from dark 

 to bright chestnut, brightest on rump and tail. Breast light 

 grajs arrovfhead markings on throat and breast, sides streaked 

 vyith reddish brown. Bill dark above, lower mandible yellow- 

 ish, feet pale. 



Song: A sweet, varied warble, sometimes heard during migrations. 

 Call note a feeble zip-zip. 



Season: In migrations. Common in March, April, October, and 

 November. Found by Mr. Averill as late as December 29. 



Breeds : North of the United States. 



Nest : Usual Ground Sparrow nest. 



Eggs : Greenish white, speckled with red-brown. 



Bange : Eastern North America, west to the Plains and Alaska (val- 

 ley of the Yukon to the Pacific), and from the Arctic coast 

 south to the United States. Winters chiefly south of the Poto- 

 mac and Ohio rivers. 



This bird, whose fox-red feathers, and not a sly dispo- 

 sition, give it the name of Fox Sparrow, is a delightful 

 songster as well as a large and boldly marked species. 

 They come in flocks in very early spring, — when the Blue- 

 bird and Song Sparrow are sharing the musical honours, — 

 and, settling on the pastures, send up a wave of gentle 

 music, and when they return in autumn they still give a 

 few soft notes. 



Mr. Bicknell has heard them sing as early as February 

 29 and as late as November 17, He says that this 

 Sparrow seems indisposed to sing unless present in num- 

 bers. This probably applies only to the anti-nuptial song ; 

 for, as a rule, the perfect song of wild birds is not heard 

 before they leave and after they rejoin the flocks, but only 

 at the period when they assert themselves as individuals. 



159 



