500 



SONG SPARROW. 



Ncsllinrjs. Show no traces wliateTor of t'.ic ashy, which is replaced by ycllowisli-rufous, and the under ])art,s are vert 

 stronjjly tinged with the latter named color. Tlie streakings l)elow occujiy the same position, liut are nut as wide, and do 

 not form a cluster on. the lireast. The bill and feet are lighter. Sexes similar in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



There are few birds which are more easily recognized than the Song Sparrow, yet it is difficult to find a s])ecies where- 

 there is so much individual variation in respect to the markings below. In a large series before me, from many sections 

 cast of the Mississippi Kiver, I f ml tliat there is every gradation, from a brea.st so slightly spotted as to almost leave the 

 central cluster alone, to one so heavily marked as to nearly obscure t!ie cluster, and even the throat, asually immaculate, is 

 spotted. Karely there is no clustering of spots on the breast in the adult; this character is, however, usually absentia 

 the nestlings. Specimens from Utah are less spotted tlian the average of more Eastern skins and are ]:ialer above. Kmiwru 

 in the adult stage by the streakings above and spots below, taken in connection with the ashy markings of tlie head. The 

 nestlings may be recognized by the reddish-brown wings and tail. Distributed during the breeding sea-son- from the latitude 

 of South Carolina to the far North. Wintere from Massachusetts to Northern Florida. 



DBIENSIONS. 



Average measurement'' of twenty-eight specimens. Length, C-38; stretch, 8-75; wing, 2'55; tail, 2'77; bill, '48; tarsus,. 

 ■75. Li ngc^t ^pet■mtn, fr75; greatest extent cf wing, 8'CO; longest wing, 2(-0; tail, ""CO; bill, 'CO; tarsus, '70. Shortest 

 specimen, O'OO; smallest extent of wing, 9-00; shortest wing, 2'35; tail, 2'C5; bill, '55; tarsus, "70. 



DESCKIPTION OF NESTS AND EUGS. 



Nests, jilaced on the gi'ound or in bus'ics. T!;ey are cimpaet structui-es of grass, lined with fmcr. Dimensi<jns; exter- 

 nal diameter, 4-CO, internal, 0'50. ExternrJ' ibptli, 2'75, internal, 1"75. 



Erjgs, fair or iive in number, oval in form, bluisli in color, sjiottcd and dotted with reddish-brown and lilac. Dimen- 

 sions from "G5x '70 to 'Sox 'fij. 



IIALITS. 



Winter has scarcely Iiegitii to relax his icy grasp from the water and to lift his snowy 

 mantle from off the land, when those harbingers of the coming spring, the Song Sparrows, 

 begin to chant tlieir enlivening lay al)ont the homesteads (if New England. Lond and 

 cheerily do they sing on the bright mornings in early March,, and when they have once 

 begun nothing seems to daunt their ardor. No matter how very stonny the weather, (lay- 

 light alway.s finds them sin'.ing. I have heard their song when the wind was blowing a 

 gale, and the little performers were obliged to seek shelter beneath the hedges, and have 

 seen one start to fly when the force of the blast was so great that it fairly swept him into 

 a thicket but he clung tenaciously to the boughs and, as if to bid defituice to the raging 

 (dements, poured forth his liveliest carol. Rightly has this species been named mclodiay 

 for none among our native birds sings so long or so often as the Song Sparrow. As we 

 have seen, they begin their nutsical efforts amid the snow and sleet of the lingering winter, 

 continuing them through the spring and summer; nor does the sultry heat of August cause 

 them to cease, for even then they sing during the cool of moniing and evening. Through 

 the autumn their melodies may still be heard, and when the brown earth is covered with 

 fallen leaves our little, plainly colored friends occasionally indulge in the same clearly 

 given lay that they practiced earlier in the season. 



The Song Sparrows are among the first to breed of the smaller birds, nesting often by 

 the middle of April. The nests are sometimes placed in low bushes but oftener on the 

 ground. Shortly after the first brood have been reared a second litter of eggs is deposited 

 and often a third brood is brought out the same season. During the summer and autumn 

 these Sparrows are very fond of the neighborhood of streams and other bodies of fresh water> 



