142 FRINGILLID®, FINCHES, ETC.—GEN. 73. 
Phila. 1866, p. 50. Specimens intermediate between oregonus and hyemalis have 
been instanced (Rmeway, Proce. Phila. Acad. 1869, 126), and all these forms of the 
genus, in fact, seem to be nascent species, still unstable in character; but the 
modification of the Junco stock has passed the merely varietal stage. 
73. Genus SPIZELLA Bonaparte. 
*,* Small species, 5—6 inches long, with the long, broad-feathered, forked tail 
about equalling the rather pointed wings, with no yellowish anywhere, and no 
streaks on the under parts when adult. 
* Species with the crown of the adult chestnut. 
Tree Sparrow. Bill black above, yellow below; legs brown, toes black ; 
no black on forehead; crown chestnut (in winter specimens the feathers 
usually skirted with gray), bordered by a grayish-white superciliary and 
loral line, and some vague chestnut marks on sides of head; below impurely 
whitish, tinged with ashy anteriorly, washed with pale brownish posteriorly, 
the middle of the breast with an obscure dusky blotch; middle of back 
boldky streaked with black, bay and flaxen; middle and lesser wing coverts 
black, edged with bay and tipped with white, forming two conspicuous 
cross-bars ; inner secondaries similarly variegated, other quills and tail 
feathers dusky, with pale edges. A handsome sparrow, the largest of the 
genus, at least 6 inches long; the wing and tail almost 3; abundant in the 
United States in winter, flocking in shrubbery; breeds in mountainous and 
boreal regions. Wiuts., ii, 12, pl. 12, f.3; Nurr., i, 2d ed. 572; Avp., 
lll;"O03, pl. L665 )D:,,. 472 Coops. 2065.) 6 ae eos en ee MONTICOMAG 
Chipping Sparrow. Chipbird or Chippy. Hairbird. Adult: bill black ; 
feet pale; crown chestnut, extreme forehead black, a grayish-white super- 
ciliary line, below this a blackish stripe through 
eye and over auriculars. Below, a variable shade 
of pale ash, nearly uniform and entirely unmarked ; 
back streaked with black, dull bay and grayish- 
brown, inner secondaries and wing coverts similarly 
variegated, the tips of the greater and lesser 
coverts forming whitish bars; rump ashy, with 
slight blackish streaks; primaries and tail dusky 
Be Oe eee th paler edges. Smaller; 5-53; wing about 23 ; 
tail rather less. Sexes alike, but very young birds are quite different, the 
crown being streaked like the back, the breast and sides thickly streaked 
with dusky, the bill pale brown and the head lacking definite black. In 
this stage, which, however, is of brief duration, it resembles some other 
species, but may be known by a certain ashiness the others lack, and from 
the small sparrows that are streaked below when adult, by its generic char- 
acters. North America, extremely abundant, and the most familiar species 
about houses, in gardens, and elsewhere, nesting in shrubbery ; nest of fine 
dried grass, lined with hair; eggs 4-5, bluish, speckled. WHUts., ii, 127, 
pl. 16, f.5; Nurr., i, 497; Aup., iii, 80, pl. 165; Bp., 473. . socraLis. 
