i6o Bird Studies. 



From three to five bluish white eggs are laid. These are evenly and often 

 heavily marked with spots of varying shades of brown. They are about four 

 fifths of an inch long and three fifths of an inch in width. 



The birds are found throughout Eastern North America, as far north as 

 Labrador and the Fur Countries. They breed from Northern New England, 

 New York, and Michigan northward, and winter from Southern New Eno-- 

 land to Florida. 



As songsters they have become celebrated for the sweet plaintive char- 

 acter of their notes. Though rarely heard during their migrations, their song 

 is a feature of the regions where they breed. Here this sparrow is known 

 and praised as the " Peabody-bird." 



This is a much rarer Sparrow in the east than its near relative, the 



White-throat. It comes much later in the spring, and remains a shorter 



,„. ., . time. It is a bird of about the same size and proportions. 



White-crowned , ^ ...... ^ • ,-, , ,• • 



Sparrow '^" very similar habits, frequenting like localities. 



zonotrichia leucophrys The adult blrds are conspicuous among sparrows by 



(Forst.j. their head markings. These are in brief a broad crown 



patch of white, with an equally broad band of black on each side of it, and a 



narrow white stripe from just over the eye, back along the lower edge of the 



broader black one. The back of the neck, the throat, and breast are light 



slate gray. This color shades into whiter on the belly, and buf?y or brownish 



on the feathers beneath the tail, and on the flanks and sides. The back is 



brown, with a decidedly grayish tinge and slaty edgings to the feathers. The 



rump is plain ashy brown, the tail and wings dusky, the feathers of the latter 



edged with gray and whitish gray. 



The sexes are alike, and the pattern is carried out in immature birds, the 

 white areas of the crown becoming buffy, the black ones brown, and general 

 brownish suffusion throughout, taking the place of the clear ashy gray of the 

 adult. 



These birds nest in a manner very similar to a White-throated Sparrow, 

 and their eggs differ in being more greenish blue in color, spotted with brighter 

 shades of brown, and are a little larger. 



The White-crowned Sparrow is found in North America at large, but is 

 more common west of the Alleghanies. It breeds in Eastern North America, 

 north of the United States to Labrador and the Fur Countries. It winters 

 from Mexico southward. 



