312 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
head from behind the eye; chin white, abruptly defined against the dark-ash of 
the sides of the head and upper part of the breast, fading into white on the belly, 
and margined by a narrow black maxillary line; edge of wing and axillaries yellow; 
back and edges of secondaries rufous-brown, the former streaked with dark-brown; 
two narrow white bands across the wing coverts. 
Female smaller, and the colors rather duller. Immature and winter specimens 
have the white chin-patch less abruptly defined; the white markings on the top and 
sides of the head tinged with brown. Some specimens, apparently mature, show 
quite distinct streaks on the breast, and sides of throat and body. 
Length, seven inches; wing, three and ten one-hundredths; tail, three and twenty 
one-hundredths inches. 
This beautiful Sparrow arrives in Massachusetts by the 
last week in April. It does not tarry long, but passes 
north, and breeds abundantly in the northern districts of 
New England. I have 
found the nests as early 
as the last week in May; 
but generally they are 
not built before the 10th 
of June. They are 
placed under a low bush 
on the ground, some- 
times in swamps and 
pastures, sometimes in 
high woods and ledges. 
They are constructed of 
fine grasses, twigs, and 
mosses, and lined with 
finer grasses, and sometimes a few hair-like roots. Some 
specimens that I have collected in Northern Maine were 
placed in a hollow in a mossy knoll, which was scratched 
by the birds to the depth of the whole nest. The eggs are 
usually four in number: their color is a grayish-white, and 
marked with spots and confluent blotches of brown and 
obscure lilac. A number of specimens, collected in differ- 
ent localities in Maine, exhibit the following variations in 
size: .92 by .64 inch, .92 by .60 inch, .90 by .62 inch, .86 
by .62 inch. But one brood is reared in the season. This 
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