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326 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
breast; inner edges of quills and tail feathers tinged with rufous-pink; no light lines 
on the head, but a patch of rufous on the cheeks; first quill rather less than the 
fifth; hind toe about equal to its claw; sometimes the entire head above is reddish, 
like the back. 
Length, about seven and fifty one-hundredths inches; wing, three and fifty one- 
hundredths inches. 
Hab. — Eastern United States to the Mississippi. 
This beautiful Sparrow is very abundant in spring and 
autumn in New England, arriving in spring early in March, 
and departing for the North by the third week in April; and 
arriving in autumn from the North about the 10th of Octo- 
ber, and departing for the South late in November. While 
with us, it remains in low, moist thickets and woody pas- 
tures ; and occasionally visits the stubble-fields and gardens, 
where it busies itself in searching among the dead leaves 
and weeds for its food of seeds and insects. It generally 
has, while in New England, only a short, lisping note, occa- 
sionally a pretty warble ; but it is said to have in its northern 
home a beautiful song, that is excelled by that of hardly 
any other species. Audubon, in describing the nest and 
eggs, says, “The nest of the Fox-colored Sparrow, which 
is large for the size of the bird, is usually placed on the 
ground, among moss or tall grass, near the stem of a creep- 
ing fir, the branches of which completely conceal it from 
view. Its outside is loosely formed of dry grass’ and moss, 
with a carefully disposed inner layer of finer grasses, circu- 
larly arranged; and the lining consists of very delicate 
fibrous roots, together with some feathers from different 
species of water-fowls. The period at which the eggs are 
laid is from the middle of June to the 5th of July. They 
are proportionally large, four or five in number, rather 
sharp at the smaller end, of a dull-greenish tint, sprinkled 
with irregular small blotches of brown.” Their dimensions 
average about .86 by .62 inch. 
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