276 FRINGILLID^ ; FINCHES. 



bushes, about three and one-half feet from the ground, 

 and was a bulky thick-walled structure of grasses, out- 

 side as large as a Robin's nest, with a proportionally 

 small cavity. The eggs of this species are not distin- 

 guishable from those of the White-throat. The song 

 is however quite different. The irregularity of the 

 migration is witnessed by the great abundance of the 

 bird some seasons in particular localities, and its rarity 

 or entire absence at other times and places, render- 

 ing it difficult to speak of these matters with desirable 

 precision. It has occurred in the vicinity of Portland 

 "in almost unprecedented numbers," says Mr. N. C. 

 Brown (Bull. Nutt. Club, i, 1876, p. 95). Mr. Allen 

 has seen it in Massachusetts as late as June 6th. In 

 Connecticut, according to Mr. Merriam, it has been 

 found from October to December, and from March 

 20th to the middle of May. 



FOX SPARROW. 

 Passerella iliaca {Merr.) Sw. 



Chars. General color above, ferruginous, or rich rusty red, bright- 

 est on the rump, tail, and wings, the color appearing on the other 

 upper parts in streaks on a dark ashy ground. Below, white, 

 thickly marked with rusty red, except on the belly and under 

 tail-coverts — these markings diffuse and blotted anteriorly, on 

 the breast and sides consisting of arrow-heads and streaks linked 

 in chains ; two white wing-bars across tips of coverts. Upper 

 mandible dark, lower mostly yellow; feet pale, with the lateral 

 toes lengthened so that the tips of their claws reach far beyond 

 the base of the middle claw — a generic character. Sexes alike. 

 Length, about 7.00; extent, 10.25 > wing and tail, each, 3.00 or 

 more ; bill, 0.40; tarsus, i.oo. 



