172 MousLEY, Birds of Hatley, Quebec. [April 



moss in its construction, a somewhat unusual material for this bird to make 

 use of. The bird Avhen flushed from a partly built nest or one containing 

 one or two eggs, invariably deserts it, at least this has been my experience 

 on several occasions. 



70. Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys (J. R. Forster). White 

 Crowned Sparrow. — Rare transient; Oct. 16. The above date in 1914, 

 is the only one on which I have seen an example of this handsome sparrow. 

 The bird was on a wood pile in my garden and when first noticed had the 

 feathers on the top of the crown erected which drew my attention to it 

 more especially, and forms a minor means of identification when one can 

 catch the bird in the mood. However irrespective of this I had ample 

 time to notice the other marks which separate it from the White-throated 

 species. 



71. Zonotrichia albicollis (Gmelin). White-throated Sparrow. — 

 Common summer visitant; April 23 to Oct. 25. Average date of arrival 

 (for four years) April 29; of departure (for four years) Oct. 16. Eggs: 

 May 25 to July 19. This most aristocratic of sparrows is by no means very 

 plentiful, although a pair can generally be found in most suitable openings 

 in the woods. The nest is quite distinct from that of the other sparrows 

 breeding here, being a larger and more substantial structure, and generally 

 in my experience having skeleton leaves as part of the foundation, and 

 green moss in the outer rim, the latter never being absent,. and forming an 

 invariable clue to the owner. 



The average dimensions of nine nests are as follows, viz.: outside 

 diameter 4|, inside 2| inches; outside depth 2|, inside 2 inches. Out of 

 20 nests examined only 3 contained a set of 5 eggs, 4 being the general 

 number. Like the Savannah it is a particularly sensitive bird and flushing 

 it from an incompleted nest or one containing one or two eggs, generally 

 results in its being abandoned. I have heard two of these sparrows sing- 

 ing as late as September 25 at six o'clock in the evening. 



72. Spizella monticola monticola (Gmelin). Tree Sparrow. — 

 Fairly common transient, April 22, Oct. 4 to Nov. 13. Average date of 

 arrival (for two years) Oct. 14; of departure (for two years) Nov. 10. It 

 was not until October 4, 1914, that I first noticed one of these little spar- 

 rows, and then no more were seen until the end of the month, when they 

 became fairly common in the cat-tail beds in the marsh, on the heads of 

 which they were fond of perching in contrast to the elusive ways of the 

 Swamp and Savannah Sparrows, whose one object in life seems to be to 

 keep out of sight. On the date in April of the present year, 1915, only two 

 examples were seen, but during the fall migration they have been far more 

 plentiful than last year. 



73. Spizella passerina passerina (Bechstein). Chipping Sparrow. 

 — Common summer visitant; April 20 to Oct. 12. Average date of ar- 

 rival (for five years) April 24; of departure (for four years) Oct. 6. Eggs: 

 May 22 to July 17. This small sparrow can usually be found nesting not 

 only round every farm house, but generally all over the country side. 

 Curiously enough the first nest I ever found contained a set of six eggs, a 



