312 



ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



head from behind the eye; chin white, abruptly denned 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 denned; 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 



