THE WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 67 



Now there is not a bird to be seen, but an occasional sharp dzink is heard in 

 the brush, or a suppressed titter of excitement as two birds jostle in their 

 effort to keep out of sight. We are being scrutinized, however, by a dozen 

 pairs of sharp eyes, and if we are quiet and well-behaved one bird and then 

 another will hop up to a taller branch to see and be seen. 



What distinguished looking foreigners they are, indeed, with their white 

 crowns slightly raised and sharply offset by the black stripes which flank 

 them ! The bird has an aristocratic air which is unmistakable, and appears 

 to expect deference as his due; so perhaps we ought not to wonder at the 

 royal reserve which shrinks from the contemplated profanation of the vulgar 

 eye. 



These birds are thought by Burroughs to bear the proportion of about 

 one to twenty of their White-throated kin during the migrations. They are 

 slow travelers, but not above two or three flocks are to be seen in a season, 

 and there is no suspicion of their tarrying within our borders to breed. 



No. 33. 



WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 



A. O. U. No. 558. Zonotrichia albicollis (Gmel.). 



Synonym. PEABODY-BIRD. 



Description. Adult male : Crown black, divided by a pale white median 

 line ; an elongated spot in front of the eye above, yellow ; remainder of super- 

 ciliary line white ; throat white squarely cut off below ; obscure blackish rictal 

 and post-orbital lines ; below gray, sordid or slaty on fore-breast, extending up 

 and mingling with brown on cheeks, washed with brownish on sides and flanks ; 

 above warm brown inclining to bay, feathers with blackish centers most con- 

 spicuous on scapulars and ends of tertiaries ; rump tawny-olivaceous or bister ; 

 wings and tail fuscous-edged and tinged with bay or tawny ; edge of wing yellow. 

 Adult female : Similar to and not always distinguishable from male, but usually 

 duller ; black of head with admixture of brown ; loral spot paler ; white of throat 

 restricted and sordid, or flecked with dusky. Young : Still duller and browner ; 

 the throat sometimes scarcely distinguishable from the sordid under parts. Length 

 6.75 (171.5) ; wing 2.90 (73.7) ; tail 2.70-3.00 (68.6-76.2) ; bill .43 (10.9). 



Recognition Marks. Sparrow size; yellow above lores and on edge of 

 wing ; white throat-patch ; narrow median crown stripe, as distinguished from 

 Z. lencophrys. 



Nesting. Not known to breed in Ohio. "Nest, of coarse grasses, rootlets, 

 moss, strips of bark, etc., lined with finer grasses, on the ground or in bushes. 

 Eggs, 4 or 5, bluish white, finely and evenly speckled, or heavily and irregularly 

 blotched with pale rufous .brown. Av. size, .82 x .60 (20.8 x 15.2)" (Chapman). 



