TREE SPARROW. 



Spizella monticola. 



Char. Above, streaked with black, bay, and buff ; crown chestnut, 

 sometimes the feathers edged with ashy ; sides of head and neck ashy ; 

 line from behind eyes chestnut ; wings with two white bars ; edges of tail- 

 feathers white ; below, dull white, breast and throat tinged with ash ; spot 

 of brown on the breast ; flanks shaded with brown. Length 6^ inches. 



Nest. On the ground or in a low bush ; made of grass, twigs, and 

 roots, — sometimes cemented with mud, — lined with hair or feathers. 



Eggs. 4-5 ; pale green or greenish blue, spotted with reddish brown ; 

 0.75 X 0.60. 



This handsome winter Sparrow arrives from the northern 

 regions in New England about the close of October, withdraw- 

 ing from Hudson Bay and the neighboring countries some- 

 time in the month of September. The species consequently, 

 like many more of our Fringillas, only measures its speed by 

 the resources of subsistence it is able to obtain, and thus 

 straggling southward as the winter advances, it enters Pennsyl- 

 vania only about the beginning of November ; there, as well as 

 in the maritime parts of Massachusetts, and perhaps as far 

 south as Virginia, the Tree Sparrow is often associated with 

 the hardy Snow Birds, gleaning a similar kind of subsistence ; 

 and when the severity of winter commences, leaving the woods, 

 gardens, and uplands in which it is an occasional visitor, it 

 seeks in company the shelter of some bushy swamp, thickly 

 shaded brook, or spring. Near Fresh Pond, in this vicinity. 



