WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 



long line of ancestors, and that he will in turn hand 

 down what he has learned to the generations of the 

 future ! Why, therefore, should a. finale have any place 

 in the bird's song ? 



The time for a study of the White-crown is short ; he 

 arrives from the south about the first week in May, and 

 leaves for the north about two weeks later. He will not 

 stop short of Labrador when he settles down for the 

 summer, and we would have to go there to hear his 

 song at its best. 



White-throated This handsomely attired Sparrow is one 

 Sparrow Q f tne mos t distinguished members of 



Peabody-bird ,. 



Zonotrichia tne famllv - His familiar song is one of the 

 albicollis best demonstrations of mannerism in the 



L. 6.70 inches music of a given species which it is possi- 



5 r We * O find ' When nce the Son S is heard 



aH the ear 



it is never forgotten, and anyone who can 



whistle can imitate it. The bird is clad in fine feathers 

 although these are not of a brilliant type ; his style is 

 very similar to that of the White-crown, but his color- 

 ing is much browner. Head striped black and white, 

 with the white in the centre of the crown and over each 

 eye narrower than the black ; in front of the eye and at 

 the bend of the wing there is a patch of lemon yellow ; 

 back brown, streaked with black and buff ; region over 

 the tail grayer ; tail gray-brown ; wing coverts tipped 

 with white which forms two distinct wing-bars on each 

 wing ; throat with a large, square, white patch ; breast 

 brownish gray fading to light white-gray on the under 

 parts. Female similarly marked. Nest of grasses, root- 

 lets, and plant fibre, lined with finer material of the same 

 order: Egg bluish white, evenly and heavily speckled 

 with various browns. This Sparrow has a broad range 

 throughout eastern North America as far north as the 

 fur countries, and breeds from northern Michigan to 

 Maine (probably including northern Massachusetts); it 

 winters from the latter State to Florida. The bird feeds 

 upon seeds, berries, and a variety of insects. 



The song of the Peabody-bird is remarkable for its 

 rhythm, and its pure, clear-whistled tones. It would be 

 05 



