236 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



trace of a white throat patch, and the crown feathers are usually 

 partly elevated. 



Mr. Babson states that they were unusually plentiful in the fall of 

 1876, when Mr. W. E. D. Scott secured upwards of fifty near Prince- 

 ton. 



558 Zonotrichia albicollis (Gmelin). 

 White-throated Sparrow. 



PLATE 56. 



Adults. Length, 6.50-7.50. Wing, 3. Above, bright rusty brown ; duller 

 on the rump, broadly striped with black and some of the feathers edged with 

 buff; crown, black, with a narrow white median stripe becoming buff pos- 

 teriorly ; a buffy-white line over the eye, becoming yellow in front, two narrow 

 white wing bars ; throat and abdomen, white ; breast, sides of face and sides 

 of body, slaty-gray ; flanks, brownish. Female often rather duller. 



Young in first autumn. Similar to adults above, except that the crown is 

 mainly brown and the yellow spot before the eye is much less distinct; below 

 the white throat is but poorly denned and the gray is mottled with dusky spots. 



Common transient visitant, wintering locally in the southern part 

 of the State and less frequently in the northern half. Arrives Sep- 

 tember 20th, departs May 15th. 



The White-throats arrive from the north in small flocks and take 

 up their residence in some thicket of briers in the woods, or even in 

 the evergreens in the garden. They sing throughout the winter, their 

 clear whistle never failing to attract attention. The first note is low, 

 the others all much higher, and it is frequently interpreted as 

 "Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody," which has given the bird in 

 its summer home to the northward the name of Peabodv bird. 



559 Spizella monticola (Gmelin). 

 Tree Sparrow. 



Adults. Length, 6-6.50. Wing, 3. Above, grayish-buff, feathers on back 

 streaked with black and chestnut ; hind neck, pure gray ; top of head, chestnut ; 

 wings edged with cinnamon rufous ; two conspicuous white wing bars ; tail 

 edged with pale buff ; under parts, pale gray, whiter on the abdomen ; a chest- 

 nut patch on each side of the breast and a dusky spot in the middle of the 

 chest ; sides shaded with brownish ; upper mandible dusky ; lower yellow. 



