242 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



Hon. M. S. Quay, of Beaver county, the law was so amended that the 

 killing* of English Sparrows, and the destroying of their nests, eggs or 

 young at all seasons of the year is now legalized. 



GENUS MELOSFIZA BAIRD. 

 Melospiza fasciata (GMEL.). 



Song Sparrow ; Ground Chippy. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate SO. Fig. 4). 



Length about 6> inches ; extent about 8| ; bill, legs and feet brownish ; lower 

 mandible paler at base ; general color of upper parts brownish streaked with black- 

 ish, grayish and different shades of brown ; crown dull brownish with an indistinct 

 grayish line in middle ; a whitish line over eye from bill to occiput ; below white 

 or whitish with numerous conspicuous dark-brown streaks on breast, fore-neck and 

 sides ; a showy black spot in middle of breast. The young are very similar to 

 adults but colors duller, more blended and lower parts are more yellowish and the 

 streaks are much less in size. 



Habitat. Eastern United States to the plains, breeding from Virginia and the 

 northern portion of the Lake States northward. 



Common resident, but never seen in large flocks. Frequents in the 

 summer, fence-rows, shrubbery in swamps, fields and gardens. Although 

 this species is found during the summer about bushy, briery and weed- 

 grown places along streams, ponds, ditches, etc., it is most abundant in 

 these last named localities during the winter. The appellation Song 

 Sparrow is given because it is one of our most pleasing- songsters. In 

 the dreary winter months the melodious voice of this little minstrel is 

 about the only bird melody one is apt to hear. The nest, composed 

 chiefly of grasses, leaves, weeds, etc., lined with fine grasses and weeds, 

 is built on the ground or in a low bush. The eggs, mostly five, vary 

 greatly both in size and markings ; they are greenish or dull bluish- 

 white, variously spotted with different shades of brown, and measure 

 about .82 by .60 of an inch. Two, and sometimes three, broods are 

 raised in a season. During the breeding season this species feeds to a 

 more or less extent on different forms of insects ; at other times they 

 subsist principally on the seeds of grasses, weeds, etc. 



Melospiza lincolni (AuD.). 



Lincoln's Sparrow. 



DESCRIPTION. 



A little smaller than the Song Sparrow ; top of head brown, sharply streaked with 

 black, and divided in middle by a grayish stripe ; grayish lines from maxilla over 

 eyes to occiput ; above grayish-olive, rather thickly and sharply streaked with 

 black ; belly white and unmarked ; a broad band across breast, and also sides in 

 some specimens buff or yellowish with numerous small lengthened streaks of black ; 

 tail feathers brownish with blackish shafts. 



Habitat. North America at large, breeding chiefly north of the United States 

 and in the higher parts of the Rocky mountains ; south in winter to Guatemala. 



