98 ZONOTRACHIA ALBJCOLLIS. 



upon those who do not usually notice birds. But to the lover of Nature, this song be- 

 comes so associated with the peculiar location in which it is heard, where the warm summer 

 air is redolent with the spicy odor of the cedar and savin, that it is as much a portion of 

 the characteristic New England scenery as the tree-covered hills themselves. Individuals 

 vary slightly in notes, even in Massachusetts, but I was surprised to hear these Sparrows 

 giving an entirely different song at Watsontown, Pennsylvania, in August. 



I have found the nests in a low bush but they are sometimes placed on the ground; the 

 eggs are laid during the latter part of May and a second litter is deposited later. The birds 

 are quite shy even when breeding. The males will cease singing when disturbed and dart 

 into the nearest thicket from which it is difficult to start them. When forced to take 

 wing they will instantly shoot into another place of concealment. By September the birds 

 leave the wooded section and assemble with other Sparrows in the cultivated fields. They 

 migrate a little later in the season, but rarely go as far south as Middle Florida. 



GENUS VI. ZONOTRACIIIA. THE ZONE-THROATED SPARROWS. 



GEN. Cn. Bill, rather pointed. Wings, about equal in lenyth to the tail which is sliyhtly forked, but with the outer 

 feathers shortened. Sternum, similar to that of Spizella, but a little broader, proportionately. Size, larye. 



The throats or crowns of all the species are conspicuously marked with white, black, or yellow, often with a combina- 

 tion of all three colors. No prominent white markings en the tail. 



ZONOTBACHIA ALBICOLLIS. 



White-throated Sparrow. 

 Zonolrachia albicollis BON., Consp., 1850,478. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. CH. Form, robust. Size, large. Tongue, thick and fleshy, but furnished with a terminal, bifid fringe of fine cilia. 

 Sternum, as given under generic characters. 



COLOR. Adult. Upper portion of body, including outer edges of wing and tail feathers and upper wing coverts, chest- 

 nut, palest on the rump, with the back streaked with rufous and black. Wings and tail dark-brown. Tips of wing cov- 

 erts, white, forming bars. Top of head, black, with a median line extending from bill to occiput, and one on either side, 

 starting from over the middle of eye and extending to occiput, throat, under wing coverts, abdomen and under tail coverts, 

 white, with the latter tinged with yellow and streaked with dusky. Remaining under portions, lores, sides of head below 

 line of eye, ashy, darkest anteriorly, with the sides and flanks tinged with chestnut. Line from bill to over middle of eye 

 and edge of wing, near shoulder, bright yellow. Bill, bluish. Feet pale-brown. 



Young. The yellow line of the sides of head is less extended. The black and white of the crown show traces of chest- 

 nut. The white throat is somewhat obscured with dusky, and the breast is crossed with faint, wavy lines of the same color. 

 There is less chestnut on the sides, and the wing bars are narrower. 



Young of the year. Differs in having the crown dusky and chestnut, with the white lines replaced by pale-rufous ting- 

 ed with dusky. The wing bars are also rufous. The white throat is more or less obscured with rufous. There are black 

 maxillary lines and the breast is streaked with dusky. The yellow lines of the head are somewhat restricted and obscured 

 with dusky. 



Nestlinys. Differ from the above in being finely streaked below, on all parts, excepting the abdomen,with dusky, and 

 the white overwashed with yellowish. Sexes similar in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Individuals vary but little in color, the ashy of the breast is occasionally lighter and there is sometimes an indication 

 of a dusky spot on the middle of the breast. Readily known in the more adult stages by the black, white and yellow mark- 

 ings of the top of the head. Nestlings are much more diflicult to determine and as I have none of the allied species in- this 

 stage at hand, cannot speak with certainty of the differences, but should judge that albicollis is more rufous above. The 

 females are apt to be duller. 



Distributed, while breeding, from Northern Massachusetts, to the far North, through the Eastern and Middle districts. 

 Winters from the latitude of North Carolina to Central Florida, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River. 



