I 



, 



FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 



301 



their arrival. Then there are a few sweet, tremulous trials before the 

 plaintive, sympathetic whistle brings cheer to the browning woods: 



— I ^ ^ f-^-f 



^_#i?r=if_»_#_«_#_^ 



or 



0-0-0—0 0-0—0-0-0 — 



Few birds are more sociable than the White-throats. At this season 

 they are always in little companies, and they frequently roost together 

 iti large numbers in the depths of dense thickets or clumps of ever- 

 greens. After they have retired one may hear the sharp chink of their 

 " quarrier " chorus, and when darkness comes, with low, brooding notes 

 of cozy companionship they are hushed for the night. 



559. Spizella monticola (Gmel). Tkke Spakrow; Winter 

 Ciiii'PY. Ad. — No l)lack on the foreht'iul ; im indisliiiet black ispot on the 

 center of the breast; top of the licud rufous-)3ro\vn, soiuetiines edj^ed with 

 ashy; a gruyish Hue over the eye and a rufous-brown line behind it; back 

 streaked witli rufous-brown, t)laek, and pale ocliraeeous-buff; rump pale 

 grayisli brown; greater and middle wintr-coverts tipped with white; outer 

 web of the outer tail-featlier wliitish : breast frrayish white; middle of the 

 belly white; sides tinsred with pale crrayish brown; upper mandible blaek, 

 lower, yellow at the base, the tip blnek. L., r.-Sfi; W.. 2-00 ; T., 2-82 ; B., -41. 



liatuje. — Eastern North Ameriea; breeds in Labrador and tlie region 

 about Hudson Bay; south in winter, through eastern United States; west to 

 the ii(\.\i,c. of tlie Great Plains. 



Washington, abundant \V. V., Nov. 1 to Apl. 5. Sing Sing, eommon 

 W. v., Oet. 10 to Apl. 27. Tambridge, eommon W. V., abundant T. V., Oet. 

 25 to Nov. 25; Meh. 20 to .Apl. 20. 



Nest^ of grasses, rootlets, anil hair, on or near the ground. " E(J(JK., four to 

 five, pale green or greenish blue, spotted with reddish brown, "75 x "60" 

 (Chamberlain). 



Tree Sparrows wear a small blaek dot on the center of thoir other- 

 wise unmarked breasts, a badge which will aid in their identification. 

 They come in flocks when the fields are beginning to look l)rown and 

 dreary, but seem contented with the surroundings from which other 

 birds have fled. 



They feed on the seeds of weeds and grasses, and even when the 

 snow is deepest always find an abundance of food. I like to see them 

 feasting on the seed stalks above the crust, and to hear their diorus of 

 merry, tinkling notes, like sparkling frost crystals turned to music. 



Winter Chippies they are sometimes called, but at this season there 



