Jan., 1909. Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin — Cory 



605 



:X 



shreds of bark. The eggs are 4 to 5, dull greenish white or bluish 

 green, thickly and heavily marked with brown, and measure about 

 .76 X .56 inches. 



Genus PASSERELLA Swainson. 



270. Passerella iliaca (Merr.). 



Fox Sparrow. 



Distr.: Eastern North America, from the Plains to the Atlantic 

 coast, south in winter to Texas and the Gulf states, accidental in 

 California; breeds chiefly north of the United States, from northern 

 Manitoba to Alaska and from northern Maine to Labrador. 



Adult: General color above, rusty brown, mixed with gray, the 

 back showing imperfect streaks of rusty; tail and tail coverts, rufous 



brown, the latter often with narrow 



pale edgings; under parts, white, 



more or less heavily and irregularly 



marked, except on the belly and 



crissum, with rusty brown; wings 



appear rufous brown when closed, 



caused by the slaty brown feathers 



being heavily margined with that 



color; greater and middle wing 



coverts, more or less faintly tipped 



with white (absent in immature birds) ; upper mandible, dark; lower 



mandible, yellow, except at tip. 



Sexes similar. 



Length, about 7; wing, 3.45; tail, 3.10; bill, .43. 

 The Fox Sparrow is common during the migrations in Illinois 

 and Wisconsin and is a winter resident in southern Illinois. Fre- 

 quents thickets and shrubbery, and is rather retiring in its habits. 

 It has a charming song, perhaps, unsurpassed by any of our sparrows. 

 Its loud, clear whistling notes, however, are so varied as to make 

 any attempt at description unsatisfactory. 



Genus PIPILO Vieill. 

 271. Pipilo erythrophthalmus (Linn.). 



TOWHEE. TOWHEE BuNTING. 



Distr.: " Eastern United States and southern Canada, west to the 

 Plains, breeding from the lower Mississippi Valley and Georgia north- 

 ward; in winter from the middle districts southward." (A. O. U.) 



