BIRDS. 195 



tied by the gray shaft-lines of the feathers. A light line extends back from the sides of the man- 

 dible and is shaded and mottled with brown. The chin is ashy or grayish white. The throat, 

 breast, and abdomen a dingy shade of ashy- white. The feathers of throat and breast each with 

 an indistinctly marked central shaft-tip of smoky fulvous-brown, which gives the breast of the bird 

 at this stage an indistinct smoky or mottled appearance; on the sides there is a uniform shade 

 of dingy fulvous-brown, which may be uniform or, as in some specimens, the feathers have faint 

 dark shaft-lines. 



Melospiza lincolni (Aud.). Lincoln's Sparrow. 



At Nulato this bird is rare, but thence it becomes more and more numerous towards the east,. 

 and at Fort Yukon it is considerably more abundant; its eggs have been sent to the National 

 Museum from that place. It has been found breeding throughout the northern portions of British 

 America to the Arctic Ocean, and in Northern Alaska extending down the Yukon to Nulato, and 

 perhaps even still farther, to the shores of Bering Sea. It occurs commonly along the coast of 

 California as a winter resident and migrant in spring, which is an argument for its presence along 

 the southern shore of Alaska, but we have no record of it from that part of the Territory. 



During the middle of April, 1877, I found it numerous in the vicinity of San Francisco, as it 

 was passing north with niimerous other species. Like various other birds, however, which extend 

 their northern breeding range far within Arctic lands, this sparrow is found rearing its young 

 also under sunnier skies, aud has been taken during the nesting season in Oregon, California, at 

 the southern end of Lake Michigan, and at various other points in middle latitudes. 



Passbrella iliaca (Merr.). Fox Sparrow. 



Along the coast of Norton Sound this bird is an abundant summer resident, sharing with the 

 Tree-sparrows the bushy shelter of the alder thickets on the hill-sides and sheltered ravines. Wher- 

 ever, along the northern coast, a fair-sized alder patch occurs, this hardy species may confidently be 

 looked for. Its presence is first noted at Saint Michaels from the 10th to the 15th of May each 

 spring, frequently when the ground is still largely covered with snow. The alder thickets, which are 

 to give them shelter later, are now half buried beneath the wintry snow banks, and, their chosem 

 haunts being thus closed to them, the birds keep about the houses or native villages, where the 

 snow disappears quickest, and the small patches of bare ground afford them spots where they may 

 obtain their food. The small garden patch at Saint Michaels, which bordered the south side of 

 the kitchen, was a favorite gathering place for these birds ; sometimes two or three might be seeui 

 at once in the small plot, scratching away with vigorous claws, sending the dirt right and lef% 

 pausing every few moments and looking about for any insect or seeds they might have turned un. 

 Their mode of procedure is odd in these cases. In place of scratching first with one foot aud then 

 with the other, as gallinaceous birds do, they worked with both feet at once, so that they appeared 

 to be continually hopping, and the pieces of dirt or small fragments of chips flew right and left in 

 a perfect shower, some of them being thrown to a distance of 2 to 3 feet or more by the vigorous 

 strokes of the bird's claws. 



On pleasant frosty mornings at this season the males take their stand upon the roof of the 

 highest building, or the cross upon the Greek church — just back of the dwellings — whence they 

 pour forth their clear, thrush-like whistle. The song is clear and melodious, but far too short. 

 The notes may be indicated by the ayllsibles pew-ee-dudy-pew, these notes being uttered in a clear, 

 musical whistle, with a rising accent to the middle and then falling rapidly, with considerable 

 inflection at the end. The effect is very pleasing, and on clear, frosty mornings toward the end of 

 May, a concert raised by four or five of these birds perched upon the tallest bushes rising over an 

 alder thicket, is very fine, and affords, perhaps, the sweetest and most melodious series of bird- 

 notes with which we are favored in that region. If the songster is approached, he ceases his song, 

 and, after watching the motions of the intruder for a i'evr moments, dives precipitately into the shelter 

 of flie thicket, only to reappear, however, at a considerable distance further on, where he suddenly 

 perches upon a projecting bush and recommences his song, as if undisturbed. This maneuver ho 

 will repeat again and again until thoroughly frightened ; but by remaining quiet one may be sure he 



