380 



SYSTE3IATIC STXOPSIS. —PASSEEES— OSCIXES. 



head black, usnallv divided bv 



ebeeks : sides of head aud neek othenrise ashr-gray, Bek'tr. iiujHirely wbiiish. tinged irith 

 ;uiliT anteviiirly. washed Triih pale brownish posteriorly, the middle of the breast with au obscure 

 dusky bhjteh. Midille of back boldly streaked with black, bay. and llaxen : middle aud greater 

 ^Ting-Coverts black, edged with bay and tipped with white, fomiiug two couspicuous cross-bars ; 

 inner secondaries similarly varieeated : other c^uills and tail-feathers plain dusky, with pale or 

 whitish edges. Eemarkably constant in coloratii^n : sexes iudistiniiuishable. and young very 

 similar, the chief variation being in the veiling oi the cap with gray. There is a very early 

 streaky stage. liLiwever, as in C'ther species. A handsome sparrow, the largest of the genus. 

 Length 5.SO-6.iO. usmilly 6.00; extent S. 75-9. To. usually 9.^5 : wing and tail i. 75-3.10, 

 Abundant in the U. S. in winter, flocking in shrubbery: breeds in mountainous and boreal 

 regions, even to the Arctic coast. Infreqttent or casual west of the Eocky Mts. Xesi in h'w 

 bushes or l'U the ground, loosely cousnaicted of bark-strips, weeds, aud grasses, warmly 

 lined with feathers. Eggs i— G cir even 7, pale sreen. minutely and regulai'ly sprinkled with 

 reddish-brown sp'jts. 



269. S. domestica. (Lat. domestica. domestic. Figs. -3.37. -3s") Chippkct Sf-U5KOW. Chip- 

 EIBD OE Chippy. HArK-BiED. Adult : Bill black ; feet pale : crown chestnut : extreme fore- 

 pale line : a grayish-white superciliary line : below this a 



blackish stripe through eye and over aurictilars : 

 lores dtisky. Below, a variable shade of p;tle ash. 

 nearly uuifmu and entirely unmarked : back 

 streaked with black, dull bay and grayish-brown ; 

 inner secondaries and wing-coverts similarly vari- 

 egated, the tips of the greater and median coverts 

 forming whitish bars: rumpi ashy, with sliirht 

 blackish streaks or none ; prinuuies and tail- 

 feathers dusky, with paler edges. Smaller : 

 length 5.00-5.50: extent sOO-9.00: wing :i!.(iG- 

 0.75 ; tail less, about i.oO. Sexes alike, but very 

 young bii'ds quite different : the crown being 

 streaked like the back, the breast and sides 

 roaaceil (Sliep- thickly streaked with dusky, the bill piale brown, 

 and the head lacking definite bhick. In this 

 stase. which, hivvever. is of brief duration, it resembles some other species, but may be known 

 by a certain ashiness the others lack, and from the small sparrows that are streaked below 

 when adult, by its generic characters. Xoith America, extremely abundant, and the most 

 familiar species about houses, in ijardens. and elsewhere, nesting in shrubbery ; nest of fine 

 dried grass, hued with ban- ; Ciigs 1—5, bluish, speckled sparsely and chiefly about the larger 

 end "with blackish-brown, with purplish shell-markings : size about 0.70 X 0.55. 



270. S- d- arizo na?. (Lat. of Arizona.) Arizona Chippixg Spakkotv. Like au immature 5. 

 do})ief:tic<J. Paler than this species, the ashiness in great measure brown; crowu grayish-brown 

 streaked with dusky hke the back, and showing evident traces of rich chestnut, but never 

 becoming whollv chestnut ; black fnintlet lacking or obscure, and no definite ashy superciliary 

 line, the sides of the crown merely lighter brown ; bill brown above, pale below. Arizona, aud 

 other portions of the Southern Eocky Mt. region. A curious fonn, as it were an arrested stage 

 of domestica. Some specimens, with the least chestnut on the liead. look remarkably like 

 breireri. but this last is evidently smaller, without chestnut on the head, and otherwise difl'erent. 



2T1. S. agres'tis. (L.at. o.q'rerff;?. jicrtaining to fields : ni/cr, a field.) Field Spakkow. Bill pale 

 reddish ; feet very pale ; crown duU chestnut ; aurictilars and postoctilar stripe the same ; no 

 decided black or whitish about head. Below, -white, unmarked, but much washed with pale 

 brown on breast and sides : sides of head and neck with some vasue brown marlviuus; all the 



Xioliols sc ) 



