TREE SPAKEOW. 333 



of Columbus it makes it.^ apjpearance in October, and remains until 

 the first of May It ^'' most abundant in November and March. In 

 very severe weather "a;j,iy most of thorn p.iss further south. Thej- 



are to be found eveiy ■■. but i specially affect the undergrowth along 



the banks of streams, fence-rows, and thickets on the edges of woods. 

 They are numerous in the gardens of cities, and become quite familiar. 

 Their ordinary note is a sho't sharp emphatic chip, rapidly repeated as 

 the bird is fiushed, but ia tlie spring hs the days become warmer, they 

 delight to set in the low branches of trees and sing a very sweet sup- 

 pressed song, as if tuning up in anticipation of the approaching breed- 

 ing season. 



The nest is placed on the gr()und. It is composed of strips of bark, 

 straw, rootlets, and hair, and lined with moss and fur. The eggs are 

 creamy-white, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown. They measure 

 ,75 by .60. 



Grinds SPIZELLA. IJouapiirte. 



Bill conical, its outliues sliijlitly oiirved, the lownr iiiaQCliblo decidedly larger than the 

 upper. Feet slender; tarMiid rather loD^er than middle toe; hind toe a little longer than 

 outer lateral, which slightly exceeds the inner; outer claw reaching to base of middle 

 claw, and half as long as its too. Wiugs sonjewh.it pointed, about equal to and reach- 

 ing nearly to middle of the tail ; tail rather lung, moderately forked. 



Spizella monticola (Gm.) Bd. 



Tree &5parro-\v. 



Fringilla canadensis, KtRTLAXD, Ohio Gi;olog. Surv , 183-*, 1C4. — Kkad, Proc Phila. Acad. 

 Nat. Sci , vi, 1«53, 39.'). 



Spizella monticola, Wheaton, Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1H(J0, 366; Beprint, 1861, 8; Food of 

 Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 566; Reprint, 1875, 6,— Lakgdon, Cat. Birds 

 of Cin , 1877, H; Revised Xjist, Joura. Cin. Soc Nat. Hist , i, 1879, 175: Reprint. 9. 



Fringilla monticola, Gmrlin, Syst Nat , i, 1788, 912, 

 Fringilla canadensis, Latham, Ind. Orn., 1790, 434, 

 Spizella monticola, Baird, Birds N. Am , I8,i8, 472 



Bill black above, yellow below; legs brown, toes black; no black on forehead; crown 

 chestnut (in winter specimens tbe feathers usually skirted with gray), bordered by a 

 grayish-white superciliary and loral line, and some vague chestnut marks on sides of 

 head; below, impurely whitish, tinged with ashy anteriorly, washed with pale brownish 

 posteriorly; the middle of the breast with an obsnure dusky bloteh; middle of back 

 boldly streaked with black, bay, and flaxen; middle and lesser wing-coverts black, 

 edged with bay and tipped with white, forming two conspicuous cross-bars; inner 

 secondaries similarly variegated ; other quills and tail feathers dusky, with pale edges. 

 Length, 6; wing and tail, nearly 3. 



Habitat, North America at large, excepting, probably, the Gulf States. 



Abundant winter resident from November to the latter part of April. 



