Z. ALBICOLLIS, WHITE-THEOATED SPARROW. 153 



field, and thus continue alternately sallying forth and retreating during 

 the greater part of the day. At the approach of night they uttvr a 

 sharper and shriller note, consisting of a single twit, repeated in smart 

 succession by the whole group, and continuing until the first hooting of 

 some owl frightens them into silence. Yet, olteu during fine nights, I 

 have heard the little creatures emit, here and there, a twit, as if to assure 

 each other that ' all's well.' " 



The musical abilities of this pretty Sparrow, to which Audubon so 

 feelingly alludes, are of a high order, thougli the song is rather notable 

 for its limpid sweetness than for power and brilliancy. An attempt is 

 made to express the sound in the name commonly given to the species, 

 in some sections, " Peabody-bird." It seems to say, pee-a'body, a'body, 

 a'body, a'hody, beginning clear, high, and loud, with prolonging of the 

 first syllable; then rising still higher and shortly accenting the second 

 note; then trilling the remainder with a falling inflexion and decreasing 

 volume; this latter part being repeated three or four times, tbe a' still 

 accented, but with diminishing emphasis. I thiuk it might be readily 

 written in musical notes, but I am unable to do so. 



Audubon does not appear to have known the nest and eggs of this 

 bird, since he copies Eichardson's account. It builds on the ground, 

 usually among bushes, in various situations ; the nest is made of dried 

 grass, weed-stems, and moss, lined with thready rootlets or very fine 

 grasses. The eggs are four or five in number, measuring, on an 

 average, nineteuths of an inch long by three-fifths, or a little more, in 

 breadth, and are dull-whitish, with spots and splashes of surface-brown 

 and similar shell-markings of neutral-tint. It breeds in the latter part 

 of May and in June; I do not know whether more than one brood is 

 reared each season. \ 



The change of plumage of the head of this species offers an interesting 

 point, apparently not yet determined. Only the male, it appears, gets 

 the pure black of the crown, and only during the breeding season. 

 Though I have shot great numbers in the fall, I do not recollect tb.nt I 

 ever got one at that season in perfect head-feathering, so that it becomes 

 probable that the breeding livery is put off with a late summer moult. 

 And even in spring, in the Middle States, tbe number of brown-headed, 

 or, at any rate, of imperfectly black-crowned individuals, is out of all 

 proportion to those in breeding dress. I used tp take a few such in 

 May, just before they moved oft^ but they were rarities. This circum- 

 stance may be accounted for by Mr. Allen's observation, that the male 

 does not attain its mature colors until the second spring.^ " The young 

 males," he observes, " sing equally well with the adults, and probably 

 breed in this plumage. Observing many birds singing in the garb of 

 the female drew my attention to the subject, and dissection showed 

 them invariably to be males. This accounts for the great proportion of 

 birds in the livery of the female, both in spring and fall, often observed." 

 These remarks may bear as well upon other species of the same genus. 

 I am not aware that other writers have indicated that the female of this 

 species is songless; I was certainly myself unaware of the fact, if, 

 indeed, it be so. 



The eggs of ZonotricMa albicollis, and of leucophrys, with its varieties, 

 are not distinguishable from each other. They are of the same general 

 character as those of Melospiza — heavy marking, iu interminable variety, 

 with different reddish and darker brown shades, upon a dull, i)aie 

 greenish or grayish ground. These markings may be large blotches, 

 or mere marbling in flue points; at the butt of the e^g the reddish 

 coloration i« frequently nearly uniform. 



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