38 EVERYDAY BIRDS 



The fox sparrow is to be heard from the 20th 

 of March (I speak roughly) to the middle of April. 

 In respect to voice and cadence, he is to me the 

 finest of our sparrows proper, though I do not 

 think him so finished an artist as the song and 

 vesper sparrows. He may be recognized by his 

 superior size and his bright rusty-red (reddish 

 brown) color. Indeed, these two features give 

 him at first sight the appearance of a thrush. He 

 is one of the sparrows — like the song, the vesper, 

 the savanna, and the Ipswich — which are thickly 

 streaked upon the breast. 



The tree sparrow passes the winter with us, as 

 I have said, but abounds only during the two 

 migrations. He is in full song for the greater 

 part of April. His distinctive marks are a bright 

 reddish (" chestnut ") crown, conspicuous white 

 wing-bars, and an obscure round blotch in the 

 middle of his unstreaked breast. 



The white-throat, commonly a very abundant 

 migrant, arrives about the 20th of April and re- 

 mains till about the middle of May. His loud, 

 clear song is remarkable for its peculiar and 

 strongly marked rhythm. It consists of two com- 

 paratively long introductory notes, followed by 

 three sets of triplets in monotone — like see, see, 

 peabody, peabody, peahody. This bird, too, 

 perplexing as the sparrows are usually thought 



