Brown, Olive or Grayish Brown, and Brown and Gray Sparrowy Birds 



why no two ornithologists record it alike. Doubtless the chief 

 reason for the amusing differences in the syllables into which the 

 songs of birds are often translated in the books, is that the same 

 notes actually sound differently to different individuals. Thus, 

 to people in Massachusetts the white-throated sparrow seems to 

 say, " Pea-bod-y, Pea-bod-y, Pea-bod-y ! " while good British 

 subjects beyond the New England border hear him sing quite dis- 

 tinctly, " Sweet Can-a-da, Can-a-da, Can-a-da!" But however 

 the opinions as to the syllables of the field sparrow's song may 

 differ, all are agreed as to its exquisite quality, that resembles the 

 vesper sparrow's tender, sweet melody. The song begins with 

 three soft, wild whistles, and ends with a series of trills and 

 quavers that gradually melt away into silence : a serene and restful 

 strain as soothing as a hymn. Like the vesper sparrows, these 

 birds sometimes build a plain, grassy nest, unprotected by over- 

 hanging bush, flat upon the ground. Possibly from a prudent 

 fear of field-mice and snakes, the little mother most frequently 

 lays her bluish-white, rufous-marked eggs in a nest placed in a 

 bush of a bushy field. Hence John Burroughs has called the bird 

 the "bush sparrow." 



Fox Sparrow 



(Passerella ilica) Finch family 



Called also: FOX-COLORED SPARROW; FERRUGINOUS 

 FINCH ; FOXY FINCH 



Length — 6.5 to 7.25 inches. Nearly an inch longer than the Eng- 

 lish sparrow. 



Male and Female — Upper parts reddish brown, varied with ash- 

 gray, brightest on lower back, wings, and tail. Bluish slate 

 about the head. Underneath whitish ; the throat, breast, and 

 sides heavily marked with arrow-heads and oblong dashes of 

 reddish brown and blackish. 



Range — Alaska and Manitoba to southern United States. Winters 

 chiefly south of Illinois and Virginia. Occasional stragglers 

 remain north most of the winter. 



Migrations — March. November. Most common in the migra- 

 tions. 



There will be little difficulty in naming this largest, most 

 plump and reddish of all the sparrows, whose fox-colored 



IS3 



