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



White-crowned Sparrow 



(Zonotrichia leiicopbrys) Finch family 



Length — 7 inches. A little larger than the English sparrow. 



Male — White head, with four longitudinal black lines marking off 

 a crown, the black-and-white stripes being of about equal 

 width. Cheeks, nape, and throat gray. Light gray under- 

 neath, with some buff tints. Back dark grayish brown, 

 some feathers margined with gray. Two interrupted white 

 bars across wings. Plain, dusky tail ; total effect, a clear 

 ashen gray. 



Female — With rusty head inclining to gray on crown. Paler 

 throughout than the male. 



Range — From high mountain ranges of western United States 

 (more rarely on Pacific slope) to Atlantic Ocean, and from 

 Labrador to Mexico. Chiefly south of Pennsylvania. 



Migrations — October. April. Irregular migrant in Northern States. 

 A winter resident elsewhere. 



The large size and handsome markings of this aristocratic- 

 looking Northern sparrow would serve to distinguish him at once, 

 did he nol! often consort with his equally fine-looking white- 

 throated cousins while migrating, and so too often get over- 

 looked. Sparrows are such gregarious birds that it is well to 

 scrutinize every flock with especial care in the spring and autumn, 

 when the rarer migrants are passing. This bird is more common 

 in the high altitudes of the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains 

 than elsewhere in the United States. There in the lonely forest 

 it nests in low bushes or on the ground, and sings its full love- 

 song, as it does in the northern British provinces, along the Atlan- 

 tic coast ; but during the migrations it favors us only with 

 selections from its repertoire. Mr. Ernest Thompson says, "Its 

 usual song is like the latter half of the white-throat's familiar re- 

 frain, repeated a number of times with a peculiar, sad cadence and 

 in a clear, soft whistle that is characteristic of the group." "The 

 song is the loudest and most plaintive of all the sparrow songs," 

 says John Burroughs. ' ' It begins with the words fe-u, fe-u, fe-u, 

 and runs off into trills and quavers like the song sparrow's, only 

 much more touching." Colorado miners tell that this sparrow, 

 like its white-throated relative, sings on the darkest nights. 

 Often a score or more birds are heard singing at once after the 



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