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



habit of the European nightingales, which, however, choose to 

 sing only in the moonlight. 



White-throated Sparrow 



(ZonotricUa albicoUis) Finch family 



Called also: PEABODY BIRD; CANADA SPARROW 



Length — 6.73 to 7 inches. Larger than the English sparrow. 



Male and Female — A black crown divided by narrow white line. 

 Yellow spot before the eye, and a white line, apparently run- 

 ning through it, passes backward to the nape. Conspicuous 

 white throat. Chestnut back, varied with black and whitish. 

 Breast gray, growing lighter underneath. Wings edged 

 with rufous and with two white cross-bars. 



^ange — Eastern North America. Nests from Michigan and Mas- 

 sachusetts northward to Labrador. Winters from southern 

 New England to Florida. 



Migrations— Kpn\. October. Abundant during migrations, and 

 in many States a winter resident. 



"/-/, Pea-body, Pea-body, Pea-body," are. the syllables of the 

 white-throat's song heard by the good New Englanders, who 

 have a tradition that you must either be a Peabody or a nobody 

 there ; while just over the British border the bird is distinctly un- 

 derstood to say, " Swee-e-e-t Can-a-da, Can-a-da, Can-a-da." 

 "All day, wUt-tle-ing, whit-tle-ing, wUt-tle-ing," the Maine 

 people declare he sings ; and Hamilton Gibson told of a per- 

 plexed farmer, Peverly by name, who, as he stood in the field 

 undecided as to what crop to plant, clearly heard the bird advise, 

 "Sow wheat, Pev-er-ly, Pev-er-ly, Pev-er-ly." Such divergence 

 of opinion, which is really slight compared with the verbal record 

 of many birds' songs, only goes to show how little the sweet- 

 ness of birds' music, like the perfume of a rose, depends upon a 

 name. 



In a family not distinguished for good looks, the white- 

 throated sparrow is conspicuously handsome, especially after the 

 spring moult. In midwinter the feathers grow dingy and the 

 markings indistinct ; but as the season advances, his colors are 

 sure to brighten perceptibly, and before he takes the northward 

 journey in April, any little lady sparrow might feel proud of the 



i6s 



