304 PERCHERS AND SINGERS 
hedge, secure a good grip on a comfortable twig, point his 
beak skyward at an angle of sixty degrees and sing as if 
trying to burst his little throat. Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright 
justly calls him ‘“‘the darling among the song-birds,” and “the 
most constant singer: among our northern birds.” In some 
localities, at least, they sing all summer long. In Iowa I have 
heard them a thousand times, bravely piping and trilling in 
the sweltering heat of July and August, when other birds were 
silent, and have been moved to wonder at the amount of 
energy stored up in their little bodies. 
I think the best way to identify this bird is by its singing. 
Pick out the sparrow in gray and brown which sings to sur- 
pass all others, and it will be a Song Sparrow. Its home is 
the eastern half of North America, from northern Manitoba 
to Mexico. West of the Rocky Mountains it becomes the 
Mountain Song Sparrow. In the southwestern deserts it 
grows pale—to match its environment—and becomes the 
Desert Song Sparrow. There are thirteen species of the Song 
Sparrow genus—or at least that number have been described, 
and Alaska is yet to be heard from. 
Tue Wuitre-THroatep Sparrow! is the species which 
comes next in general attractiveness. It is a very pert and 
pretty bird—for a sparrow, and its oddly marked head is 
easily identified. It wears a white goatee and a black cap, 
and on the latter is laid a broad arrow, in white. A white 
line comes down along the centre line of the head, and an- 
other comes forward over each eye, until the three come to- 
gether at the base of the upper mandible. The song of this bird 
1 Zo-no-tri'chi-a al-bi-col'lis. Length, 6.50 inches. 
