Open Nests in Woods, Thickets, Swampy Thickets 



spicuous. The place generally chosen is in the dark woods, 

 where the ground is thickly strewn with dead leaves. The birds 

 look like large bats or moths as they glide away in noiseless flight 

 among the trees, to perch lengthways on a horizontal branch, 

 becoming, to all appearance, part of the bark. In order to find 

 the eggs, it is advisable to use a dog ; otherwise it is a most dis- 

 couraging task. As the birds remove the eggs if they have been 

 handled, it is as well to secure them at the time of finding, 

 as otherwise they may have disappeared when the place is re- 

 visited. The young are said to " run about much like young 

 partridge." 



In New Jersey the eggs are deposited about June ist. 



558. White-throated Sparrow: Zonotrichia albicollis 



(Gmel.) 



Adult — Upper parts reddish brown streaked with black ; head 

 black on either side of crown, white between and below the 

 streaks ; throat white ; yellow between bill and eye, and at 

 bend of wing ; under parts gray. 



Immature^Breast darker, almost spotted ; throat whit- 

 ish, with two undefined lines ; the white on the head re- 

 placed by a grayish colour. Length — 6.74. 



Breeding Range — From northern Michigan and northern New 

 York and northern New England, northward. 



The nest is usually placed on the ground in woodland, or 

 sometimes in open pasture land, and occasionally built in a bush 

 or among the branches of a fallen tree. It is made of grasses, 

 weeds, fine roots, and moss, with a lining of fine grass. 4 or 

 5 eggs are laid ; they have the ground colour varying from white 

 to bluish, or sometimes yellowish white, with fine marks and 

 heavy blotches of different shades of brown. Size — .79 x .61 to 

 .89 X .64. See Fig. 7, Plate B. 



Next to the white-crowned sparrow, the Peabody-bird or 

 White-throated Sparrow is the handsomest of the sparrows that 

 visit our Eastern States, but he is known to most of us only as 

 an autumn and spring visitor — ever welcome with his plaintive 

 little song. 



In New England the breeding season commences about 

 June 1st. 



60 



