112 BIRDS 



syllable of the name. Learn to imitate it and you will be 

 able to whistle up any white-throat within reach of your 

 voice in the Adirondacks, the White Mountains, or the 

 deep, cool woods of Maine, throughout the summer, al- 

 though the majority of these hardy sparrows nest on the 

 northern side of the Canadian border. Our hot weather 

 they cannot abide. When there is a keen breath of frost in 

 the air, and the hedgerows and thickets in the United 

 States are taking on glorious autumnal tints, listen for the 

 white-throated migrants conversing with sharp cMnh call- 

 notes that sound like the ring of a marble-cutter's chisel. 

 During the autumn and spring migrations, when these 

 birds are likely to give us the semi-annual pleasure of coming 

 closer about our homes, with other members of their sociable 

 tribe, you will see that the white-throat is a slightly larger 

 and more distinguished bird than the English sparrow, and 

 that he wears a white patch above his plain, gray breast* 



The White-crowned Sparrow 



The large size and handsome markings of this aristo- 

 cratic-looking northern sparrow, who wears a black and 

 broad white striped cap on his head, would serve to dis- 

 tinguish him at once, did he not often consort with his 

 equally fine-looking, white-throated cousins while migrat- 

 ing, and so too often get overlooked. 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 Moun- 

 tains than elsewhere in the United States. There in the 

 lonely forest it nests in low bushes or on the ground, and 



