FOX SPARROW, 



Passerella iliaca. 



Char. Above, foxy red (brightest on wings and rump) streaked with 

 ash (in winter the a^h is sometimes obscure); head and tail without 

 streaks ; wings with two white bars ; below, white spotted with red. 

 Length about 7 inches. 



Nest. Amid moss, or on a low bush ; composed of grass and moss, lined 

 with grass, roots, and feathers. 



£gg^- 4-5 ; white with green or blue tinge, spotted and blotched with 

 brown of several shades (sometimes the brown almost conceals the 

 ground color); great variation in size, average about 0.80 X 0.65. 



This large and handsome Sparrow, after passing the summer 

 and breeding-season in the northern regions of the continent 

 around Hudson Bay, and farther north and west perhaps to 

 the shores of the Pacific, visits us in straggUng parties or pairs 

 from the middle of October to November. At this time it 

 frequents low, sheltered thickets in moist and watery situations, 

 where it usually descends to the ground and is busily employed 

 in scratching up the earth and rustling among the fallen leaves 

 in quest of seeds, worms, and insects, but more particularly the 

 last. It migrates in a desultory manner, and sometimes arrives 



