LAND BIRDS. 503 
with blackish, the rump and upper tail-coverts plain; lores black; sides of head gray- 
ish white or gray; chin and_ throat black, this color usually extending downward 
to the center of the breast; sides and flanks buffy brown, streaked with dark brown 
or blackish; rest of under parts white; wings and tail grayish-brown, the former with two 
white bars on the tips of the coverts, and the tertiaries and inner secondaries margined 
with chestnut; bill reddish, darker at the tip; iris brown. Young: Similar to adult, but 
the black of head much obscured by the gray feather tips, and that of the chin and throat 
largely re laced by white; usually there is some black visible on the chin and a second 
patch on the middle of the chest (sometimes reduced to a group of dusky streaks) ; the sides 
of head also are distinctly buffy or brownish. 
Length 6.75 to 7.75 inches; wing 3.20 to 3.60; tail 3.30 to 3.75. 
228. White-crowned Sparrow. Zonotrichia leucophrys leucophrys (J"orst.). 
(554) 
Synonyms: White-crown.—Emberiza leucophrys, Forster, 1772.—Fringilla leucophrys 
Bonap., Nutt., Aud.—Zonotrichia leucophrys of most authors. : an 
Plate XLIX. 
A large, handsome sparrow with a broad milk-white stripe through the 
middle of the crown, bordered on each side by a stripe of clear black. The 
chin is white, and the throat and breast are continuous light gray. 
Distribution.—North America at large, breeding chiefly in the Rocky 
Mountains, the Sierra Nevada and northeast to Labrador. South in winter 
to the Valley of Mexico. 
A not uncommon spring migrant in all parts of the state; less often noticed 
in autumn. It associates more or less with the White-throats, but is 
frequently found in small parties of five to ten by itself. Mr. Swales records 
it near Detroit as early as April 27, 1889, and as late as May 21, 1899. Speci- 
mens were killed on Spectacle Reef Light frequently, the earliest May 6, 
1887, and the latest May 28, 1892. Fall records at the same light are 
September 24 and 25, 1889 and October 5, 1890. In the southern part 
of the state it probably is more common in October than in September. 
At the Agricultural College it appeared May 8, 1897, and May 12, 1900. 
There is a possibility that this sparrow nests in the northernmost parts 
of the state, but we have no positive record. Miss Mowbray says it is very 
common at Marquette from April 17 to September 20, which would indicate 
nesting, but neither O. B. Warren, E. A. Doolittle, nor the writer, has 
found it in that region, where the White-throated Sparrow breeds com- 
monly; moreover, Major Boies did not find it nesting on Neebish Island, 
nor have any of the good observers at the Sault recorded it in summer. 
On the other hand it is known to nest not rarely in similar latitudes in 
Wisconsin and Ontario. It is said to nest on the ground, or in a low bush, 
and the eggs are described as varying in ground color from pale blue to 
pale brown, more or less thickly speckled with reddish brown. They average 
.85 by .61 inches. 
Dr. A. K. Fisher, speaking of the song as heard during migration at 
Sing Sing, New York, says that it suggests that of the Meadowlark. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 
Adult (sexes practically alike): Forehead and sides of crown velvet black, enclosing 
a broad stripe of pure white, which darkens into clear gray on the nape; a narrower white 
stripe starts above the eye and curves backward to the nape, being bounded below by a 
black line which starts just behind the eye; back ash-gray, streaked with dark brown, the 
