WHITE- THROATED SPARROW. 319 



They travel in small companies of ten or twelve, the individuals 

 keeping each other in view, as they skulk from one brush pile to 

 another to avoid being observed. By the 25th of May they have 

 all gone north, apparently far north, for I have no record of their 

 having been found breeding in Ontario. 



In the fall they are again seen on the return trip, but not in 

 such great numbers as in the spring, and none have been observed 

 to winter within our limits. 



ZONOTRICHIA ALBICOLLIS (Gmel.), 

 229. White-throated Sparrow. (558) 



Adult irwde: — With the crown black, divided by a median white stripe, 

 bounded by a white superciliary line and yellow spot from the nostril to the 

 eye ; below this a black stripe through the eye ; below this a maxillary black 

 stripe bounding the indefinitely pure white throat, sharply contrasted with 

 the dark ash of the breast and sides of the neck and head ; edge of wing, 

 yellow ; back, continuously streaked with black, chestnut and fulvous- white ; 

 rump, ashy, unmarked ; wings, much edged with bay, the white tips of the 

 median and greater coverts forming two conspicuous bars ; quills and tail 

 feathers, dusky, with pale edges ; below, white, shaded with ashy-brown 

 on sides, the ash deeper and purer on the breast ; bill, dark ; feet, pale. 

 Female : — And immature birds with the black of head replaced by brown, the 

 white of throat less conspicuously contrasted with the duller ash of surrounding ' 

 parts, and frequently with obscure dusky streaks on the breast and sides. 

 Length, 6J-74 ; wings and tail, each about 3. 



Hae. — Eastern North America, west to the Plains, north to Labrador and 

 the Fur Countries. Breeds in Northern Michigan, Northern New York and 

 Northern New England, and winters from the Middle States southward. 



Nest, among the bushes, on or near the ground, composed of weeds, grass 

 and moss, lined with fibre and thread-like rootlets. 



Eggs, four to six, variable in color and pattern, usually greenish-blue, 

 clouded and blotched with chocolate-brown. 



These beautiful Sparrows make their appearance in Southern 

 Ontario about the 20th bf April, and till the middle of May are seen 

 among the shrubbery and underbush, working their way in small 

 flocks towards their summer residence to the north of us. Great 

 numbers are said to go right on to the Fur Countries, but many 

 no doubt find suitable nesting places in the intermediate districts. 

 I first found them breeding near a retired pond surrounded by 

 tamaracks, in the township of Dumfries, about thirty miles north- 



