THE YELLOW-WINCED SPARROW. 293 



Pennsylvania, where they feed on the seeds of the reeds 

 along the rivers, they are called Reed-birds, and in the 

 south, where they feed on the rice, they are called Rice- 

 birds. 



Wintering beyond our boundaries, this bird enters the 

 Eastern United States in large numbers, and reaching the 

 Middle States about the first of May, breeds from thence 

 northward to the Saskatchawan, and west to the Rocky 

 Mountains. To the eastward, Mr. Smith reports it as breed- 

 ing abundantly in Maine ; Mr. Chamberlain gives it as a 

 common summer resident in New Brunswick, particularly 

 in the valley of the St. John River, and I found it plentiful 

 last June in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, but did not 

 see it elsewhere in the Province. Mr. Maynard gives its 

 summer habitat between 38° and 48° Arriving in Western 

 New York during the first week in May, it reaches Maine 

 about the middle of that month, and New Brunswick about 

 the last. 



On account of its short, thick bill, this bird was once called 

 a Bunting, but its general structure places it among the 

 Marsh Blackbirds or American Starlings; and as its white 

 markings are similar to those of a Skunk, it has also been 

 called the Skunk Blackbird. 



THE YELLOW-WINGED SPARROW. 



Perched on the fence by the roadside, in a neighborhood 

 called Pine Hill, is the Yellow-winged Sparrow {Coturniciilus 

 passerinus). It is not at all common here, and seems confined 

 to certain dry or sandy fields. Some 5.00 long, with wings 

 much rounded and tail-feathers narrow and pointed, the 

 plumage above is dark brown, almost black, edged with 

 buff; head of the former color, with clear median line of the 

 ,; i*er; this bird is distinguishable from all other Sparrows 



