Brown, Olive or Grayish Brown, and Brown and Gray Sparrowy Birds 
why no two ornithologists record it alike. Doubtless the chief 
reason for the amusing differences in the syllables into which the 
songs of birds are often translated in the books, is that the same 
notes actually sound differently to different individuals. Thus, 
to people in Massachusetts the white-throated sparrow seems to 
say, ‘‘Pea-bod-y, Pea-bod-y, Pea-bod-y!’’ while good British 
subjects beyond the New England border hear him sing quite dis- 
tinctly, “‘ Sweet Can-a-da, Can-a-da, Can-a-da!’’ But however 
the opinions as to the syllables of the field sparrow’s song may 
differ, all are agreed as to its exquisite quality, that resembles the 
vesper sparrow’s tender, sweet melody. The song begins with 
three soft, wild whistles, and ends with a series of trills and 
quavers that gradually melt away into silence: a serene and restful 
strain as soothing as a hymn. Like the vesper sparrows, these 
birds sometimes build a plain, grassy nest, unprotected by over- 
hanging bush, flat upon the ground. Possibly from a prudent 
fear of field-mice and snakes, the little mother most frequently 
lays her bluish-white, rufous-marked eggs in a nest placed in a 
bush of a bushy field. Hence John Burroughs has called the bird 
the “bush sparrow.” 
Fox Sparrow 
(Passerella ilica) Finch family 
Called also: FOX-COLORED SPARROW; FERRUGINOUS 
FINCH; FOXY FINCH 
Length—6.5 to 7.25 inches. Nearly an inch longer than the Eng- 
lish sparrow. 
Male and Female—Upper paris reddish brown, varied with ash 
gray, brightest on lower back, wings, and tail. Bluish slate 
about the head. Underneath whitish; the throat, breast, and 
sides heavily marked with arrow-heads and oblong dashes of 
reddish brown and blackish. 
Range—Alaska and Manitoba to southern United States. Winters 
chiefly south of Illinois and Virginia. Occasional stragglers 
remain north most of the winter. 
Migrations—March. November. Most common in the migra- 
tions. 
There will be little difficulty in naming this largest, most 
plump and reddish of all the sparrows, whose fox-colored 
153 
