196 BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



appellation Song Sparrow is given because it is one of our most pleas 

 ing songsters. In the dreary winter months the melodious voice of this 

 little minstrel is about the only bird- melody one is apt to hear. The 

 nest, composed chiefly of grassed, leaves, weeds, etc., lined with fine 

 grasses and weeds, is built on the ground or in a low bush. The eggs, 

 mostly five, vary greatly both in size and markings ; they are greenish 

 or dull bluish white, variously spotted with different shades of brown, 

 and measure about .82 by .60 of an inch. Two, and sometime three, 

 broods are raised in a season. During the breeding season this spe- 

 cies feeds to a more or less extent on differnt forms of insects ; at other 

 times they subsist principally on the seeds of grasses, weeds, etc. 



GENUS PASSERELLA. SWAINSON. 



585. Passerella iliaca (MERR.). 







Fox Sparrow. 



DESCRIPTION. (Plate 31; Fig. ?, male.') 



Upper mandible dark, lower chiefly yellow ; legs and eyes brown. Readily dis- 

 tinguished by its rusty red or ferruginous colors, brightest on the wings, rump and 

 tail ; below white ; upper part of breast, sides of throat and body with triangular 

 rusty spots, darkest and most conspicuous on middle of upper part of chest ; tips of 

 middle and greater coverts forming two whitish wing bars. Length about 7 inches ; 

 extent about 11|. 



Hab. Eastern North America, west to the plains and Alaska (Valley of the Yukon 

 to the Pacific), and from the Arctic coast south to the Gulf States. Breeds north of 

 the United States ; winters chiefly south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers. 



The summer home of this large and rusty-coated Sparrow is in the 

 dreary wilds of British America, from Labrador to Alaska. Their 

 nests, we are reliably informed, have never been obtained in the 

 United States, where these birds occur only during the spring, fall and 

 winter months. With us this species is found as a common migrant 

 in March, April, October and November. Occasionally only are 

 small parties, or straggling birds, met with during mild winters in our 

 southern counties. While sojourning here they may be observed in 

 flocks, of from eight to twenty each, inhabiting humid grounds in 

 bushy places along the roadside, the edges of woods, banks of streams, 

 ponds, etc., where they diligently ply themselves in searching among 

 the fallen leaves, dead wood and decaying grass for seeds and insects. 



GENUS PIPILO. VIEILLOT. 

 587. Pipilo erythrophthalmus (LINN.). 



Towhee. % 



DESCRIPTION. 



Male. Upper parts generally, head, neck, throat and chest black ; belly white ; 

 sides chestnut; under tail coverts similar to sides but paler ; edges of outer six pri- 



