290 
Field Marks. Distinctions as above. It is the reddest-backed of all the autumn 
Sparrows. 
Nesting. On the ground or in low bushes; nest of coarse grasses, rootlets, and moss, 
lined with finer grass. 
Distribution. Eastern North America. In Canada, west to the mountains and north 
to the limit of trees. Occasionally in southern British Columbia, breeding in the northern 
half of that province. 
This is the most famous songster of the Canadian north woods. At its 
best the song is a clear, flute-like, slowly-measured whistle which has been 
very well put into words. “Hard-times-can-a~da-can-ada ” or “ Poor-Bill - 
Pea-bo-dy-Pea-bo-dy-Pea-bo-dy.” The White-throat is a brushwood bird; 
tangled thickets or brush piles in the vicinity of open ground are its 
favourite haunts. Throughout most of the cultivated sections of Canada 
the bird is a migrant only, and its best song is rarely heard. In the 
autumn, when the young birds fly south the notes are heard in a softened, 
shortened version. 
Economic Status. The White-throat is a valuable bird. It is import- 
ant as a destroyer of weed seeds, especially of ragweed, and consumes 
a considerable number of insects and a little wild fruit. As the species 
comes down in great numbers to the thickly cultivated sections in early 
autumn, its effect on the succeeding season’s weed crop must be pro- 
nounced. 
559. Tree Sparrow (Including Western Tree Sparrow). Spizetia monticola. L, 
6 -36. Plate LVII A. About the size of a Song Sparrow, but redder above, a brownish 
red cap, the breast greyish with a single suffused brown spot in the centre. Bill, upper 
mandible, dark ; lower one mostly yellow. 
Distinctions. Size of Song Sparrow; red-brown cap; prominent white wing-bars; 
ashy-grey throat with semi-concealed dark blot in centre of unspotted breast. 
Field Marks. Red-brown cap, prominent white wing-bars, ashy grey throat, and 
dark spot in middle of the evenly-coloured, unspotted breast. 
Nesting. On or near ground, in nest of grasses, rootlets, and hair. 
Distribution. Northern North America, breeding in the spruce woods and on the 
Barren-grounds of the far north. Migrating throughout southern Canada. 
SUBSPECIES. The Western Tree Sparrow Spizella monticola ochracea, differing 
from the eastern, Spizella monticola monticola, in having slightly longer tail and wing, and 
Bomewhat paler coloration. Breeds from Alaska east to Mackenzie valley. Migrants 
through British Columbia and the western Prairie Provinces are this form, but its distinc- 
tions are too slight to be easily recognized and the geographic limits of the two races have 
not been well defined. 
Among the hosts of Sparrows that congregate in the shrubbery in the 
autumn or return early in spring, is the Tree Sparrow. In the southern 
parts of the Dominion it sometimes remains all winter, but is a migrant 
elsewhere. It is a natty little bird and its modest song in the early spring 
is most welcome after the long, silent winter. 
Economic Status. The Tree Sparrow is valuable for its destruction of 
weed seeds and seems to have no bad habits. 
560. Chipping Sparrow (Including Western Chipping Sparrow), chippie, hair- 
bird. Spizella passerina. L, 5*37. Plate LVII B. A small Sparrow with unspotted 
breast; a red-brown cap; grey face; white superciliary line, and narrow dark bar through 
eye. Juveniles have a finely streaked white breast and are without the solid red cap or 
characteristic facial marks; are much streaked above and below in clay-like colours, and 
are sometimes difficult to separate from Clay-coloured Sparrows. 
Distinctions. A familiar little Sparrow with red cap, a grey face, narrow black bar 
through eye, and white eyebrow streak. Separated from the Swamp and Tree Sparrows, 
