FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
403 
with brownish and streaked with black and rufous-brown; middle of the 
belly white. L., 6'30; W., 2'52; T., 2*62; B., *49. 
Range. — N. A. e. of the Rocky Mts. Breeds in Canadian, Transition, 
and Upper Austral zones from s. Mackenzie (Great Slave Lake), cen. Kee- 
watin, n. Ont., cen. Que., and Cape Breton Is. s. to s. Nebr., cen. Mo., Ky., 
s. Va., and s. N. C. (mts.), and w. to the Rocky Mts. of Alberta; winters 
from Neb., Ills., Mass, (locally), and N. 3., s. to the Gulf coast, and sporadi- 
cally n. to Mich., and N. S. 
Washington, common P. R., abundant T. V., Mch. and Oct. Ossining, 
common P. R. Cambridge, very abundant S. R., Mch. 10-Nov. 1; locally 
common W. V. N. Ohio, P. R., abundant in summer, common in winter. 
Glen Ellyn, common S. R., Feb. 12-Nov. 2. SE. Minn., common S. R., Mch. 
16-Nov. 11. 
Nest, of coarse grasses, rootlets, dead leaves, strips of bark, etc., lined 
with finer grasses and sometimes long hairs, on the ground, sometimes in 
bushes. Eggs, 4-5, white or bluish white, with numerous rufous-brown mark- 
ings which sometimes nearly conceal the ground color, '76 x '60. Date, 
Montgomery Co., Pa., Apl. 27; Cambridge, Apl. 30; se. Minn., Apl. 27. 
The Song Sparrow’s vast range in a dozen varying climates, its 
readiness to adapt itself to the different conditions in each of the regions 
it inhabits, its numerical abundance and steady increase while some of 
its family are dying out, its freedom from disease and vermin, and its 
perennial cheerfulness, evidenced by its never-failing music — all pro- 
claim that it is indeed one of Nature’s successes. 
Its irrepressible vivacity and good spirits in spite of all circum- 
stances are aptly illustrated by the fact that its song may be heard in 
every month of the year and in all weathers; also by night as well as 
by day — for nothing is more common in the darkest nights than to 
hear its sweet chant in half-conscious answer to the hooting of the 
Owl or even the report of a gun. 
It is never seen far from water, and when it is alarmed it flies down- 
ward or along — never upward — into some low thicket, pumping its 
tail as it flies. 
Its alarm note is a simple metallic chip , which is very distinctive 
when once learned. But its merry chant — which has won for it the 
name of “Song Sparrow” — is its best-known note. It is a voluble and 
uninterrupted but short refrain, and is, perhaps, the sweetest of the 
familiar voices of the meadow lands. The song that it occasionally 
utters while on the wing is of quite a different character, being more 
prolonged and varied. 
Though so abundant, it can not be styled a sociable species. Even 
during the migrations it is never seen in compact flocks like the Red- 
poll or Snowflake; at most it will be found forming a part of a long, 
scattered migrating train that usually includes a number of different 
but nearly related species. Ernest Thompson Seton. 
1899. Owen, D. E., Auk, XVI, 221-225 (growth of young). 
583. Melospiza lincolni lincolni (Aud.). Lincoln’s Sparrow. 
Ads . — Upperparts streaked with black, brownish gray, and grayish brown; 
tail-feathers narrow and rather pointed, the outer ones shortest; under- 
parts white, rather finely streaked with black, a broad cream-buff band 
28 
