406 
FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
Mch. 15-Apl. 12; Oct. 20-No v. 15; occasional in winter. N. Ohio, common 
T. V., Mch. 12- Apl. 23; Oct. 1-Nov. 16. Glen Ellyn, fairly common T. V., 
Mch. 11-Apl. 28; Sept. 22-Nov. 8. SE. Minn., common T. V., Mch. 12- ; 
Sept. 17-Nov. 12. 
Nest, of coarse grasses, lined with finer grasses, hair, moss, and feathers, 
on the ground, and in low trees and bushes. Eggs , 4-5, pale bluish, evenly 
speckled or heavily blotched with umber or vinaceous-brown, *80 x *63 (see 
Bendire, Auk, VI, 1889, 108). Date, Ft. Resolution, Mack., June 1. 
In the early spring the Fox Sparrow is seen mostly about damp 
thickets and roadside shrubbery; later it takes more to woodsides, 
foraging on leaf-strewn slopes where there is little or no undergrowth, 
often associated with small parties of Juncos. On its return in the 
autumn it again becomes a common denizen of hedgerows and thickets, 
and also invades the weedy grainfields, rarely, however, straying far 
from some thickety cover. Sometimes large numbers congregate 
among withered growths of tall weeds, whence they emerge with a 
loud whirring of wings as their retreat is invaded, and hie away in 
tawny clouds, flock after flock. It is a great scratcher among dead 
leaves, and can make the wood rubbish fly in a way which, in propor- 
tion to its size, a barnyard fowl could scarcely excel. 
The usual note of the Fox Sparrow is a feeble tseep. A note of 
excitement is louder and sharper in tone. Its song is not surpassed 
by that of any of our Sparrows. It is a revelation to hear it at sun- 
down on some vernally softened evening of early springtime; little 
swarms of gnats hover in the balmy air; from the twilight meadows 
comes the welcome, half-doubtful piping of the first hylas — no other 
sound. Then perhaps from some dusky thicket a bird’s song! An 
emotional outburst rising full-toned and clear, and passing all too 
quickly to a closing cadence, which seems to linger in the silent air. 
It is the song of the Fox Sparrow with that fuller power and richness 
of tone which come into it, or seem to, at the sunset hour. It breaks 
?orth as if inspired from pure joy in the awakened season, though with 
some vague undertone, scarcely of sadness, rather of some lower tone 
of joy. Eugene P. Bicknell. 
1889. Bendire, C. E., Auk, VI, 107-116 (nesting). 
587. Pipilo erythrophthalmus erythrophthalmus {Linn.). 
Towhee. Ad. d 71 . — Upperparts black, sometimes margined with rufous; 
throat and breast black, belly white, sides rufous ; outer web of primaries 
with white ; tail black, the three outer feathers tipped with white ; outer web 
of the outer feather entirely white ; iris red. Ad. $. — Upperparts, wings, 
throat, and breast bright grayish brown; tail fuscous-brown the three outer 
feathers tipped with white ; sides rufous, middle of the belly white. Nestlings 
have the back and underparts streaked with black. L., 8*35; W., 3*34; T., 
3*68; B., *55. r 
Range. — E. N. Am. Breeds in Alleghanian and Carolinian faunas from 
se. Sask., s. Man., s. Ont., and s. Maine s. to cen. Kans. and n. Ga. ; winters 
from se. Nebr., the Ohio and Potomac valleys (casually New England) to 
cen. Tex., the Gulf coast, and s. Fla. 
Washington, common S. R., very common T. V., Apl. 5-Oct. 21 ; a few 
winter. Ossining, common S. R., Apl. 21-Oct. 31. Cambridge, common 
S. R., Apl. 25-Oct. 15. N. Ohio, common S. R., Mch. 10-Oct. 25. Glen 
