WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 
481 
from the mouth over the auriculars ; and then from the base of the 
lower mandible extends another broad, curving, white line ascending 
towards the ears ; another very dark, unequal line stretches from the 
same mandible along the sides of the throat, which last with the 
chin is, apparently, of a cream white. The neck and breast dull 
cinereous, a dusky brownish spot on the latter ; belly and vent nearly 
white. Above cinereous umber-brown, the back feathers centred 
with a more dusky hue, and the wings and tail edged with very pale 
brown ; 2d primary longest ; a white angular spot on the wing. A 
white spot on all the tail-feathers but the 2 central ones, increasing 
in size to the outer. Bill pale horn-color. Legs and feet pale yel- 
lowish-brown. Iris dark-brown. — Th e female is duller in color. 
WHITE-THROATED SPARROW. 
( Fringilla pennsylvanica, Lath. Audubon, pi. 8. Orn. Biog. i. p. 
42. F. albicollis , Wilson, iii. p. 51. pi. 22. fig. 2. [male]. Phil. 
Museum, No. 6486.) 
Sp. Charact. — The head striped with dusky and white ; a yellow 
line from the nostril to the eye ; shoulder of the wing edged with 
greenish-yellow ; cheeks and breast cinereous ; throat and belly 
white ; above varied with dusky, bay, and light brown. — Female , 
below, and stripes on the head, light drab. 
This large and handsome Sparrow is seen in this part 
of Massachusetts, only as a transient visitor at the ap- 
proach of winter, or in spring, about the first week in 
May. In the Middle and Southern States, they pass the 
inclement season, and appear there as a numerous spe- 
cies. A flock even of these birds has been observed in 
the state of New York in the month of January. In 
their hibernal resorts, they are seen in bands, and show 
a predilection for thickets, swamps, small streams, and 
the borders of ponds, where, among the tall and bleach- 
ing weeds, they continue to collect the seeds, and proba- 
bly insect larvae, which constitute their usual fare. While 
here they keep much on the ground, and seek out cool 
and shady situations, scratching up the fallen leaves in 
41 
