341 
FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 
rootlets, moss, and strips of bark, lined with finer grasses. Eggs : 4 or 5, 
finely and evenly speckled or heavily and irregularly blotched with 
brown. 
Food. — Insects, weed seed, and wild berries. 
The white-throated sparrow is one of the best whistlers of the 
musical genus Zonotrichia, his clear I, I, pea-body, pea-body, pea- 
body, ringing finely through the spring air. Though chiefly an east¬ 
ern bird, he may be seen in Montana and Wyoming. 
GENUS SPIZELLA. 
General Characters. — Wing less than 3; bill small, conical; tail emar- 
ginate or double rounded, middle feathers shorter than longest; tarsus 
about length of middle toe with claw. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Bill reddish brown or orange. 
2. Chin black, head slaty gray. atrogularis, p. 345. 
2'. Chin whitish, head rufous and buffy .... arenacea, p. 344. 
1'. Bill black or yellowish brown. 
2. Crown rufous. 
3. Breast with pectoral blotch. ochracea, p. 341. 
3'. Breast without pectoral blotch. 
4. Forehead and streak behind eye black. Rocky Mountains to 
Pacific coast. arizonae, p. 342. 
4'. Forehead without black and no black streak behind eye. 
wortheni, p. 344. 
2'. Crown without rufous. 
3. Head and back grayish brown, uniformly and finely streaked with 
black. breweri, p. 343. 
3'. Head and back gray and buffy, coarsely and irregularly streaked 
with black. Plains. pallida, p. 342. 
559a. Spizella monticola ochracea Brewst. Western Tree 
Sparrow. 
Adults. — Bill yeWow. in adults ; crown, stripe behind eye, and patch 
on sides of chest rufous, crown often, especially 
in winter, with ashy median stripe, or rufous 
obscured by grayish edges to feathers ; middle of 
back buffy, streaked with black and rusty; wings Fl S- 430 * 
with two conspicuous white bars; under parts grayish, chest with small 
dusky spot. Young : streaked beneath. Male: length (skins) 5.61-6.00, 
wing 2.87-3.24, tail 2.59-2.88, bill .38-41. Female : length (skins) 5.41- 
5.69, wing 2.87-3.10, tail 2.60-2.70, bill .3S-.39. 
Distribution. — Breeds from near the arctic coast through Alaska; 
migrates as far east as the eastern border of the Plains, and south to New 
Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. 
Nest. — On ground or in low bushes, composed largely of dried grass 
and feathers. Eggs: 3 to 5, pale greenish blue, varying to brownish, 
speckled with reddish brown. 
Food. — Mainly seeds, largely weed seed. 
In its Alaskan home Mr. Nelson says the western tree sparrow is 
the most numerous of the sparrows that frequent the bushes, espe- 
